093_HB0337

 
                                     LRB093 04620 NHT 04673 b

 1        AN ACT concerning schools.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.   The  School  Code  is  amended  by  changing
 5    Section 29-3 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/29-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-3)
 7        Sec.  29-3.   Transportation in school districts.  School
 8    boards of community consolidated  districts,  community  unit
 9    districts,  consolidated  districts,  and  consolidated  high
10    school  districts,  and  combined  school  districts  if  the
11    combined  district includes any district which was previously
12    required  to  provide  transportation,  shall  provide   free
13    transportation  for  pupils residing at a distance of one and
14    one-half miles or more from any  school  to  which  they  are
15    assigned for attendance maintained within the district except
16    for  those  pupils for whom the school board shall certify to
17    the State Board of Education that adequate transportation for
18    the public is available.
19        For the purpose of this Act 1 1/2 miles distance shall be
20    from the exit of the property where the pupil resides to  the
21    point  where  pupils  are  normally  unloaded  at  the school
22    attended; such distance shall be measured by determining  the
23    shortest distance on normally traveled roads or streets.
24        Such  school board may comply with the provisions of this
25    Section by providing free transportation for  pupils  to  and
26    from  an assigned school and a pick-up point located not more
27    than one and one-half miles  from  the  home  of  each  pupil
28    assigned to such point.
29        For the purposes of this Act "adequate transportation for
30    the  public" shall be assumed to exist for such pupils as can
31    reach school by walking, one  way,  along  normally  traveled
 
                            -2-      LRB093 04620 NHT 04673 b
 1    roads  or  streets  less than 1 1/2 miles irrespective of the
 2    distance the pupil is transported by public transportation.
 3        In addition to the other requirements  of  this  Section,
 4    each  school  board  may  provide free transportation for any
 5    pupil residing within 1 1/2 miles from  the  school  attended
 6    where conditions are such that walking, either to or from the
 7    school  to  which a pupil is assigned for attendance or to or
 8    from a pick-up point  or  bus  stop,  constitutes  a  serious
 9    hazard to the safety of the pupil due to vehicular traffic or
10    rail crossings.  Such transportation shall not be provided if
11    adequate transportation for the public is available.
12        The determination as to what constitutes a serious safety
13    hazard  shall be made by the school board, in accordance with
14    guidelines  promulgated  by  the   Illinois   Department   of
15    Transportation, in consultation with the State Superintendent
16    of  Education.  A  school  board,  on written petition of the
17    parent  or  guardian   of   a   pupil   for   whom   adequate
18    transportation for the public is alleged not to exist because
19    the  pupil  is required to walk along normally traveled roads
20    or streets where walking is alleged to constitute  a  serious
21    safety  hazard due to vehicular traffic or rail crossings, or
22    who is required to walk between the pupil's home and assigned
23    school or between the pupil's home or assigned school  and  a
24    pick-up  point  or  bus  stop  along  roads  or streets where
25    walking is alleged to constitute a serious safety hazard  due
26    to vehicular traffic or rail crossings, shall conduct a study
27    and  make  findings,  which  the Department of Transportation
28    shall review and approve or disapprove as  provided  in  this
29    Section,  to determine whether a serious safety hazard exists
30    as alleged in the petition.  The Department of Transportation
31    shall review the findings  of  the  school  board  and  shall
32    approve or disapprove the school board's determination that a
33    serious  safety hazard exists within 30 days after the school
34    board submits its findings  to  the  Department.  The  school
 
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 1    board shall annually review the conditions and certify to the
 2    State   Superintendent   of  Education  whether  or  not  the
 3    hazardous   conditions   remain    unchanged.    The    State
 4    Superintendent  of  Education  may  request that the Illinois
 5    Department of Transportation verify that the conditions  have
 6    not  changed.  No  action shall lie against the school board,
 7    the  State  Superintendent  of  Education  or  the   Illinois
 8    Department of Transportation for decisions made in accordance
 9    with  this  Section.  The  provisions  of  the Administrative
10    Review Law and all amendments and modifications  thereof  and
11    the  rules adopted pursuant thereto shall apply to and govern
12    all proceedings instituted for the judicial review  of  final
13    administrative  decisions of the Department of Transportation
14    under this Section.
15    (Source: P.A. 90-223, eff. 1-1-98.)