093_HB0337eng

HB0337 Engrossed                     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
 
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 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 or due to other hazards.  Such transportation
11    shall not be provided  if  adequate  transportation  for  the
12    public is available.
13        The determination as to what constitutes a serious safety
14    hazard  shall be made by the school board, in accordance with
15    guidelines promulgated  by  the  regional  superintendent  of
16    schools    Illinois    Department   of   Transportation,   in
17    consultation  with  the  Department  of  Transportation  with
18    regard  to  vehicular  traffic  or   rail   crossings   State
19    Superintendent  of  Education.  A  school  board,  on written
20    petition of the parent  or  guardian  of  a  pupil  for  whom
21    adequate  transportation  for  the  public  is alleged not to
22    exist because the pupil is required to  walk  along  normally
23    traveled  roads  or  streets  where  walking  is  alleged  to
24    constitute  a  serious safety hazard due to vehicular traffic
25    or rail crossings, or who is required  to  walk  between  the
26    pupil's  home and assigned school or between the pupil's home
27    or assigned school and a pick-up  point  or  bus  stop  along
28    roads  or  streets  where  walking is alleged to constitute a
29    serious safety  hazard  due  to  vehicular  traffic  or  rail
30    crossings, shall conduct a study and make findings, which the
31    regional  superintendent of schools, in consultation with the
32    Department of Transportation with regard to vehicular traffic
33    or rail crossings, shall review and approve or disapprove  as
34    provided  in  this  Section,  to  determine whether a serious
 
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 1    safety  hazard  exists  as  alleged  in  the  petition.   The
 2    regional superintendent of schools, in consultation with  the
 3    Department of Transportation with regard to vehicular traffic
 4    or  rail  crossings,  shall review the findings of the school
 5    board and shall approve  or  disapprove  the  school  board's
 6    determination  that  a serious safety hazard exists within 30
 7    days after the school  board  submits  its  findings  to  the
 8    regional  superintendent  of  schools  Department. The school
 9    board shall annually review the conditions and certify to the
10    regional State superintendent of schools Education whether or
11    not the hazardous conditions remain unchanged.  The  regional
12    State  superintendent  of  schools Education may request that
13    the Illinois Department of  Transportation  verify  that  the
14    conditions with regard to vehicular traffic or rail crossings
15    have  not  changed.  No  action  shall lie against the school
16    board, the regional  superintendent  of  schools,  the  State
17    Superintendent  of  Education  or  the Illinois Department of
18    Transportation for decisions made  in  accordance  with  this
19    Section.  The provisions of the Administrative Review Law and
20    all  amendments  and  modifications  thereof  and  the  rules
21    adopted pursuant  thereto  shall  apply  to  and  govern  all
22    proceedings  instituted  for  the  judicial  review  of final
23    administrative decisions of the  regional  superintendent  of
24    schools Department of Transportation under this Section.
25    (Source: P.A. 90-223, eff. 1-1-98.)