093_HB2836

 
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 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 29-5 as follows:

 6        (105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5)
 7        Sec. 29-5.  Reimbursement by  State  for  transportation.
 8    Any  school  district,  maintaining  a  school,  transporting
 9    resident  pupils  to  another  school  district's  vocational
10    program,  offered  through  a joint agreement approved by the
11    State Board of Education, as provided in Section 10-22.22  or
12    transporting  its resident pupils to a school which meets the
13    standards for recognition as established by the  State  Board
14    of   Education  which  provides  transportation  meeting  the
15    standards of safety,  comfort,  convenience,  efficiency  and
16    operation  prescribed  by  the  State  Board of Education for
17    resident pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12
18    who: (a) reside at least 1  1/2  miles  as  measured  by  the
19    customary  route  of travel, from the school attended; or (b)
20    reside in  areas  where  conditions  are  such  that  walking
21    constitutes  a  hazard  to  the  safety  of  the  child  when
22    determined under Section 29-3; and (c) are transported to the
23    school  attended  from pick-up points at the beginning of the
24    school day and back again at the close of the school  day  or
25    transported  to  and  from  their assigned attendance centers
26    during the school day, shall be reimbursed by  the  State  as
27    hereinafter provided in this Section.
28        The  State  will  pay  the  cost of transporting eligible
29    pupils less the assessed valuation in a dual school  district
30    maintaining  secondary  grades  9  to  12  inclusive  times a
31    qualifying rate  of  .05%;  in  elementary  school  districts
 
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 1    maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of .06%; in
 2    unit  districts maintaining grades K to 12 times a qualifying
 3    rate of .07%. To be  eligible  to  receive  reimbursement  in
 4    excess  of  4/5  of  the cost to transport eligible pupils, a
 5    school district shall have a Transportation Fund tax rate  of
 6    at  least  .12%.   If  a school district does not have a .12%
 7    Transportation Fund tax rate, the  amount  of  its  claim  in
 8    excess  of  4/5  of  the cost of transporting pupils shall be
 9    reduced  by  the  sum   arrived   at   by   subtracting   the
10    Transportation  Fund  tax rate from .12% and multiplying that
11    amount by the  districts  equalized  or  assessed  valuation,
12    provided,  that  in  no  case  shall said reduction result in
13    reimbursement of less than  4/5  of  the  cost  to  transport
14    eligible pupils.
15        The  minimum  amount  to be received by a district is $16
16    times the number of eligible pupils transported.
17        Any such district transporting resident pupils during the
18    school day to an area vocational  school  or  another  school
19    district's  vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the
20    school  attended,  as  provided  in  Sections  10-22.20a  and
21    10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State  for  4/5  of  the
22    cost of transporting eligible pupils.
23        School  day  means that period of time which the pupil is
24    required to be in attendance for instructional purposes.
25        If a pupil is at a location within  the  school  district
26    other  than his residence for child care purposes at the time
27    for transportation to school, that location may be considered
28    for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from  the  school
29    attended.
30        Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend
31    any  school  other than a public school shall show the number
32    of such children transported.
33        Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not  be
34    paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation
 
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 1    costs  are  claimed  for payment under other Sections of this
 2    Act.
 3        The allowable direct  cost  of  transporting  pupils  for
 4    regular,    vocational,    and    special   education   pupil
 5    transportation shall be limited to the sum  of  the  cost  of
 6    physical examinations required for employment as a school bus
 7    driver;  the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school
 8    bus  maintenance  personnel;  employee   benefits   excluding
 9    Illinois   municipal  retirement  payments,  social  security
10    payments,  unemployment  insurance  payments   and   workers'
11    compensation  insurance premiums; expenditures to independent
12    carriers who operate school buses; payments to  other  school
13    districts  for  pupil  transportation  services; pre-approved
14    contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling; the
15    cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and  other  supplies  necessary
16    for  the  operation  of  school buses; the cost of converting
17    buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient engines or  to
18    engines  which  use  alternative  energy sources; the cost of
19    travel to meetings and workshops conducted  by  the  regional
20    superintendent  or  the  State  Superintendent  of  Education
21    pursuant  to  the  standards  established by the Secretary of
22    State under Section 6-106 of the  Illinois  Vehicle  Code  to
23    improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the cost of
24    maintenance  of  school  buses  including parts and materials
25    used;  expenditures  for  leasing  transportation   vehicles,
26    except  interest  and  service charges; the cost of insurance
27    and licenses for transportation  vehicles;  expenditures  for
28    the  rental  of transportation equipment; plus a depreciation
29    allowance of 20% for 5 years for school  buses  and  vehicles
30    approved  for  transporting  pupils  to and from school and a
31    depreciation  allowance  of  10%  for  10  years  for   other
32    transportation  equipment  so  used. In addition to the above
33    allowable  costs  school  districts  shall  also  claim   all
34    transportation  supervisory  salary costs, including Illinois
 
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 1    municipal retirement payments, and all transportation related
 2    building and building maintenance costs without limitation.
 3        Special education  allowable  costs  shall  also  include
 4    expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that
 5    portion  of  the  time  they  assist special education pupils
 6    while in transit and  expenditures  for  parents  and  public
 7    carriers  for  transporting  special  education  pupils  when
 8    pre-approved by the State Superintendent of Education.
 9        Indirect  costs  shall  be  included in the reimbursement
10    claim for districts which own and operate  their  own  school
11    buses.   Such  indirect  costs  shall  include administrative
12    costs, or any costs attributable to transporting pupils  from
13    their  attendance  centers  to  another  school  building for
14    instructional purposes.  No school district  which  owns  and
15    operates  its  own  school  buses may claim reimbursement for
16    indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable  direct
17    costs for pupil transportation.
18        The  State  Board  of  Education  shall prescribe uniform
19    regulations for determining the  above  standards  and  shall
20    prescribe   forms   of   cost  accounting  and  standards  of
21    determining reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation  shall
22    include  the  cost  of equipping school buses with the safety
23    features required by law or by  the  rules,  regulations  and
24    standards  promulgated  by  the State Board of Education, and
25    the  Department  of  Transportation  for   the   safety   and
26    construction of school buses provided, however, any equipment
27    cost  reimbursed  by  the  Department  of  Transportation for
28    equipping school buses with such safety  equipment  shall  be
29    deducted  from  the  allowable  cost  in  the  computation of
30    reimbursement under this Section in the  same  percentage  as
31    the cost of the equipment is depreciated.
32        On   or  before  July  10,  annually,  the  chief  school
33    administrator  for  board  clerk  or  the  secretary  of  the
34    district shall certify  to  the  regional  superintendent  of
 
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 1    schools  upon forms prescribed by the State Superintendent of
 2    Education the district's  claim  for  reimbursement  for  the
 3    school  year  ended  on June 30 next preceding.  The regional
 4    superintendent of  schools  shall  check  all  transportation
 5    claims  to ascertain compliance with the prescribed standards
 6    and upon his approval shall certify not later than July 25 to
 7    the State Superintendent of Education the regional report  of
 8    claims  for  reimbursements.   The  State  Superintendent  of
 9    Education  shall check and approve the claims and prepare the
10    vouchers showing the amounts due for  district  reimbursement
11    claims.   Beginning  with  the  1977  fiscal  year, the State
12    Superintendent of Education shall prepare  and  transmit  the
13    first  3  vouchers  to  the  Comptroller  on the 30th day  of
14    September, December and March, respectively,  and  the  final
15    voucher, no later than June 15.
16        If    the    amount   appropriated   for   transportation
17    reimbursement is insufficient to fund total  claims  for  any
18    fiscal  year,  the State Board of Education shall reduce each
19    school district's  allowable  costs  and  flat  grant  amount
20    proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total
21    amount appropriated.
22        For  purposes  of  calculating  claims  for reimbursement
23    under this Section for any  school  year  beginning  July  1,
24    1998,  or  thereafter, the equalized assessed valuation for a
25    school  district  used  to  compute  reimbursement  shall  be
26    computed in the same manner as it is computed under paragraph
27    (2) of subsection (G) of Section 18-8.05.
28        All reimbursements  received  from  the  State  shall  be
29    deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the
30    fund from which the allowable expenditures were made.
31        Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law, any school
32    district receiving a payment  under  this  Section  or  under
33    Section  14-7.02,  14-7.02a,  or  14-13.01  of  this Code may
34    classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in  a
 
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 1    particular  fiscal year or from general State aid pursuant to
 2    Section 18-8.05 of this Code as funds received in  connection
 3    with  any funding program for which it is entitled to receive
 4    funds from the State in that fiscal year (including,  without
 5    limitation,  any funding program referenced in this Section),
 6    regardless of the source  or  timing  of  the  receipt.   The
 7    district  may  not  classify  more funds as funds received in
 8    connection with the funding  program  than  the  district  is
 9    entitled  to  receive  in  that fiscal year for that program.
10    Any classification by a district must be made by a resolution
11    of its board of education.  The resolution must identify  the
12    amount  of any payments or general State aid to be classified
13    under this paragraph and must specify the funding program  to
14    which  the  funds are to be treated as received in connection
15    therewith.   This  resolution  is  controlling  as   to   the
16    classification of funds referenced therein.  A certified copy
17    of the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
18    Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though
19    a  copy  of  the  resolution  has  not been sent to the State
20    Superintendent  of  Education  in  a  timely  manner.      No
21    classification  under  this  paragraph  by  a  district shall
22    affect the total amount or timing of money  the  district  is
23    entitled  to  receive  under  this  Code.   No classification
24    under this paragraph by a district shall in any  way  relieve
25    the  district  from or affect any requirements that otherwise
26    would apply with respect to that funding  program,  including
27    any  accounting of funds by source, reporting expenditures by
28    original  source  and  purpose,  reporting  requirements,  or
29    requirements of providing services.
30        Any school district with a population of  not  more  than
31    500,000  must  deposit  all funds received under this Article
32    into the transportation fund and  use  those  funds  for  the
33    provision of transportation services.
34    (Source: P.A. 91-96, eff. 7-9-99; 92-568, eff. 6-26-02.)
 
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 1        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 2    becoming law.