093_HB0337eng
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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 29-3 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 schoolsIllinois Department of Transportation, in
17 consultation with the Department of Transportation with
18 regard to vehicular traffic or rail crossingsState
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 schoolsDepartment. The school
9 board shall annually review the conditions and certify to the
10 regionalState superintendent of schoolsEducation whether or
11 not the hazardous conditions remain unchanged. The regional
12 State superintendent of schoolsEducation 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 schoolsDepartment of Transportation under this Section.
25 (Source: P.A. 90-223, eff. 1-1-98.)