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| [ Introduced ] | [ Engrossed ] | [ Senate Amendment 001 ] |
90_SB0558enr
105 ILCS 5/29-3 from Ch. 122, par. 29-3
Amends the School Code. Provides that "adequate
transportation for the public" as used when determining
pupils entitled to be provided with free transportation shall
not be deemed available if conditions are such that walking
between a pupil's home or assigned school and a pick-up point
or bus stop on the regular route along which public
transportation is available constitutes a serious safety
hazard due to vehicular traffic. Adds other provisions under
which the pupil transportation requirements of the School
Code will not be deemed to have been met if a pupil,
including a pupil residing within 1 1/2 miles of school, is
required to walk between home or school and a pick-up point
or bus stop when walking constitutes a serious safety hazard
due to vehicular traffic. Requires a school board, on
petition of a parent or guardian of a pupil allegedly having
to walk to or from school, pick-up points, or bus stops along
roads or streets where a serious safety hazard due to
vehicular traffic exists, to conduct a study and make
findings (that are to be reviewed by the Department of
Transportation, which makes a final administrative decision)
on that issue.
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1 AN ACT to amend the School Code by changing Section 29-3.
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. 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. 83-1311.)