093_HB3232

 
                                     LRB093 07355 NHT 12117 b

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

17        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
18    becoming law.