093_HB0760sam002

 










                                     LRB093 05395 NHT 15836 a

 1                     AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 760

 2        AMENDMENT NO.     .  Amend House Bill 760, AS AMENDED, in
 3    Section 5, in the introductory clause,  after  "2-3.131",  by
 4    inserting "and changing Section 29-3"; and

 5    in  Section  5,  immediately below Sec. 2-3.131, by inserting
 6    the following:

 7        "(105 ILCS 5/29-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-3)
 8        Sec. 29-3.  Transportation in school  districts.   School
 9    boards  of  community  consolidated districts, community unit
10    districts,  consolidated  districts,  and  consolidated  high
11    school  districts,  and  combined  school  districts  if  the
12    combined district includes any district which was  previously
13    required   to  provide  transportation,  shall  provide  free
14    transportation for pupils residing at a distance of  one  and
15    one-half  miles  or  more  from  any school to which they are
16    assigned for attendance maintained within the district except
17    for those pupils for whom the school board shall  certify  to
18    the State Board of Education that adequate transportation for
19    the public is available.
20        For the purpose of this Act 1 1/2 miles distance shall be
21    from  the exit of the property where the pupil resides to the
22    point where  pupils  are  normally  unloaded  at  the  school
 
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 1    attended;  such distance shall be measured by determining the
 2    shortest distance on normally traveled roads or streets.
 3        Such school board may comply with the provisions of  this
 4    Section  by  providing  free transportation for pupils to and
 5    from an assigned school and a pick-up point located not  more
 6    than  one  and  one-half  miles  from  the home of each pupil
 7    assigned to such point.
 8        For the purposes of this Act "adequate transportation for
 9    the public" shall be assumed to exist for such pupils as  can
10    reach  school  by  walking,  one way, along normally traveled
11    roads or streets less than 1 1/2 miles  irrespective  of  the
12    distance the pupil is transported by public transportation.
13        In  addition  to  the other requirements of this Section,
14    each school board may provide  free  transportation  for  any
15    pupil  residing  within  1 1/2 miles from the school attended
16    where conditions are such that walking, either to or from the
17    school to which a pupil is assigned for attendance or  to  or
18    from  a  pick-up  point  or  bus  stop, constitutes a serious
19    hazard to the safety of the pupil due to vehicular traffic or
20    rail crossings or due to other hazards.  Such  transportation
21    shall  not  be  provided  if  adequate transportation for the
22    public is available.
23        The determination as to what constitutes a serious safety
24    hazard shall be made by the school board, in accordance  with
25    guidelines  promulgated  by  the  regional  superintendent of
26    schools   Illinois   Department   of    Transportation,    in
27    consultation  with  the  Department  of  Transportation  with
28    regard   to   vehicular   traffic  or  rail  crossings  State
29    Superintendent of  Education.  A  school  board,  on  written
30    petition  of  the  parent  or  guardian  of  a pupil for whom
31    adequate transportation for the  public  is  alleged  not  to
32    exist  because  the  pupil is required to walk along normally
33    traveled  roads  or  streets  where  walking  is  alleged  to
34    constitute a serious safety hazard due to  vehicular  traffic
 
                            -3-      LRB093 05395 NHT 15836 a
 1    or  rail  crossings,  or  who is required to walk between the
 2    pupil's home and assigned school or between the pupil's  home
 3    or  assigned  school  and  a  pick-up point or bus stop along
 4    roads or streets where walking is  alleged  to  constitute  a
 5    serious  safety  hazard  due  to  vehicular  traffic  or rail
 6    crossings, shall conduct a study and make findings, which the
 7    regional superintendent of schools, in consultation with  the
 8    Department of Transportation with regard to vehicular traffic
 9    or  rail crossings, shall review and approve or disapprove as
10    provided in this Section,  to  determine  whether  a  serious
11    safety  hazard  exists  as  alleged  in  the  petition.   The
12    regional  superintendent of schools, in consultation with the
13    Department of Transportation with regard to vehicular traffic
14    or rail crossings, shall review the findings  of  the  school
15    board  and  shall  approve  or  disapprove the school board's
16    determination that a serious safety hazard exists  within  30
17    days  after  the  school  board  submits  its findings to the
18    regional superintendent of  schools  Department.  The  school
19    board shall annually review the conditions and certify to the
20    regional State superintendent of schools Education whether or
21    not  the  hazardous conditions remain unchanged. The regional
22    State superintendent of schools Education  may  request  that
23    the  Illinois  Department  of  Transportation verify that the
24    conditions with regard to vehicular traffic or rail crossings
25    have not changed. No action  shall  lie  against  the  school
26    board,  the  regional  superintendent  of  schools, the State
27    Superintendent of Education or  the  Illinois  Department  of
28    Transportation  for  decisions  made  in accordance with this
29    Section. The provisions of the Administrative Review Law  and
30    all  amendments  and  modifications  thereof  and  the  rules
31    adopted  pursuant  thereto  shall  apply  to  and  govern all
32    proceedings instituted  for  the  judicial  review  of  final
33    administrative  decisions  of  the regional superintendent of
34    schools Department of Transportation under this Section.
 
                            -4-      LRB093 05395 NHT 15836 a
 1    (Source: P.A. 90-223, eff. 1-1-98.)".