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S1527................................................by JUDICIARY AND RULES
SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION - Amends existing law to govern determination of the
distance from the school and determination of eligibility for school bus
transportation of students.
02/24 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/25 Rpt prt - to Educ
03/08 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/09 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/14 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-0-3
AYES--Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron,
Danielson, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Hawkins, Ingram,
Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee, McLaughlin, Noh, Parry,
Richardson, Riggs, Risch, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett,
Thorne, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams
NAYS--None
Absent and excused--Crow, Darrington, Sandy
Floor Sponsor - Bunderson
Title apvd - to House
03/15 House intro - 1st rdg - to Educ
S1527
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1527
BY JUDICIARY AND RULES COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS; AMENDING SECTION 33-1501, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO GOVERN DETERMINATION OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE SCHOOL AND DETERMINATION
4 OF ELIGIBILITY FOR TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 33-1501, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 33-1501. TRANSPORTATION AUTHORIZED. (1) To afford more equal opportunity
9 for public school attendance, the board of trustees of each district, includ-
10 ing specially chartered school districts, shall, where practicable, provide
11 transportation for the public school pupils within the district, and pupils
12 resident within adjoining districts annually agreed to in writing by the dis-
13 tricts involved, under conditions and limitations herein set forth. Nonpublic
14 school students may be transported, where practicable, when the full costs for
15 providing such transportation are recovered. In approving the routing of any
16 school bus, or in the maintenance and operation of all such transportation
17 equipment, or in the appointment or employment of chauffeurs school bus driv-
18 ers, the primary requirements to be observed by the board of trustees are the
19 safety and adequate protection of the health of the pupils. Nothing herein
20 contained shall prevent any board of trustees from denying transportation to
21 any pupil in any school bus operated by or under the authority of said board,
22 upon good cause being given, in writing, to the parents or guardian, or either
23 of them, of such pupil.
24 (2) No board of trustees shall be required to provide transportation for
25 any pupil living less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles from the nearest
26 appropriate school. A board of trustees may require pupils who live less than
27 one and one-half (1 1/2) miles from the nearest established bus stop to walk
28 or provide their own transportation to such bus stop. That distance shall be
29 determined by the nearest and best route from the junction of the driveway of
30 the pupil's home and the nearest public road, to the nearest door of the
31 schoolhouse he attends, or to the bus stop, as the case may be. No bus stop
32 shall be established less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles from the nearest
33 appropriate school except when, in the judgment of the board of trustees, the
34 age or health or safety of the pupil warrants.
35 (3) The board of trustees may transport any pupil a lesser distance of
36 less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles when in its the judgment of the board
37 of trustees the age or health or safety of the pupil warrants and such trans-
38 portation is in conformance with the rules of the state board of education. To
39 transport any pupil a distance of less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles,
40 the board of trustees shall conduct an objective evaluation of all such busing
41 locations using a measuring instrument form provided by the state department
42 of education. The board of trustees shall certify the age, health or safety
43 needs justifying such transportation in the application to the state depart-
2
1 ment of education. The local board of trustees shall annually submit the min-
2 utes approving all such busing locations, along with the applicable measuring
3 instrument forms, to the state department of education. The state department
4 of education may conduct on-site safety busing reviews as directed by the
5 state board of education.
6 (4) The board of trustees may transport any ineligible pupil a distance
7 of less than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles when there is no appreciable
8 increase in pupil transportation operational costs. Districts shall furnish
9 the state department of education with an enrollment count of all students
10 living one and one-half (1 1/2) miles or more from the nearest appropriate
11 school by September 30 for the next preceding year.
12 (5) A day care center, family day care home, or a group day care facil-
13 ity, as defined in section 39-1102, Idaho Code, may substitute for the
14 student's residence for student transportation to and from school. School dis-
15 tricts may not transport students between child care facilities and home. Stu-
16 dent transportation between a child care facility and a school will qualify
17 for state reimbursement providing that the child care facility is one and one-
18 half (1 1/2) miles or more from the school to which the student is trans-
19 ported.
20 (6) To effectuate the public policy hereby declared, the board of
21 trustees of any school district may purchase or lease, and maintain and oper-
22 ate school buses and vans, which vans shall not have a seating capacity in
23 excess of fifteen (15) persons; may enter into agreements or contracts for the
24 use of a charter bus or buses; may enter into contracts with individuals,
25 firms, corporations or private carriers; or may make payments to parents or
26 guardians, subject to the limitations herein provided, when transportation is
27 not furnished by the district.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS10182
This legislation deals with the procedures and approval processes to allow
public school districts to bus school children less than the 1 1/2 mile limitation
when the age, health and safety of the pupil warrants.
Presently, when a school district decides to grant an exception to the 1 1/2
bussing rule, the Board rule requires school districts to perform an evaluation.
Then the Department of Education must conduct their own evaluation. Then the
request and results are turned over to the Board of Education for approval.
This legislation eliminates the requirement for the Department of
Education to perform an evaluation unless directed by the Board of Education.
It also provides for a process that allows local school districts to pick up small
children who live less than 1 1/2 miles from the school if there is no appreciable
increase in transportation cost.
FISCAL NOTE
There should be no significant negative fiscal impact. On the contrary, by
eliminating the need for the Department of Education to essentially re-do work
already preformed by the school districs, the school district applications to the
Board for bussing ineligible pupils will process faster plus the Department will
experience time and cost savings.
CONTACT: Senator Hal Bunderson 332-1000
Representative Mike Moyle 332-1000
Rodney McKinight, Department of Education 332-6851
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/ FISCAL NOTE S 1527