Public Act 098-1057
 
HB3662 EnrolledLRB098 13301 NHT 47820 b


  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
29-5.2 as follows:
 



    (105 ILCS 5/29-5.2)  (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5.2)



    Sec. 29-5.2. Reimbursement of transportation. 

    (a) Reimbursement. A
custodian of a qualifying pupil shall 
be entitled to reimbursement in
accordance with procedures 
established by the State Board of Education for
qualified 
transportation expenses paid by such custodian during the 
school
year.

    (b) Definitions. As used in this Section:

    (1) "Qualifying pupil" means an individual referred to in 
subsection
(c), as well as an individual who:

    (A) is a resident of the State of Illinois; and

    (B) is under the age of 21 at the close of the school year 
for which
reimbursement is sought; and

    (C) during the school year for which reimbursement is 
sought was a
full-time pupil enrolled in a kindergarten through 
12th grade educational
program at a school which was a distance 
of 1 1/2 miles or more from the
residence of such pupil; and

    (D) did not live within 1 1/2 miles from the school in 
which the pupil
was enrolled or have access to transportation 
provided entirely at public
expense to and from that school and 
a point within 1 1/2 miles of the
pupil's residence, measured 
in a manner consistent with Section 29-3.

    (2) "Qualified transportation expenses" means costs 
reasonably incurred
by the custodian to transport, for the 
purposes of attending regularly
scheduled day-time classes, a 
qualifying pupil between such qualifying
pupil's residence and 
the school at which such qualifying pupil is
enrolled, as 
limited in subsection (e) of this Section, and shall include

automobile expenses at the standard mileage rate allowed by the 
United States
Internal Revenue Service as reimbursement for 
business transportation
expense, as well as payments to mass 
transit carriers, private carriers,
and contractual fees for 
transportation.

    (3) "School" means a public or nonpublic elementary or 
secondary school
in Illinois, attendance at which satisfies the 
requirements of Section 26-1.

    (4) One and one-half miles distance. For the purposes of 
this Section, 1
1/2 miles distance shall be measured in a 
manner consistent with Section 29-3.

    (5) Custodian. The term "custodian" shall mean, with 
respect to a
qualifying pupil, an Illinois resident who is the 
parent, or parents,
or legal guardian of such qualifying pupil.

    (c) An individual, resident of the State of Illinois, who 
is under
the age of 21 at the close of the
school year for which 
reimbursement is sought and who, during that school
year, was a 
full time pupil enrolled in a kindergarten through 12th grade

educational program at a school which was within 1 1/2 miles of 
the pupil's
residence, measured in a manner consistent with 
Section 29-3, is a
"qualifying pupil" within the meaning of 
this Section if (i) such pupil attends public school in a 
school district organized under Article 34 of this Code and 
must walk or otherwise travel along a safe passage route, as 
designated by
the school board, to reach school or return home 
or
(ii) :  (i) such pupil
did not have access to transportation 
provided entirely at public expense
to and from that school and 
the pupil's residence, and (ii) conditions were
such that 
walking would have constituted a serious hazard to the safety 
of
the pupil due to vehicular traffic.  The determination of 
what constitutes
a serious safety hazard within the meaning of 
this subsection shall in each
case be made by the Department of 
Transportation in accordance with
guidelines which the 
Department, in consultation with the State
Superintendent of 
Education, shall promulgate.  Each custodian intending to
file 
an application for reimbursement under subsection (d) for 
expenditures
incurred or to be incurred with respect to a pupil 
asserted to be a
qualified pupil as an individual referred to 
in this subsection shall first
file with the appropriate 
regional superintendent, on forms provided by the
State Board 
of Education, a request for a determination that a serious

safety hazard within the meaning of this subsection (c) exists 
with respect
to such pupil.  Custodians shall file such forms 
with the appropriate
regional superintendents not later than 
February 1 of the school year for
which reimbursement will be 
sought for transmittal by the regional
superintendents to the 
Department of Transportation not later than February
15; except 
that any custodian who previously received a determination
that 
a serious safety hazard exists need not resubmit such a request 
for 4
years but instead may certify on their application for 
reimbursement to the State
Board of Education referred to in 
subsection (d), that the conditions found
to be hazardous, as 
previously determined by the Department, remain
unchanged. The 
Department shall make its determination on all requests so

transmitted to it within 30 days, and shall thereupon forward 
notice of
each determination which it has made to the 
appropriate regional
superintendent for immediate transmittal 
to the custodian affected thereby.
The determination of the 
Department relative to what constitutes a serious
safety hazard 
within the meaning of subsection (c) with respect to any
pupil 
shall be deemed an "administrative decision" as defined in 
Section
3-101 of the Administrative Review Law; and the 
Administrative Review Law
and all amendments and modifications 
thereof and rules adopted pursuant
thereto shall apply to and 
govern all proceedings instituted for the
judicial review of 
final administrative decisions of the Department of

Transportation under this subsection.

    (d) Request for reimbursement. A custodian, including a

custodian for a pupil asserted to be a qualified pupil as an 
individual
referred to in subsection (c), who applies in 
accordance
with procedures established by the State Board of 
Education shall be
reimbursed in accordance with the dollar 
limits set out in this Section.
Such procedures shall require 
application no later than June 30 of each
year, documentation 
as to eligibility, and adequate evidence of
expenditures; 
except that for reimbursement sought pursuant to subsection
(c) 
for the 1985-1986 school year, such procedures shall require

application within 21 days after the determination of the 
Department of
Transportation with respect to that school year 
is transmitted by the
regional superintendent to the affected 
custodian. In the absence of
contemporaneous records, an 
affidavit by
the custodian may be accepted as evidence of an 
expenditure.  If the amount
appropriated for such reimbursement 
for any year is less than the amount
due each custodian, it 
shall be apportioned on the basis of the requests
approved. 
Regional Superintendents shall be reimbursed for such costs of

administering the program, including costs incurred in 
administering the
provisions of subsection (c), as the State 
Board of Education determines are
reasonable and necessary.

    (e) Dollar limit on amount of reimbursement. Reimbursement 
to custodians
for transportation expenses incurred during the 
1985-1986 school year,
payable in fiscal year 1987, shall be 
equal to the lesser of (1) the actual
qualified transportation 
expenses, or (2) $50 per pupil. Reimbursement to
custodians for 
transportation expenses incurred during the 1986-1987 school

year, payable in fiscal year 1988, shall be equal to the lesser 
of (1) the
actual qualified transportation expenses, or (2) 
$100 per pupil. For
reimbursements of qualified transportation 
expenses incurred in 1987-1988
and thereafter, the amount of 
reimbursement shall not exceed the prior
year's State 
reimbursement per pupil for transporting pupils as required by

Section 29-3 and other provisions of this Article.

    (f) Rules and regulations. The State Board of Education

shall adopt rules to implement this Section.

    (g) The provisions of this amendatory Act of 1986 shall 
apply according to
their terms to the entire 1985-1986 school 
year, including any portion of
that school year which elapses 
prior to the effective date of this
amendatory Act, and to each 
subsequent school year.

    (h) The chief administrative officer of each school shall 
notify
custodians of qualifying pupils that reimbursements are 
available.
Notification shall occur by the first Monday in 
November of the school year
for which reimbursement is 
available.

(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)