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| 1 | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly recently passed | ||||||
| 3 | Senate Bill 1582, which allows students kindergarten through | ||||||
| 4 | 12th grade with an Individualized Education Plan, a student to | ||||||
| 5 | staff ratio of five to one, or are attending Acacia Academy, | ||||||
| 6 | Alexander Leigh, Marklund, Helping Hands Center, Connections | ||||||
| 7 | Organization, or New Horizon Academy to be transported in a | ||||||
| 8 | multi-function school activity bus for any curriculum-related | ||||||
| 9 | activity except for transportation on regular bus routes from | ||||||
| 10 | home to school or from school to home; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, The use of multi-function school activity buses in | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois has been based on the recommendations of the National | ||||||
| 13 | Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The National Highway Traffic Safety | ||||||
| 15 | Administration has reported that its data indicates that | ||||||
| 16 | "pre-primary, elementary, and secondary schools should not use | ||||||
| 17 | 12- or 15-passenger vans for transporting students because they | ||||||
| 18 | do not provide the same level of safety as school buses meeting | ||||||
| 19 | NHTSA's safety standards"; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The safe transportation of elementary and | ||||||
| 21 | secondary education students is an important public policy | ||||||
| 22 | issue; therefore, be it
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 2 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | ||||||
| 3 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Task Force on | ||||||
| 4 | Modes of School Transportation for Elementary and Secondary | ||||||
| 5 | Education, consisting of members appointed as follows: the | ||||||
| 6 | State Superintendent of Education or his or her designee, who | ||||||
| 7 | shall serve as chair; the Secretary of State or his or her | ||||||
| 8 | designee; the Secretary of Transportation or his or her | ||||||
| 9 | designee; a member of the Illinois Senate appointed by the | ||||||
| 10 | President of the Senate; a member of the Illinois Senate | ||||||
| 11 | appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; a member of the | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of | ||||||
| 13 | the House; a member of the Illinois House of Representatives | ||||||
| 14 | appointed by the Minority Leader of the House; a representative | ||||||
| 15 | of ED-RED; a representative of the Illinois Association of | ||||||
| 16 | Private Special Education Centers; a representative of the | ||||||
| 17 | Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools; a | ||||||
| 18 | representative of the Illinois Education Association; a | ||||||
| 19 | representative of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; a | ||||||
| 20 | representative of the Illinois School Transportation | ||||||
| 21 | Association; a representative of the Large Unit District | ||||||
| 22 | Association; a representative of the Legislative Education | ||||||
| 23 | Network of DuPage; a representative of the South Cooperative | ||||||
| 24 | Organization for Public Education; and a representative of the | ||||||
| 25 | Statewide School Management Association; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall conduct a thorough | ||||||
| 2 | review of existing State and federal laws regarding the use of | ||||||
| 3 | the various modes to transport elementary and secondary | ||||||
| 4 | education students and develop concise and consistent | ||||||
| 5 | information to be communicated by the State Board of Education, | ||||||
| 6 | the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Secretary of | ||||||
| 7 | State to the public about the legal means by which elementary | ||||||
| 8 | and secondary education students may be transported, such as | ||||||
| 9 | the type of vehicle and the required equipment to transport | ||||||
| 10 | elementary and secondary education students, the allowed | ||||||
| 11 | purpose of the transportation and any other limits of | ||||||
| 12 | transportation of elementary and secondary education students | ||||||
| 13 | by vehicle type, the type of driver's license required to | ||||||
| 14 | transport elementary and secondary education students, and the | ||||||
| 15 | requirements for driver licensing and vehicle licensing and | ||||||
| 16 | inspection; and be it further | ||||||
| 17 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall seek input from | ||||||
| 18 | stakeholders and members of the public on the issues to be | ||||||
| 19 | reviewed and reported on by the Task Force; and be it further | ||||||
| 20 | RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall serve | ||||||
| 21 | without compensation; the State Board of Education shall | ||||||
| 22 | provide administrative and other support to the Task Force; and | ||||||
| 23 | be it further | ||||||
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall meet at the request of | ||||||
| 2 | the Task Force Chair, but shall meet a minimum of four times | ||||||
| 3 | prior to September 1, 2017; and be it further | ||||||
| 4 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall present its legislative | ||||||
| 5 | and administrative recommendations to the President of the | ||||||
| 6 | Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the | ||||||
| 7 | House, and the Minority Leader of the House no later than | ||||||
| 8 | September 1, 2017.
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