093_SB1949ham001 LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1949 2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend Senate Bill 1949 by replacing 3 everything after the enacting clause with the following: 4 "Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding 5 Sections 10-20.37 and 34-18.26 and changing Sections 17-8 and 6 29-5 as follows: 7 (105 ILCS 5/10-20.37 new) 8 Sec. 10-20.37. Deposit of State reimbursements for 9 mandated categorical programs. Notwithstanding any other law 10 to the contrary, reimbursements received from the State under 11 Sections 14-7.02, 14-7.02a, 14-7.03, 14-13.01, 18-3, 18-4.3, 12 and 29-5 of this Code and the School Breakfast and Lunch 13 Program Act may be deposited into any school district fund, 14 as determined by the school board. 15 (105 ILCS 5/34-18.26 new) 16 Sec. 34-18.26. Deposit of State reimbursements for 17 mandated categorical programs. Notwithstanding any other law 18 to the contrary, reimbursements received from the State under 19 Sections 14-7.02, 14-7.02a, 14-7.03, 14-13.01, 18-3, 18-4.3, 20 and 29-5 of this Code and the School Breakfast and Lunch 21 Program Act may be deposited into any school district fund, -2- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 as determined by the board. 2 (105 ILCS 5/17-8) (from Ch. 122, par. 17-8) 3 Sec. 17-8. Transportation costs paid from transportation 4 fund. Any transportation operating costs incurred for 5 transporting pupils to and from school and school sponsored 6 activities and the costs of acquiring equipment shall be paid 7 from a transportation fund to consist of moneys received from 8 any tax levy for such purpose, State reimbursement for 9 transportation, as determined by the school board and except 10 as provided in Section 29-5, all funds received from other 11 districts for transporting pupils and any charges for 12 transportation services rendered to individuals or auxiliary 13 enterprises of the school. 14 For the purpose of this Act "transportation operating 15 cost" shall include all costs of transportation except 16 interest and rental of building facilities. 17 (Source: P.A. 85-581.) 18 (105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5) 19 Sec. 29-5. Reimbursement by State for transportation. 20 Any school district, maintaining a school, transporting 21 resident pupils to another school district's vocational 22 program, offered through a joint agreement approved by the 23 State Board of Education, as provided in Section 10-22.22 or 24 transporting its resident pupils to a school which meets the 25 standards for recognition as established by the State Board 26 of Education which provides transportation meeting the 27 standards of safety, comfort, convenience, efficiency and 28 operation prescribed by the State Board of Education for 29 resident pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12 30 who: (a) reside at least 1 1/2 miles as measured by the 31 customary route of travel, from the school attended; or (b) 32 reside in areas where conditions are such that walking -3- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 constitutes a hazard to the safety of the child when 2 determined under Section 29-3; and (c) are transported to the 3 school attended from pick-up points at the beginning of the 4 school day and back again at the close of the school day or 5 transported to and from their assigned attendance centers 6 during the school day, shall be reimbursed by the State as 7 hereinafter provided in this Section. 8 The State will pay the cost of transporting eligible 9 pupils less the assessed valuation in a dual school district 10 maintaining secondary grades 9 to 12 inclusive times a 11 qualifying rate of .05%; in elementary school districts 12 maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of .06%; in 13 unit districts maintaining grades K to 12 times a qualifying 14 rate of .07%. To be eligible to receive reimbursement in 15 excess of 4/5 of the cost to transport eligible pupils, a 16 school district shall have a Transportation Fund tax rate of 17 at least .12%. If a school district does not have a .12% 18 Transportation Fund tax rate, the amount of its claim in 19 excess of 4/5 of the cost of transporting pupils shall be 20 reduced by the sum arrived at by subtracting the 21 Transportation Fund tax rate from .12% and multiplying that 22 amount by the districts equalized or assessed valuation, 23 provided, that in no case shall said reduction result in 24 reimbursement of less than 4/5 of the cost to transport 25 eligible pupils. 26 The minimum amount to be received by a district is $16 27 times the number of eligible pupils transported. 28 Any such district transporting resident pupils during the 29 school day to an area vocational school or another school 30 district's vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the 31 school attended, as provided in Sections 10-22.20a and 32 10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State for 4/5 of the 33 cost of transporting eligible pupils. 34 School day means that period of time which the pupil is -4- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 required to be in attendance for instructional purposes. 2 If a pupil is at a location within the school district 3 other than his residence for child care purposes at the time 4 for transportation to school, that location may be considered 5 for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from the school 6 attended. 7 Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend 8 any school other than a public school shall show the number 9 of such children transported. 10 Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not be 11 paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation 12 costs are claimed for payment under other Sections of this 13 Act. 14 The allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for 15 regular, vocational, and special education pupil 16 transportation shall be limited to the sum of the cost of 17 physical examinations required for employment as a school bus 18 driver; the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school 19 bus maintenance personnel; employee benefits excluding 20 Illinois municipal retirement payments, social security 21 payments, unemployment insurance payments and workers' 22 compensation insurance premiums; expenditures to independent 23 carriers who operate school buses; payments to other school 24 districts for pupil transportation services; pre-approved 25 contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling; the 26 cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other supplies necessary 27 for the operation of school buses; the cost of converting 28 buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient engines or to 29 engines which use alternative energy sources; the cost of 30 travel to meetings and workshops conducted by the regional 31 superintendent or the State Superintendent of Education 32 pursuant to the standards established by the Secretary of 33 State under Section 6-106 of the Illinois Vehicle Code to 34 improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the cost of -5- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 maintenance of school buses including parts and materials 2 used; expenditures for leasing transportation vehicles, 3 except interest and service charges; the cost of insurance 4 and licenses for transportation vehicles; expenditures for 5 the rental of transportation equipment; plus a depreciation 6 allowance of 20% for 5 years for school buses and vehicles 7 approved for transporting pupils to and from school and a 8 depreciation allowance of 10% for 10 years for other 9 transportation equipment so used. In addition to the above 10 allowable costs school districts shall also claim all 11 transportation supervisory salary costs, including Illinois 12 municipal retirement payments, and all transportation related 13 building and building maintenance costs without limitation. 14 Special education allowable costs shall also include 15 expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that 16 portion of the time they assist special education pupils 17 while in transit and expenditures for parents and public 18 carriers for transporting special education pupils when 19 pre-approved by the State Superintendent of Education. 20 Indirect costs shall be included in the reimbursement 21 claim for districts which own and operate their own school 22 buses. Such indirect costs shall include administrative 23 costs, or any costs attributable to transporting pupils from 24 their attendance centers to another school building for 25 instructional purposes. No school district which owns and 26 operates its own school buses may claim reimbursement for 27 indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable direct 28 costs for pupil transportation. 29 The State Board of Education shall prescribe uniform 30 regulations for determining the above standards and shall 31 prescribe forms of cost accounting and standards of 32 determining reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation shall 33 include the cost of equipping school buses with the safety 34 features required by law or by the rules, regulations and -6- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 standards promulgated by the State Board of Education, and 2 the Department of Transportation for the safety and 3 construction of school buses provided, however, any equipment 4 cost reimbursed by the Department of Transportation for 5 equipping school buses with such safety equipment shall be 6 deducted from the allowable cost in the computation of 7 reimbursement under this Section in the same percentage as 8 the cost of the equipment is depreciated. 9 On or before July 10, annually, the board clerk or the 10 secretary of the district shall certify to the regional 11 superintendent of schools upon forms prescribed by the State 12 Superintendent of Education the district's claim for 13 reimbursement for the school year ended on June 30 next 14 preceding. The regional superintendent of schools shall 15 check all transportation claims to ascertain compliance with 16 the prescribed standards and upon his approval shall certify 17 not later than July 25 to the State Superintendent of 18 Education the regional report of claims for reimbursements. 19 The State Superintendent of Education shall check and approve 20 the claims and prepare the vouchers showing the amounts due 21 for district reimbursement claims. Beginning with the 1977 22 fiscal year, the State Superintendent of Education shall 23 prepare and transmit the first 3 vouchers to the Comptroller 24 on the 30th day of September, December and March, 25 respectively, and the final voucher, no later than June 15. 26 If the amount appropriated for transportation 27 reimbursement is insufficient to fund total claims for any 28 fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall reduce each 29 school district's allowable costs and flat grant amount 30 proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total 31 amount appropriated. 32 For purposes of calculating claims for reimbursement 33 under this Section for any school year beginning July 1, 34 1998, or thereafter, the equalized assessed valuation for a -7- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 school district used to compute reimbursement shall be 2 computed in the same manner as it is computed under paragraph 3 (2) of subsection (G) of Section 18-8.05. 4All reimbursements received from the State shall be5deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the6fund from which the allowable expenditures were made.7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school 8 district receiving a payment under this Section or under 9 Section 14-7.02, 14-7.02a, or 14-13.01 of this Code may 10 classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a 11 particular fiscal year or from general State aid pursuant to 12 Section 18-8.05 of this Code as funds received in connection 13 with any funding program for which it is entitled to receive 14 funds from the State in that fiscal year (including, without 15 limitation, any funding program referenced in this Section), 16 regardless of the source or timing of the receipt. The 17 district may not classify more funds as funds received in 18 connection with the funding program than the district is 19 entitled to receive in that fiscal year for that program. 20 Any classification by a district must be made by a resolution 21 of its board of education. The resolution must identify the 22 amount of any payments or general State aid to be classified 23 under this paragraph and must specify the funding program to 24 which the funds are to be treated as received in connection 25 therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the 26 classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy 27 of the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of 28 Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though 29 a copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State 30 Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No 31 classification under this paragraph by a district shall 32 affect the total amount or timing of money the district is 33 entitled to receive under this Code. No classification 34 under this paragraph by a district shall in any way relieve -8- LRB093 08899 NHT 17126 a 1 the district from or affect any requirements that otherwise 2 would apply with respect to that funding program, including 3 any accounting of funds by source, reporting expenditures by 4 original source and purpose, reporting requirements, or 5 requirements of providing services. 6Any school district with a population of not more than7500,000 must deposit all funds received under this Article8into the transportation fund and use those funds for the9provision of transportation services.10 (Source: P.A. 91-96, eff. 7-9-99; 92-568, eff. 6-26-02.) 11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 12 becoming law.".