Full Text of HB0261 100th General Assembly
HB0261eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 29-5 as follows: | 6 | | (105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5) | 7 | | Sec. 29-5. Reimbursement by State for transportation. Any | 8 | | school
district, maintaining a school, transporting resident | 9 | | pupils to another
school district's vocational program, | 10 | | offered through a joint agreement
approved by the State Board | 11 | | of Education, as provided in Section
10-22.22 or transporting | 12 | | its resident pupils to a school which meets the
standards for | 13 | | recognition as established by the State Board of Education
| 14 | | which provides transportation meeting the standards of safety, | 15 | | comfort,
convenience, efficiency and operation prescribed by | 16 | | the State Board of
Education for resident pupils in | 17 | | kindergarten or any of grades 1 through
12 who: (a) reside at | 18 | | least 1 1/2 miles as measured by the customary route of
travel, | 19 | | from the school attended; or (b) reside in areas where | 20 | | conditions are
such that walking constitutes a hazard to the | 21 | | safety of the child when
determined under Section 29-3; and (c) | 22 | | are transported to the school attended
from pick-up points at | 23 | | the beginning of the school day and back again at the
close of |
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| 1 | | the school day or transported to and from their assigned | 2 | | attendance
centers during the school day, shall be reimbursed | 3 | | by the State as hereinafter
provided in this Section.
| 4 | | The State will pay the cost of transporting eligible pupils | 5 | | less the
assessed valuation in a dual school district | 6 | | maintaining secondary
grades 9 to 12 inclusive times a | 7 | | qualifying rate of .05%; in elementary
school districts | 8 | | maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of
.06%; and | 9 | | in unit districts maintaining grades K to 12, including | 10 | | optional elementary unit districts and combined high school - | 11 | | unit districts, times a qualifying
rate of .07%; provided that | 12 | | for optional elementary unit districts and combined high school - | 13 | | unit districts, assessed valuation for high school purposes, | 14 | | as defined in Article 11E of this Code, must be used. To be | 15 | | eligible to receive reimbursement in excess of 4/5
of the cost | 16 | | to transport eligible pupils, a school district shall have a
| 17 | | Transportation Fund tax rate of at least .12%. If a school | 18 | | district
does not have a .12% Transportation Fund tax rate, the | 19 | | amount of its
claim in excess of 4/5 of the cost of | 20 | | transporting pupils shall be
reduced by the sum arrived at by | 21 | | subtracting the Transportation Fund tax
rate from .12% and | 22 | | multiplying that amount by the districts equalized or
assessed | 23 | | valuation, provided, that in no case shall said reduction
| 24 | | result in reimbursement of less than 4/5 of the cost to | 25 | | transport
eligible pupils.
| 26 | | The minimum amount to be received by a district is $16 |
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| 1 | | times the
number of eligible pupils transported.
| 2 | | When calculating the reimbursement for transportation | 3 | | costs, the State Board of Education may not deduct the number | 4 | | of pupils enrolled in early education programs from the number | 5 | | of pupils eligible for reimbursement if the pupils enrolled in | 6 | | the early education programs are transported at the same time | 7 | | as other eligible pupils.
| 8 | | Any such district transporting resident pupils during the | 9 | | school day
to an area vocational school or another school | 10 | | district's vocational
program more than 1 1/2 miles from the | 11 | | school attended, as provided in
Sections 10-22.20a and | 12 | | 10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State for 4/5
of the cost | 13 | | of transporting eligible pupils.
| 14 | | School day means that period of time which the pupil is | 15 | | required to be
in attendance for instructional purposes.
| 16 | | If a pupil is at a location within the school district | 17 | | other than his
residence for child care purposes at the time | 18 | | for transportation to school,
that location may be considered | 19 | | for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles
from the school | 20 | | attended.
| 21 | | Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend | 22 | | any school
other than a public school shall show the number of | 23 | | such children
transported.
| 24 | | Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not be | 25 | | paid for the
transportation of pupils for whom transportation | 26 | | costs are claimed for
payment under other Sections of this Act.
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| 1 | | The allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for | 2 | | regular, vocational,
and special education pupil | 3 | | transportation shall be limited to the sum of
the cost of | 4 | | physical examinations required for employment as a school bus
| 5 | | driver; the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school | 6 | | bus maintenance
personnel; employee benefits excluding | 7 | | Illinois municipal retirement
payments, social security | 8 | | payments, unemployment insurance payments and
workers' | 9 | | compensation insurance premiums; expenditures to independent
| 10 | | carriers who operate school buses; payments to other school | 11 | | districts for
pupil transportation services; pre-approved | 12 | | contractual expenditures for
computerized bus scheduling; | 13 | | expenditures for housing assistance and homeless prevention | 14 | | under Sections 1-17 and 1-18 of the Education for Homeless | 15 | | Children Act that are not in excess of the school district's | 16 | | actual costs for providing transportation services and are not | 17 | | otherwise claimed in another State or Federal grant that | 18 | | permits those costs to a parent, a legal guardian, any other | 19 | | person who enrolled a pupil, or a homeless assistance agency | 20 | | that is part of the Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance | 21 | | Act's continuum of care for the area in which the district is | 22 | | located; the cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other
supplies | 23 | | necessary for the operation of school buses; the cost of
| 24 | | converting buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient | 25 | | engines or to
engines which use alternative energy sources; the | 26 | | cost of travel to
meetings and workshops conducted by the |
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| 1 | | regional superintendent or the
State Superintendent of | 2 | | Education pursuant to the standards established by
the | 3 | | Secretary of State under Section 6-106 of the Illinois Vehicle | 4 | | Code to improve the driving skills of
school bus drivers; the | 5 | | cost of maintenance of school buses including parts
and | 6 | | materials used; expenditures for leasing transportation | 7 | | vehicles,
except interest and service charges; the cost of | 8 | | insurance and licenses for
transportation vehicles; | 9 | | expenditures for the rental of transportation
equipment; plus a | 10 | | depreciation allowance of 20% for 5 years for school
buses and | 11 | | vehicles approved for transporting pupils to and from school | 12 | | and
a depreciation allowance of 10% for 10 years for other | 13 | | transportation
equipment so used.
Each school year, if a school | 14 | | district has made expenditures to the
Regional Transportation | 15 | | Authority or any of its service boards, a mass
transit | 16 | | district, or an urban transportation district under an
| 17 | | intergovernmental agreement with the district to provide for | 18 | | the
transportation of pupils and if the public transit carrier | 19 | | received direct
payment for services or passes from a school | 20 | | district within its service
area during the 2000-2001 school | 21 | | year, then the allowable direct cost of
transporting pupils for | 22 | | regular, vocational, and special education pupil
| 23 | | transportation shall also include the expenditures that the | 24 | | district has
made to the public transit carrier.
In addition to | 25 | | the above allowable costs school
districts shall also claim all | 26 | | transportation supervisory salary costs,
including Illinois |
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| 1 | | municipal retirement payments, and all transportation
related | 2 | | building and building maintenance costs without limitation.
| 3 | | Special education allowable costs shall also include | 4 | | expenditures for the
salaries of attendants or aides for that | 5 | | portion of the time they assist
special education pupils while | 6 | | in transit and expenditures for parents and
public carriers for | 7 | | transporting special education pupils when pre-approved
by the | 8 | | State Superintendent of Education.
| 9 | | Indirect costs shall be included in the reimbursement claim | 10 | | for districts
which own and operate their own school buses. | 11 | | Such indirect costs shall
include administrative costs, or any | 12 | | costs attributable to transporting
pupils from their | 13 | | attendance centers to another school building for
| 14 | | instructional purposes. No school district which owns and | 15 | | operates its own
school buses may claim reimbursement for | 16 | | indirect costs which exceed 5% of
the total allowable direct | 17 | | costs for pupil transportation.
| 18 | | The State Board of Education shall prescribe uniform | 19 | | regulations for
determining the above standards and shall | 20 | | prescribe forms of cost
accounting and standards of determining | 21 | | reasonable depreciation. Such
depreciation shall include the | 22 | | cost of equipping school buses with the
safety features | 23 | | required by law or by the rules, regulations and standards
| 24 | | promulgated by the State Board of Education, and the Department | 25 | | of
Transportation for the safety and construction of school | 26 | | buses provided,
however, any equipment cost reimbursed by the |
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| 1 | | Department of Transportation
for equipping school buses with | 2 | | such safety equipment shall be deducted
from the allowable cost | 3 | | in the computation of reimbursement under this
Section in the | 4 | | same percentage as the cost of the equipment is depreciated.
| 5 | | On or before August 15, annually, the chief school | 6 | | administrator for
the district shall certify to the State | 7 | | Superintendent of Education the
district's claim for | 8 | | reimbursement for the school year ending on June 30
next | 9 | | preceding. The State Superintendent of Education shall check | 10 | | and
approve the claims and prepare the vouchers showing the | 11 | | amounts due for
district reimbursement claims. Each fiscal | 12 | | year, the State
Superintendent of Education shall prepare and | 13 | | transmit the first 3
vouchers to the Comptroller on the 30th | 14 | | day of September, December and
March, respectively, and the | 15 | | final voucher, no later than June 20.
| 16 | | If the amount appropriated for transportation | 17 | | reimbursement is insufficient
to fund total claims for any | 18 | | fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall
reduce each | 19 | | school district's allowable costs and flat grant amount
| 20 | | proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total | 21 | | amount
appropriated.
| 22 | | For purposes of calculating claims for reimbursement under | 23 | | this Section
for any school year beginning July 1, 1998, or | 24 | | thereafter, the
equalized
assessed valuation for a school | 25 | | district used to compute reimbursement
shall be computed in the | 26 | | same manner as it is computed under paragraph (2) of
subsection |
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| 1 | | (G) of Section 18-8.05.
| 2 | | All reimbursements received from the State shall be | 3 | | deposited into the
district's transportation fund or into the | 4 | | fund from which the allowable
expenditures were made.
| 5 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school | 6 | | district receiving
a payment under this Section or under | 7 | | Section 14-7.02, 14-7.02b, or
14-13.01 of this Code may | 8 | | classify all or a portion of the funds that it
receives in a | 9 | | particular fiscal year or from general State aid pursuant to
| 10 | | Section 18-8.05 of this Code
as funds received in connection | 11 | | with any funding program for which it is
entitled to receive | 12 | | funds from the State in that fiscal year (including,
without | 13 | | limitation, any funding program referenced in this Section),
| 14 | | regardless of the source or timing of the receipt. The district | 15 | | may not
classify more funds as funds received in connection | 16 | | with the funding
program than the district is entitled to | 17 | | receive in that fiscal year for that
program. Any
| 18 | | classification by a district must be made by a resolution of | 19 | | its board of
education. The resolution must identify the amount | 20 | | of any payments or
general State aid to be classified under | 21 | | this paragraph and must specify
the funding program to which | 22 | | the funds are to be treated as received in
connection | 23 | | therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
| 24 | | classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of | 25 | | the
resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of | 26 | | Education.
The resolution shall still take effect even though a |
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| 1 | | copy of the resolution has
not been sent to the State
| 2 | | Superintendent of Education in a timely manner.
No
| 3 | | classification under this paragraph by a district shall affect | 4 | | the total amount
or timing of money the district is entitled to | 5 | | receive under this Code.
No classification under this paragraph | 6 | | by a district shall
in any way relieve the district from or | 7 | | affect any
requirements that otherwise would apply with respect | 8 | | to
that funding program, including any
accounting of funds by | 9 | | source, reporting expenditures by
original source and purpose,
| 10 | | reporting requirements,
or requirements of providing services.
| 11 | | Any school district with a population of not more than | 12 | | 500,000
must deposit all funds received under this Article into | 13 | | the transportation
fund and use those funds for the provision | 14 | | of transportation services.
| 15 | | (Source: P.A. 95-903, eff. 8-25-08; 96-1264, eff. 1-1-11 .)
| 16 | | Section 10. The Education for Homeless Children Act is | 17 | | amended by adding Sections 1-17 and 1-18 as follows: | 18 | | (105 ILCS 45/1-17 new) | 19 | | Sec. 1-17. Homeless prevention. | 20 | | (a) If a child is homeless or is at risk of becoming | 21 | | homeless, the school district may: | 22 | | (1) provide rental or mortgage assistance in such | 23 | | amount as will allow the child and his or her parent, his | 24 | | or her guardian, or the person who enrolled the child to |
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| 1 | | remain permanently in their current living situation or | 2 | | obtain a new living situation; | 3 | | (2) provide financial assistance with respect to | 4 | | unpaid bills, loans, or other financial debts that results | 5 | | in housing being considered inadequate pursuant to Section | 6 | | 1-5 of this Act and the Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless | 7 | | Assistance Act; or | 8 | | (3) provide assistance under both items (1) and (2) of | 9 | | this subsection (a). | 10 | | (b) In order to provide homeless prevention assistance | 11 | | under subsection (a) of this Section, a school district shall | 12 | | first make an attempt to provide such assistance through a | 13 | | homeless assistance agency that is part of the Federal | 14 | | McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act's continuum of care for | 15 | | the area in which the school district is located. If the | 16 | | attempts to secure assistance through the applicable continuum | 17 | | of care are unsuccessful, subject to the limitations specified | 18 | | in Section 29-5 of the School Code, transportation funds under | 19 | | Section 29-5 of the School Code may be used for those purposes. | 20 | | (c) Prior to providing homeless prevention assistance | 21 | | pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section, a housing plan must | 22 | | first be approved in writing by the school district and the | 23 | | parent, guardian, or person who enrolled the child. | 24 | | (d) For purposes of this Section: | 25 | | "At risk of becoming homeless" means that documented | 26 | | evidence has been provided by the parent, guardian, or person |
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| 1 | | who enrolled the child that shows that a living situation will, | 2 | | within 8 weeks, cease to become fixed, regular, and adequate | 3 | | and will result in the child becoming homeless within the | 4 | | definition of Section 1-5 of this Act and the Federal | 5 | | McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The documented | 6 | | evidence shall include, but need not be limited to: foreclosure | 7 | | notices, eviction notices, notices indicating that utilities | 8 | | will be shut off or discontinued, or written statements from | 9 | | the parent, guardian, or person who enrolled the child, | 10 | | supplemented by financial documentation, that indicate a loss | 11 | | of income that will prevent the maintenance of a permanent | 12 | | living situation. | 13 | | "Person who enrolled the child" also means an unaccompanied | 14 | | youth. | 15 | | (105 ILCS 45/1-18 new) | 16 | | Sec. 1-18. Legislative intent. It is not the intent of this | 17 | | amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly to require school | 18 | | districts, parents, guardians, or persons who enroll children | 19 | | to enter into housing assistance or homeless prevention plans. | 20 | | It is the intent of this amendatory Act of the 100th General | 21 | | Assembly to permit school districts, parents, guardians, or | 22 | | persons who enroll children to voluntarily enter into housing | 23 | | assistance or homeless prevention plans when both parties agree | 24 | | that those arrangements will be in the best of interest of the | 25 | | child and district.
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| 1 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 2 | | becoming law.
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