Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB0261
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Full Text of HB0261  100th General Assembly

HB0261ham001 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Michelle Mussman

Filed: 4/20/2017

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 261

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 261 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
529-5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/29-5)  (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5)
7    Sec. 29-5. Reimbursement by State for transportation. Any
8school district, maintaining a school, transporting resident
9pupils to another school district's vocational program,
10offered through a joint agreement approved by the State Board
11of Education, as provided in Section 10-22.22 or transporting
12its resident pupils to a school which meets the standards for
13recognition as established by the State Board of Education
14which provides transportation meeting the standards of safety,
15comfort, convenience, efficiency and operation prescribed by
16the State Board of Education for resident pupils in

 

 

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1kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12 who: (a) reside at
2least 1 1/2 miles as measured by the customary route of travel,
3from the school attended; or (b) reside in areas where
4conditions are such that walking constitutes a hazard to the
5safety of the child when determined under Section 29-3; and (c)
6are transported to the school attended from pick-up points at
7the beginning of the school day and back again at the close of
8the school day or transported to and from their assigned
9attendance centers during the school day, shall be reimbursed
10by the State as hereinafter provided in this Section.
11    The State will pay the cost of transporting eligible pupils
12less the assessed valuation in a dual school district
13maintaining secondary grades 9 to 12 inclusive times a
14qualifying rate of .05%; in elementary school districts
15maintaining grades K to 8 times a qualifying rate of .06%; and
16in unit districts maintaining grades K to 12, including
17optional elementary unit districts and combined high school -
18unit districts, times a qualifying rate of .07%; provided that
19for optional elementary unit districts and combined high school -
20 unit districts, assessed valuation for high school purposes,
21as defined in Article 11E of this Code, must be used. To be
22eligible to receive reimbursement in excess of 4/5 of the cost
23to transport eligible pupils, a school district shall have a
24Transportation Fund tax rate of at least .12%. If a school
25district does not have a .12% Transportation Fund tax rate, the
26amount of its claim in excess of 4/5 of the cost of

 

 

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1transporting pupils shall be reduced by the sum arrived at by
2subtracting the Transportation Fund tax rate from .12% and
3multiplying that amount by the districts equalized or assessed
4valuation, provided, that in no case shall said reduction
5result in reimbursement of less than 4/5 of the cost to
6transport eligible pupils.
7    The minimum amount to be received by a district is $16
8times the number of eligible pupils transported.
9    When calculating the reimbursement for transportation
10costs, the State Board of Education may not deduct the number
11of pupils enrolled in early education programs from the number
12of pupils eligible for reimbursement if the pupils enrolled in
13the early education programs are transported at the same time
14as other eligible pupils.
15    Any such district transporting resident pupils during the
16school day to an area vocational school or another school
17district's vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the
18school attended, as provided in Sections 10-22.20a and
1910-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State for 4/5 of the cost
20of transporting eligible pupils.
21    School day means that period of time which the pupil is
22required to be in attendance for instructional purposes.
23    If a pupil is at a location within the school district
24other than his residence for child care purposes at the time
25for transportation to school, that location may be considered
26for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from the school

 

 

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1attended.
2    Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend
3any school other than a public school shall show the number of
4such children transported.
5    Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not be
6paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation
7costs are claimed for payment under other Sections of this Act.
8    The allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for
9regular, vocational, and special education pupil
10transportation shall be limited to the sum of the cost of
11physical examinations required for employment as a school bus
12driver; the salaries of full or part-time drivers and school
13bus maintenance personnel; employee benefits excluding
14Illinois municipal retirement payments, social security
15payments, unemployment insurance payments and workers'
16compensation insurance premiums; expenditures to independent
17carriers who operate school buses; payments to other school
18districts for pupil transportation services; pre-approved
19contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling;
20expenditures for housing assistance and homeless prevention
21under Sections 1-17 and 1-18 of the Education for Homeless
22Children Act that are not in excess of the school district's
23actual costs for providing transportation services and are not
24otherwise claimed in another State or federal grant that
25permits those costs to a parent, a legal guardian, any other
26person who enrolled a pupil, or a homeless assistance agency

 

 

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1that is part of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
2Act's continuum of care for the area in which the district is
3located; the cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other supplies
4necessary for the operation of school buses; the cost of
5converting buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient
6engines or to engines which use alternative energy sources; the
7cost of travel to meetings and workshops conducted by the
8regional superintendent or the State Superintendent of
9Education pursuant to the standards established by the
10Secretary of State under Section 6-106 of the Illinois Vehicle
11Code to improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the
12cost of maintenance of school buses including parts and
13materials used; expenditures for leasing transportation
14vehicles, except interest and service charges; the cost of
15insurance and licenses for transportation vehicles;
16expenditures for the rental of transportation equipment; plus a
17depreciation allowance of 20% for 5 years for school buses and
18vehicles approved for transporting pupils to and from school
19and a depreciation allowance of 10% for 10 years for other
20transportation equipment so used. Each school year, if a school
21district has made expenditures to the Regional Transportation
22Authority or any of its service boards, a mass transit
23district, or an urban transportation district under an
24intergovernmental agreement with the district to provide for
25the transportation of pupils and if the public transit carrier
26received direct payment for services or passes from a school

 

 

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1district within its service area during the 2000-2001 school
2year, then the allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for
3regular, vocational, and special education pupil
4transportation shall also include the expenditures that the
5district has made to the public transit carrier. In addition to
6the above allowable costs school districts shall also claim all
7transportation supervisory salary costs, including Illinois
8municipal retirement payments, and all transportation related
9building and building maintenance costs without limitation.
10    Special education allowable costs shall also include
11expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that
12portion of the time they assist special education pupils while
13in transit and expenditures for parents and public carriers for
14transporting special education pupils when pre-approved by the
15State Superintendent of Education.
16    Indirect costs shall be included in the reimbursement claim
17for districts which own and operate their own school buses.
18Such indirect costs shall include administrative costs, or any
19costs attributable to transporting pupils from their
20attendance centers to another school building for
21instructional purposes. No school district which owns and
22operates its own school buses may claim reimbursement for
23indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable direct
24costs for pupil transportation.
25    The State Board of Education shall prescribe uniform
26regulations for determining the above standards and shall

 

 

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1prescribe forms of cost accounting and standards of determining
2reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation shall include the
3cost of equipping school buses with the safety features
4required by law or by the rules, regulations and standards
5promulgated by the State Board of Education, and the Department
6of Transportation for the safety and construction of school
7buses provided, however, any equipment cost reimbursed by the
8Department of Transportation for equipping school buses with
9such safety equipment shall be deducted from the allowable cost
10in the computation of reimbursement under this Section in the
11same percentage as the cost of the equipment is depreciated.
12    On or before August 15, annually, the chief school
13administrator for the district shall certify to the State
14Superintendent of Education the district's claim for
15reimbursement for the school year ending on June 30 next
16preceding. The State Superintendent of Education shall check
17and approve the claims and prepare the vouchers showing the
18amounts due for district reimbursement claims. Each fiscal
19year, the State Superintendent of Education shall prepare and
20transmit the first 3 vouchers to the Comptroller on the 30th
21day of September, December and March, respectively, and the
22final voucher, no later than June 20.
23    If the amount appropriated for transportation
24reimbursement is insufficient to fund total claims for any
25fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall reduce each
26school district's allowable costs and flat grant amount

 

 

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1proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total
2amount appropriated.
3    For purposes of calculating claims for reimbursement under
4this Section for any school year beginning July 1, 1998, or
5thereafter, the equalized assessed valuation for a school
6district used to compute reimbursement shall be computed in the
7same manner as it is computed under paragraph (2) of subsection
8(G) of Section 18-8.05.
9    All reimbursements received from the State shall be
10deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the
11fund from which the allowable expenditures were made.
12    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school
13district receiving a payment under this Section or under
14Section 14-7.02, 14-7.02b, or 14-13.01 of this Code may
15classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
16particular fiscal year or from general State aid pursuant to
17Section 18-8.05 of this Code as funds received in connection
18with any funding program for which it is entitled to receive
19funds from the State in that fiscal year (including, without
20limitation, any funding program referenced in this Section),
21regardless of the source or timing of the receipt. The district
22may not classify more funds as funds received in connection
23with the funding program than the district is entitled to
24receive in that fiscal year for that program. Any
25classification by a district must be made by a resolution of
26its board of education. The resolution must identify the amount

 

 

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1of any payments or general State aid to be classified under
2this paragraph and must specify the funding program to which
3the funds are to be treated as received in connection
4therewith. This resolution is controlling as to the
5classification of funds referenced therein. A certified copy of
6the resolution must be sent to the State Superintendent of
7Education. The resolution shall still take effect even though a
8copy of the resolution has not been sent to the State
9Superintendent of Education in a timely manner. No
10classification under this paragraph by a district shall affect
11the total amount or timing of money the district is entitled to
12receive under this Code. No classification under this paragraph
13by a district shall in any way relieve the district from or
14affect any requirements that otherwise would apply with respect
15to that funding program, including any accounting of funds by
16source, reporting expenditures by original source and purpose,
17reporting requirements, or requirements of providing services.
18    Any school district with a population of not more than
19500,000 must deposit all funds received under this Article into
20the transportation fund and use those funds for the provision
21of transportation services.
22(Source: P.A. 95-903, eff. 8-25-08; 96-1264, eff. 1-1-11.)
 
23    Section 10. The Education for Homeless Children Act is
24amended by adding Sections 1-17 and 1-18 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (105 ILCS 45/1-17 new)
2    Sec. 1-17. Homeless prevention.
3    (a) If a child is at risk of becoming homeless, the school
4district may:
5        (1) provide rental or mortgage assistance in such
6    amount as will allow the child and his or her parent, his
7    or her guardian, or the person who enrolled the child to
8    remain permanently in their current living situation;
9        (2) provide financial assistance with respect to
10    unpaid bills, loans, or other financial debts that results
11    in housing being considered inadequate pursuant to Section
12    1-5 of this Act and the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless
13    Assistance Act; or
14        (3) provide assistance under both items (1) and (2) of
15    this subsection (a).
16    (b) In order to provide homeless prevention assistance
17under subsection (a) of this Section, a school district shall
18first make an attempt to provide such assistance through a
19homeless assistance agency that is part of the federal
20McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act's continuum of care for
21the area in which the school district is located. If the
22attempts to secure assistance through the applicable continuum
23of care are unsuccessful, subject to the limitations specified
24in Section 29-5 of the School Code, transportation funds under
25Section 29-5 of the School Code may be used for those purposes.
26    (c) Prior to providing homeless prevention assistance

 

 

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1pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section, a housing plan must
2first be approved in writing by the school district and the
3parent, guardian, or person who enrolled the child.
4    (d) For purposes of this Section:
5    "At risk of becoming homeless" means that documented
6evidence has been provided by the parent, guardian, or person
7who enrolled the child that shows that a living situation will,
8within 8 weeks, cease to become fixed, regular, and adequate
9and will result in the child becoming homeless within the
10definition of Section 1-5 of this Act and the federal
11McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The documented
12evidence shall include, but need not be limited to: foreclosure
13notices, eviction notices, notices indicating that utilities
14will be shut off or discontinued, or written statements from
15the parent, guardian, or person who enrolled the child,
16supplemented by financial documentation, that indicate a loss
17of income that will prevent the maintenance of a permanent
18living situation.
19    "Person who enrolled the child" also means an unaccompanied
20youth.
 
21    (105 ILCS 45/1-18 new)
22    Sec. 1-18. Legislative intent. It is not the intent of this
23amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly to require school
24districts, parents, guardians, or persons who enroll children
25to enter into housing assistance or homeless prevention plans.

 

 

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1It is the intent of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
2Assembly to permit school districts, parents, guardians, or
3persons who enroll children to voluntarily enter into housing
4assistance or homeless prevention plans when both parties agree
5that those arrangements will be in the best of interest of the
6child and district.
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.".