Bill Text: FL S0188 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Public School Transportation

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Appropriations Subcommittee on Pre-K - 12 Education [S0188 Detail]

Download: Florida-2018-S0188-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 188
       
       
        
       By Senator Steube
       
       
       
       
       
       23-00195A-18                                           2018188__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public school transportation;
    3         amending s. 1006.21, F.S.; requiring district school
    4         boards to provide transportation to certain students;
    5         amending s. 1006.23, F.S.; revising the definition of
    6         the term “student”; revising the speed and road
    7         conditions that meet the requirements for a hazardous
    8         walking condition; requiring a district school
    9         superintendent to request a review of a hazardous
   10         walking condition upon receipt of a written request
   11         from a parent of a student; amending ss. 1002.20 and
   12         1011.68, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made
   13         by the act; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of
   18  section 1006.21, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   19         1006.21 Duties of district school superintendent and
   20  district school board regarding transportation.—
   21         (3) District school boards, after considering
   22  recommendations of the district school superintendent:
   23         (a) Shall provide transportation for each student in
   24  prekindergarten disability programs and in kindergarten through
   25  grade 12 membership in a public school when, and only when,
   26  transportation is necessary to provide adequate educational
   27  facilities and opportunities that which otherwise would not be
   28  available and to transport students whose homes are more than
   29  1.5 miles a reasonable walking distance, as defined by rules of
   30  the State Board of Education, from the nearest appropriate
   31  school.
   32         (b) Shall provide transportation for public elementary
   33  school students in membership whose grade level does not exceed
   34  grade 6, and may provide transportation for public school
   35  students in membership in grades 7 through 12, if they such
   36  students are subjected to hazardous walking conditions as
   37  provided in s. 1006.23 while en route to or from school.
   38         Section 2. Subsection (1), paragraphs (a) and (c) of
   39  subsection (2), and paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
   40  1006.23, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   41         1006.23 Hazardous walking conditions.—
   42         (1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term “student”
   43  means any public elementary school student in kindergarten
   44  through grade 12 whose grade level does not exceed grade 6.
   45         (2) HAZARDOUS WALKING CONDITIONS.—
   46         (a) Walkways parallel to the road.—
   47         1. It shall be considered a hazardous walking condition
   48  with respect to any road along which students must walk in order
   49  to walk to and from school if there is not an area at least 4
   50  feet wide adjacent to the road, not including drainage ditches,
   51  sluiceways, swales, or channels, having a surface upon which
   52  students may walk without being required to walk on the road
   53  surface. In addition, whenever the road along which students
   54  must walk is uncurbed and has a posted speed limit of 45 50
   55  miles per hour or greater, the area as described above for
   56  students to walk upon shall be set off the road by no less than
   57  3 feet from the edge of the road.
   58         2. Subparagraph 1. does not apply when the road along which
   59  students must walk:
   60         a. Is a road on which the volume of traffic is less than
   61  180 vehicles per hour, per direction, during the time students
   62  walk to and from school; or
   63         b. Is located in a residential area and has a posted speed
   64  limit of 30 miles per hour or less.
   65         (c) Crossings over the road.—It shall be considered a
   66  hazardous walking condition with respect to any road at any
   67  uncontrolled crossing site which students must walk in order to
   68  walk to and from school if:
   69         1. The road has a posted speed limit of 45 50 miles per
   70  hour or greater; or
   71         2. The road has four six lanes or more, not including turn
   72  lanes, regardless of the speed limit.
   73         (3) IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS.—
   74         (a) When a district school superintendent requests a
   75  request for review of is made by the district school
   76  superintendent with respect to a road over which a state or
   77  local governmental entity has jurisdiction concerning a
   78  condition perceived to be hazardous to students in that district
   79  who live within the 1.5-mile 2-mile limit and who walk to
   80  school, such condition must shall be inspected jointly by a
   81  representative of the school district, a representative of the
   82  state or local governmental entity with jurisdiction over the
   83  perceived hazardous location, and a representative of the
   84  municipal police department for a municipal road, a
   85  representative of the sheriff’s office for a county road, or a
   86  representative of the Department of Transportation for a state
   87  road. The district school superintendent must request the review
   88  if he or she receives a written request from a parent of a
   89  student in the school district. If the jurisdiction is within an
   90  area for which there is a metropolitan planning organization, a
   91  representative of that organization must shall also be included.
   92  The governmental representatives shall determine whether the
   93  condition constitutes a hazardous walking condition as provided
   94  in subsection (2). If the governmental representatives concur
   95  that a condition constitutes a hazardous walking condition as
   96  provided in subsection (2), the governmental entity with
   97  jurisdiction must shall report that determination in writing to
   98  the district school superintendent, who shall initiate a formal
   99  request for correction as provided in subsection (4).
  100         Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (22) of section
  101  1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  102         1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
  103  school students must receive accurate and timely information
  104  regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
  105  of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
  106  students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
  107  rights including, but not limited to, the following:
  108         (22) TRANSPORTATION.—
  109         (b) Hazardous walking conditions.K-6 Public school
  110  students shall be provided transportation if they are subjected
  111  to hazardous walking conditions, in accordance with the
  112  provisions of ss. 1006.21(3)(b) and 1006.23.
  113         Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (e) of subsection (1) of
  114  section 1011.68, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  115         1011.68 Funds for student transportation.—The annual
  116  allocation to each district for transportation to public school
  117  programs, including charter schools as provided in s.
  118  1002.33(17)(b), of students in membership in kindergarten
  119  through grade 12 and in migrant and exceptional student programs
  120  below kindergarten shall be determined as follows:
  121         (1) Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education,
  122  each district shall determine the membership of students who are
  123  transported:
  124         (a) By reason of living 1.5 2 miles or more from school.
  125         (e) With respect to public elementary school students whose
  126  grade level does not exceed grade 6, by reason of being
  127  subjected to hazardous walking conditions en route to or from
  128  school as provided in s. 1006.23. Such rules shall, when
  129  appropriate, provide for the determination of membership under
  130  this paragraph for less than 1 year to accommodate the needs of
  131  students who require transportation only until such hazardous
  132  conditions are corrected.
  133         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.

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