PRINTER'S NO. 1418
No. 1146 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY SALVATORE AND ROCKS, JULY 7, 1989
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JULY 7, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," further providing for distance
6 requirements for transportation of pupils.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 1361(1) of the act of March 10, 1949
10 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
11 amended May 11, 1979 (P.L.26, No.7), is amended to read:
12 Section 1361. When Provided.--(1) [The board of school
13 directors in any school district may, out of the funds of the
14 district, provide for the free transportation of any resident
15 pupil to and from the kindergarten, elementary school, or
16 secondary school in which he is lawfully enrolled,] The board of
17 school directors in any school district shall, out of the funds
18 of the district, provide for the free transportation of any
19 resident pupil to and from kindergarten through elementary
1 school, and may provide to all other grade levels, including
2 secondary schools, in which the student is lawfully enrolled,
3 provided that such school is not operated for profit and is
4 located within the district boundaries or outside the district
5 boundaries at a distance not exceeding ten miles by the nearest
6 public highway, except that such ten-mile limit shall not apply
7 to area vocational technical schools which regularly serve
8 eligible district pupils or to special schools and classes
9 approved by the Department of Education, and to and from any
10 points within or without the Commonwealth in order to provide
11 field trips for any purpose connected with the educational
12 pursuits of the pupils. When provision is made by a board of
13 school directors for the transportation of public school pupils
14 to and from such schools or to and from any points within or
15 without the Commonwealth in order to provide field trips as
16 herein provided, the board of school directors shall also make
17 identical provision for the free transportation of pupils who
18 regularly attend nonpublic kindergarten, elementary and high
19 schools not operated for profit to and from such schools or to
20 and from any points within or without the Commonwealth in order
21 to provide field trips as herein provided. Such transportation
22 of pupils attending nonpublic schools shall be provided during
23 regular school hours on such dates and periods that the
24 nonpublic school not operated for profit is in regular session,
25 according to the school calendar officially adopted by the
26 directors of the same in accordance with provisions of law. The
27 board of school directors shall provide such transportation
28 whenever so required by any of the provisions of this act or of
29 any other act of Assembly.
30 * * *
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1 Section 2. Section 1362 of the act, amended November 20,
2 1979 (P.L.465, No.97), is amended to read:
3 Section 1362. Kinds of Transportation; Liability
4 Insurance.--The free transportation of pupils[, as required or
5 authorized by this act, or any other act, may] shall be required
6 by this act, and shall be furnished by using either school
7 conveyances, private conveyances, or electric railways, or other
8 common carriers, when the total distance which any pupil must
9 travel by the public highway to or from school, in addition to
10 such transportation, does not exceed one and one-half (1 1/2)
11 miles, except for school districts of the first class which
12 distance shall be one (1) mile, and when stations or other
13 proper shelters are provided for the use of such pupils where
14 needed, and when the highway, road, or traffic conditions are
15 not such that walking constitutes a hazard to the safety of the
16 child, as so certified by the Department of Transportation.
17 School districts or nonpublic schools may request that the
18 Department of Transportation certify a hazardous walking route.
19 The Department of Transportation shall take into account the
20 presence of sidewalks along the highway, but such presence or
21 lack thereof shall not be controlling and the department shall
22 consider all relevant safety factors in making its determination
23 as to whether or not walking constitutes a hazard to pupils. In
24 addition, the presence of traffic control devices shall not be a
25 controlling factor. All private motor vehicles employed in
26 transporting pupils for hire shall be adequately covered by
27 public liability insurance in such amount as the board of school
28 directors shall require.
29 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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