Bill Text: IL HB5480 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Transportation Article of the School Code concerning reimbursement by the State for transportation. Provides that a State-authorized charter school shall be reimbursed by the State. Sets forth provisions concerning how much the State must pay. Provides that a charter school, other than a State-authorized charter school, that offers transportation to eligible students shall be eligible for reimbursement by the State at the same rate as its host district, unless the host district is the Chicago school district, in which case the charter school is eligible for reimbursement by the State at the rate set forth in the charter agreement. Sets forth how the charter school shall make a reimbursement claim. Provides that a charter school, other than a State-authorized charter school, that has previously received regular transportation grant funding from the State Board of Education or is in the process of receiving such funding approved in the same fiscal year as the effective date of the amendatory Act shall retain any awarded funding.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-17 - Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [HB5480 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5480-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
29-5 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/29-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 29-5)
Sec. 29-5. Reimbursement by State for transportation. Any
school district or State-authorized charter school,
maintaining a school, transporting resident pupils to another
school district's vocational program, offered through a joint
agreement approved by the State Board of Education, as
provided in Section 10-22.22 or transporting its resident
pupils to a school which meets the standards for recognition
as established by the State Board of Education which provides
transportation meeting the standards of safety, comfort,
convenience, efficiency and operation prescribed by the State
Board of Education for resident pupils in kindergarten or any
of grades 1 through 12 who: (a) reside at least 1 1/2 miles as
measured by the customary route of travel, from the school
attended; or (b) reside in areas where conditions are such
that walking constitutes a hazard to the safety of the child
when determined under Section 29-3; and (c) are transported to
the school attended from pick-up points at the beginning of

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the school day and back again at the close of the school day or
transported to and from their assigned attendance centers
during the school day, shall be reimbursed by the State as
hereinafter provided in this Section.
The State will pay the prorated allowable cost of
transporting eligible pupils less the real equalized assessed
valuation as computed under paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of
Section 18-8.15 in a dual school district maintaining
secondary grades 9 to 12 inclusive times a qualifying rate of
.05%; in elementary school districts maintaining grades K to 8
times a qualifying rate of .06%; and in unit districts
maintaining grades K to 12, including partial elementary unit
districts formed pursuant to Article 11E, times a qualifying
rate of .07%. For a State-authorized charter school, the State
shall pay the prorated allowable cost of transporting eligible
pupils less the prior year's prorated assessed valuation based
on enrollment reported pursuant to subsection (a) of Section
27A-11 for the previous school year in the charter school
proportionate to the charter school's school district's
enrollment for the previous school year.
To be eligible to receive reimbursement in excess of 4/5
of the cost to transport eligible pupils, a school district or
partial elementary unit district formed pursuant to Article
11E shall have a Transportation Fund tax rate of at least .12%.
A State-authorized charter school's qualifying rate shall be
the same as the rate that applies to the charter school's

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school district. The Transportation Fund tax rate for a
partial elementary unit district formed pursuant Article 11E
shall be the combined elementary and high school rates
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Section
18-8.15.
If a school district or partial elementary unit district
formed pursuant to Article 11E does not have a .12%
Transportation Fund tax rate, the amount of its claim in
excess of 4/5 of the cost of transporting pupils shall be
reduced by the sum arrived at by subtracting the
Transportation Fund tax rate from .12% and multiplying that
amount by the district's real equalized assessed valuation as
computed under paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of Section
18-8.15, provided that in no case shall said reduction result
in reimbursement of less than 4/5 of the cost to transport
eligible pupils. For a State-authorized charter school within
a school district that does not have a 0.12% Transportation
Fund tax rate, the State shall pay the prorated allowable cost
of transporting eligible pupils less the prior year's prorated
assessed valuation based on enrollment reported pursuant to
subsection (a) of Section 27A-11 for the previous school year
in the charter school proportionate to the charter school's
school district's enrollment for the previous school year.
A State-authorized charter school, that offers
transportation to eligible students shall be eligible for
reimbursement by the State at the same rate as its host

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district, unless the host district is a school district
organized under Article 34. A State-authorized charter school,
whose host district is a school district organized under
Article 34 is eligible for reimbursement by the State at the
rate set forth in the charter agreement. A State-authorized
charter school, shall make a claim for reimbursement by the
State through the Pupil Transportation Claim Reimbursement
System and receive funding reimbursement in the same manner as
a school district. Notwithstanding any other provision of law
to the contrary, a State-authorized charter school that has
previously received regular transportation grant funding from
the State Board of Education or is in the process of receiving
such funding approved in the same fiscal year as the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly
shall retain any awarded funding.
The minimum amount to be received by a district is $16
times the number of eligible pupils transported.
When calculating the reimbursement for transportation
costs, the State Board of Education may not deduct the number
of pupils enrolled in early education programs from the number
of pupils eligible for reimbursement if the pupils enrolled in
the early education programs are transported at the same time
as other eligible pupils.
Any such district transporting resident pupils during the
school day to an area vocational school or another school
district's vocational program more than 1 1/2 miles from the

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school attended, as provided in Sections 10-22.20a and
10-22.22, shall be reimbursed by the State for 4/5 of the cost
of transporting eligible pupils.
School day means that period of time during which the
pupil is required to be in attendance for instructional
purposes.
If a pupil is at a location within the school district
other than his residence for child care purposes at the time
for transportation to school, that location may be considered
for purposes of determining the 1 1/2 miles from the school
attended.
Claims for reimbursement that include children who attend
any school other than a public school shall show the number of
such children transported.
Claims for reimbursement under this Section shall not be
paid for the transportation of pupils for whom transportation
costs are claimed for payment under other Sections of this
Act.
The allowable direct cost of transporting pupils for
regular, vocational, and special education pupil
transportation shall be limited to the sum of the cost of
physical examinations required for employment as a school bus
driver; the salaries of full-time or part-time drivers and
school bus maintenance personnel; employee benefits excluding
Illinois municipal retirement payments, social security
payments, unemployment insurance payments and workers'

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compensation insurance premiums; expenditures to independent
carriers who operate school buses; payments to other school
districts for pupil transportation services; pre-approved
contractual expenditures for computerized bus scheduling;
expenditures for housing assistance and homeless prevention
under Sections 1-17 and 1-18 of the Education for Homeless
Children Act that are not in excess of the school district's
actual costs for providing transportation services and are not
otherwise claimed in another State or federal grant that
permits those costs to a parent, a legal guardian, any other
person who enrolled a pupil, or a homeless assistance agency
that is part of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act's continuum of care for the area in which the district is
located; the cost of gasoline, oil, tires, and other supplies
necessary for the operation of school buses; the cost of
converting buses' gasoline engines to more fuel efficient
engines or to engines which use alternative energy sources;
the cost of travel to meetings and workshops conducted by the
regional superintendent or the State Superintendent of
Education pursuant to the standards established by the
Secretary of State under Section 6-106 of the Illinois Vehicle
Code to improve the driving skills of school bus drivers; the
cost of maintenance of school buses including parts and
materials used; expenditures for leasing transportation
vehicles, except interest and service charges; the cost of
insurance and licenses for transportation vehicles;

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expenditures for the rental of transportation equipment; plus
a depreciation allowance of 20% for 5 years for school buses
and vehicles approved for transporting pupils to and from
school and a depreciation allowance of 10% for 10 years for
other transportation equipment so used. Each school year, if a
school district has made expenditures to the Regional
Transportation Authority or any of its service boards, a mass
transit district, or an urban transportation district under an
intergovernmental agreement with the district to provide for
the transportation of pupils and if the public transit carrier
received direct payment for services or passes from a school
district within its service area during the 2000-2001 school
year, then the allowable direct cost of transporting pupils
for regular, vocational, and special education pupil
transportation shall also include the expenditures that the
district has made to the public transit carrier. In addition
to the above allowable costs, school districts shall also
claim all transportation supervisory salary costs, including
Illinois municipal retirement payments, and all transportation
related building and building maintenance costs without
limitation.
Special education allowable costs shall also include
expenditures for the salaries of attendants or aides for that
portion of the time they assist special education pupils while
in transit and expenditures for parents and public carriers
for transporting special education pupils when pre-approved by

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the State Superintendent of Education.
Indirect costs shall be included in the reimbursement
claim for districts which own and operate their own school
buses. Such indirect costs shall include administrative costs,
or any costs attributable to transporting pupils from their
attendance centers to another school building for
instructional purposes. No school district which owns and
operates its own school buses may claim reimbursement for
indirect costs which exceed 5% of the total allowable direct
costs for pupil transportation.
The State Board of Education shall prescribe uniform
regulations for determining the above standards and shall
prescribe forms of cost accounting and standards of
determining reasonable depreciation. Such depreciation shall
include the cost of equipping school buses with the safety
features required by law or by the rules, regulations and
standards promulgated by the State Board of Education, and the
Department of Transportation for the safety and construction
of school buses provided, however, any equipment cost
reimbursed by the Department of Transportation for equipping
school buses with such safety equipment shall be deducted from
the allowable cost in the computation of reimbursement under
this Section in the same percentage as the cost of the
equipment is depreciated.
On or before August 15, annually, the chief school
administrator for the district shall certify to the State

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Superintendent of Education the district's claim for
reimbursement for the school year ending on June 30 next
preceding. The State Superintendent of Education shall check
and approve the claims and prepare the vouchers showing the
amounts due for district reimbursement claims. Each fiscal
year, the State Superintendent of Education shall prepare and
transmit the first 3 vouchers to the Comptroller on the 30th
day of September, December and March, respectively, and the
final voucher, no later than June 20.
If the amount appropriated for transportation
reimbursement is insufficient to fund total claims for any
fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall reduce each
school district's allowable costs and flat grant amount
proportionately to make total adjusted claims equal the total
amount appropriated.
For purposes of calculating claims for reimbursement under
this Section for any school year beginning July 1, 2016, the
equalized assessed valuation for a school district or partial
elementary unit district formed pursuant to Article 11E used
to compute reimbursement shall be the real equalized assessed
valuation as computed under paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of
Section 18-8.15.
All reimbursements received from the State shall be
deposited into the district's transportation fund or into the
fund from which the allowable expenditures were made.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any school

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district receiving a payment under this Section or under
Section 14-7.02, 14-7.02b, or 14-13.01 of this Code may
classify all or a portion of the funds that it receives in a
particular fiscal year or from State aid pursuant to Section
18-8.15 of this Code as funds received in connection with any
funding program for which it is entitled to receive funds from
the State in that fiscal year (including, without limitation,
any funding program referenced in this Section), regardless of
the source or timing of the receipt. The district may not
classify more funds as funds received in connection with the
funding program than the district is entitled to receive in
that fiscal year for that program. Any classification by a
district must be made by a resolution of its board of
education. The resolution must identify the amount of any
payments or general State aid to be classified under this
paragraph and must specify the funding program to which the
funds are to be treated as received in connection therewith.
This resolution is controlling as to the classification of
funds referenced therein. A certified copy of the resolution
must be sent to the State Superintendent of Education. The
resolution shall still take effect even though a copy of the
resolution has not been sent to the State Superintendent of
Education in a timely manner. No classification under this
paragraph by a district shall affect the total amount or
timing of money the district is entitled to receive under this
Code. No classification under this paragraph by a district

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