ASSEMBLY, No. 2345

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

By Assemblyman LANCE

An Act concerning the safety busing of school pupils and supplementing chapter 39 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "School Safety Busing Act of 1996."

    2. The Legislature finds and declares that school districts are required to provide transportation for elementary pupils who live more than two miles from their school and secondary pupils who live more than two and one-half miles from their school; that since those mileage maximums were adopted, new housing developments, new highways, and traffic congestion on older roadways have changed the nature of the conditions encountered by pupils when walking to and from their schools; that there are many school districts today where transportation should be provided to pupils who do not qualify for school busing and who are forced to walk along a hazardous route;

that when busing is required over hazardous routes, it is not a matter of courtesy, but a matter of safety; and that school boards should have the option of providing safety busing which should be considered necessary for a thorough and efficient education and the cost of which should be exempt from the district's budget cap.

    3. a. A board of education which transports pupils to and from school pursuant to N.J.S.18A:39-1 may determine to provide safety busing for elementary school pupils who live less than two miles from school and secondary school pupils who live less than two and one-half miles from school. The determination to provide safety busing shall be based on an analysis of hazardous conditions encountered by pupils in walking to and from the schools of the district. In making its determination, the board may consult with the police chief of the municipality. Hazardous conditions shall include, but not be limited to, the necessity for pupils to walk along roadways without sidewalks or for pupils to cross a roadway with heavy traffic. The findings of

the school board shall be presented at a public meeting of the school board.

    b. The provision of safety busing under this act shall be deemed to be required for a thorough and efficient education, and the cost of the busing shall be exempt from the calculation of the budget cap of the school district.

    c. A school district shall not receive State aid pursuant to section 16 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-18) for the provision of safety busing under this act.

    4. The provision of safety busing pursuant to section 3 of this act may be implemented by a school board in the 1996-97 school year notwithstanding that the question of courtesy busing for the school year was not approved at a referendum.

    5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that a board of education which transports pupils to and from school pursuant to N.J.S.18A:39-1 may determine to provide safety busing for elementary school pupils who live less than two miles from school and secondary school pupils who live less than two and one-half miles from school. The determination to provide safety busing would be based on an analysis of hazardous conditions encountered by pupils in walking to and from the schools of the district, and the board may consult with the police chief of the municipality in making its determination. Hazardous conditions are to include such situations as the necessity for pupils to walk along roadways without sidewalks or for pupils to cross a roadway with heavy traffic. The findings of the school board must be presented at a public meeting of the school board. If the board determines to provide safety busing, the busing would be deemed to be required for a thorough and efficient education, and the cost of the busing would be exempt from the calculation of the budget cap of the school district. The district would not be eligible, however, to receive State aid for the transportation. The bill also permits a school board to implement safety busing in the 1996-97 school year notwithstanding that the question of courtesy busing for the school year was not approved at a referendum.

    Under the current statutes and regulations, a school board which determines to provide transportation of school pupils for safety reasons, commonly known as "courtesy" busing, must seek voter approval if the cost exceeds the school district's budget cap, and the Commissioner of Education may eliminate the transportation in reviewing a budget which was not approved at the annual school election.

The "School Safety Busing Act of 1996."