3635 - Transportation.

§ 3635. Transportation.  1.  a.  Sufficient  transportation facilities  (including the operation and maintenance of  motor  vehicles)  shall  be  provided by the school district for all the children residing within the  school  district  to and from the school they legally attend, who are in  need of such transportation because of the remoteness of the  school  to  the  child  or  for the promotion of the best interest of such children.  Such transportation shall be provided for all children attending  grades  kindergarten  through eight who live more than two miles from the school  which they legally attend and for all  children  attending  grades  nine  through twelve who live more than three miles from the school which they  legally  attend  and  shall  be  provided  for  each  such child up to a  distance of fifteen miles, the distances in each case being measured  by  the  nearest  available route from home to school. The cost of providing  such transportation between two or three miles, as the case may be,  and  fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be  a  charge  upon  the  district and an ordinary contingent expense of the  district. Transportation for a lesser distance than  two  miles  in  the  case  of  children  attending grades kindergarten through eight or three  miles in the case of children attending grades nine through  twelve  and  for  a  greater  distance  than  fifteen  miles  may  be provided by the  district, and, if provided, shall be offered equally to all children  in  like  circumstances  residing  in  the district; provided, however, that  this requirement shall not apply to transportation offered  pursuant  to  section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this article.    b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school  for  pupils  living  within  a specified distance from such school shall  designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up  points  and  shall  provide  transportation  between  such  points and such nonpublic  schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such  nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.  The  district  shall  not  be   responsible   for   the   provision   of  transportation  for  pupils  between their home and such pick-up points.  The district may provide school bus transportation to  a  pupil  if  the  residence  of  the  pupil  is  located  on  an established route for the  transportation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided  such  transportation  does not result in additional costs to the district. The  cost of providing transportation between such pick-up  points  and  such  nonpublic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.    (ii)   A   board   of   education  may,  at  its  discretion,  provide  transportation for pupils residing within the district  to  a  nonpublic  school  located  more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil  provided that such transportation has been provided  to  such  nonpublic  school  pursuant  to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately  preceding three school years and such transportation  is  provided  from  one  or  more  centralized  pick-up  points  designated pursuant to this  paragraph and  that  the  distance  from  such  pick-up  points  to  the  nonpublic  school is not more than fifteen miles. The district shall not  be responsible for the provision of transportation  for  pupils  between  pupils   homes   and   such   pick-up  points.  The  cost  of  providing  transportation between such pick-up points and  such  nonpublic  schools  shall be an ordinary contingent expense.    c.  The  foregoing  provisions  of  this subdivision shall not require  transportation to be provided for children residing within a city school  district, but if provided by such district pursuant to other  provisions  of  this  chapter,  such  transportation shall be offered equally to all  such children in like  circumstances;  provided  further  that  in  city  school   districts   in  cities  having  a  population  of  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants  or  less  such  transportation,   ifprovided,  shall  be  subject  to  the mileage limitations prescribed in  paragraph a of this subdivision or such greater or lesser limitations as  are approved by the board of education prior  to  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-six  or as otherwise authorized in subdivision twelve of  section twenty-five hundred three of this chapter. City school districts  with a population of more than two hundred twenty-five thousand and less  than three hundred thousand, according to the  nineteen  hundred  eighty  federal  census,  which  elect  to provide transportation shall do so in  accord with the  grade  and  distance  provisions  of  this  subdivision  including transportation outside the city limits.    d.  Nothing contained in this subdivision, however, shall be deemed to  require a school district to furnish transportation to a child  directly  to or from his or her home.    e.  In  lieu  of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing  provisions of this  subdivision,  a  board  of  education  may,  at  its  discretion,   provide  transportation  to  any  child  attending  grades  kindergarten through eight between the school such child legally attends  and before-and/or-after-school child care locations. For the purposes of  this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall  mean a place, other than the child's home,  where  care  for  less  than  twenty-four  hours  a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who  attends school within the school district, provided that such  place  is  situated  within  the  school district. This definition includes, but is  not limited to, a variety of  child  care  services  such  as  day  care  centers,  family  day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such  transportation  may  be   provided   for   children   attending   grades  kindergarten  through  eight  where the distance between the school they  legally attend and before-and/or-after-school child  care  locations  is  more than two miles, and may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen  miles, the distance in each case being measured by the nearest available  route from before-and/or-after-school child care locations to the school  they  legally  attend,  except that transportation for a lesser distance  than two miles or a greater distance than fifteen miles may be  provided  if  transportation  for  such  distances is provided to students between  home  and  school.  Where  a  child  receives  transportation   from   a  before-school  child  care  location  to  the  school  he or she legally  attends, such child shall be entitled to receive transportation from the  school he  or  she  legally  attends  to  his  or  her  home  or  to  an  after-school  child  care  location in accordance with this subdivision.  Where a child receives transportation from the school he or she  legally  attends  to  an  after-school  child  care location, such child shall be  entitled to receive transportation from home to the  school  he  or  she  legally  attends in accordance with this subdivision. Transportation may  be provided to any child attending  grades  kindergarten  through  eight  between     the     school     the    child    legally    attends    and  before-and/or-after-school child care locations upon written request  of  the  parent  or legal guardian submitted not later than the first day of  April preceding the next school year, provided,  however,  a  parent  or  guardian  of  a  child  not  residing in the district on such date shall  submit a written request within thirty days after establishing residence  in the district and provided further that  in  order  to  be  considered  eligible    for    such   transportation   in   the   nineteen   hundred  eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year, such request must  be  submitted  by  August  first,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-seven.  The  provision  of  transportation  to  or  from   before-and/or-after-school   child   care  locations, if provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like  circumstances  residing  in  the  district,  provided  that  a  board of  education furnishing transportation pursuant to this paragraph may limitthe provision of such transportation to  child  care  locations  located  within the attendance zone of the school the child attends, and to child  day  care  centers  and  school  age  child  care  programs  licensed or  registered  pursuant  to  section  three  hundred  ninety  of the social  services law located anywhere within the school district.  The  cost  of  providing  such  transportation  between two or three miles, as the case  may be, and fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes  of  this  chapter to be a charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation  expense shall be eligible for state aid in accordance with clause one of  paragraph  b  of  subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of  this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a  duty upon boards of education  to  provide  transportation  to  or  from  before-and/or-after-school   child   care  locations.  Nothing  in  this  subdivision shall be construed  to  authorize  boards  of  education  to  provide to any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school  day care location and that child's home.    f. A board of education may, in its discretion, provide transportation  pursuant to this subdivision to a child of less than school age residing  within  the  school  district  to  and  from the school which his or her  parent legally attends; provided that such child is accompanied by  such  parent,  that  such  parent is under twenty-one years of age and has not  received  a  high  school  diploma,  and  that  such  transportation  is  furnished  for  the  purpose of allowing the child to receive child care  services and/or  attend  a  nursery  school,  pre-school,  or  parenting  program.  For  all  purposes  under this chapter, a child receiving such  transportation shall be deemed a  pupil  legally  attending  the  school  which  his  or  her  parent  legally attends. The cost of providing such  transportation shall be considered for the purposes of this  chapter  to  be  a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the  district. Such transportation expense shall be eligible for state aid in  accordance with subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of subdivision seven  of  section thirty-six hundred two of this article.    2. A parent or guardian of a child residing in any school district, or  any  representative  authorized  by such parent or guardian, who desires  for a child during the next school year any transportation authorized or  directed by this chapter shall submit a written request therefor to  the  school  trustees  or  board of education of such district not later than  the first day  of  April  preceding  the  next  school  year,  provided,  however,  that  a  parent  or  guardian  of  a child not residing in the  district on such date shall submit a written request within thirty  days  after  establishing  residence  in  the  district.  No late request of a  parent or guardian for transportation shall be denied where a reasonable  explanation is provided for the delay. If the voters,  school  trustees,  or  board  of education fail to provide the transportation authorized or  directed by this chapter after receiving such a  request,  such  parent,  guardian  or  representative,  or any taxpayer residing in the district,  may appeal to the commissioner of  education,  as  provided  in  section  three  hundred ten of this chapter. Except as hereinbefore provided, the  commissioner of education shall not require that such  parent,  guardian  or  representative  present  a  request  for  such transportation to any  meeting of the voters, school trustees or board of education in order to  appeal. Upon such appeal, the commissioner of education shall make  such  order  as  is  required to effect compliance with the provisions of this  chapter and this section.    2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having  a population in excess of one million, shall  prepare  a  public  school  calendar  and  shall  notify  officials  of  nonpublic  schools to which  transportation has been requested not later than the first day  of  Junein each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session  in  the  following  school  year.  Such  school  district which provides  transportation to nonpublic schools shall  provide  such  transportation  for the same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not  provide  transportation  services for more than one hundred eighty days.  Officials of each nonpublic school to which transportation  is  provided  by a city school district of a city having a population in excess of one  million  may  notify such district, not later than the first day of July  of each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of  Saturdays,  Sundays  or  legal holidays upon which public schools are required to be  closed, on which the public schools are scheduled to be  closed,  except  that  in  any year in which the first or last day of Passover and Easter  Sunday are separated by more than seven days, such officials may  notify  the  district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will be  required to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided  that such five or ten additional  days,  whichever  is  applicable,  are  limited  to  the  following: the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday  after Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the  week  in  which  public  schools  are  closed  for  spring recess, December twenty-fourth and the  week between Christmas day and New Year's day, the  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday  and Friday after the observance of Washington's birthday, and,  in the  boroughs  of  Brooklyn  and  Queens  only,  Anniversary  Day  as  designated in section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this chapter.    5.  For  the  purpose of affording the greatest possible protection to  school children, drive-off places on public highways may  be  designated  by  the  appropriate  board  of  education or district superintendent to  permit school busses  to  be  driven  off  the  highway  to  receive  or  discharge   school  children,  and  the  state  or  municipality  having  jurisdiction of such highway, is authorized to provide construction  and  maintenance of such designated drive-offs.    6.  In  the  event  that  the  expenses  entailed  by the phase-out of  omnibuses required by paragraph (k) of  subdivision  twenty  of  section  three  hundred  seventy-five  of  the  vehicle  and  traffic law are not  otherwise provided for, such expenses shall be  an  ordinary  contingent  expense of a school district.    7.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law, rule or regulation,  where a child is permitted by a school district or board of education to  attend a public school  other  than  the  school  to  which  they  would  normally  be  assigned,  a  parent  of  such  child  may  agree to waive  provision of transportation which would otherwise be required under this  section and no such transportation shall be required. Any  agreement  to  waive transportation must be renewed annually in writing.