| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public school student transportation; |
| 3 | amending s. 1006.23, F.S.; providing that hazardous |
| 4 | walking conditions for purpose of transportation to |
| 5 | schools applies to K-12 students; revising criteria for |
| 6 | determination of hazardous walking conditions; amending |
| 7 | ss. 1002.20, 1006.21, and 1011.68, F.S.; conforming |
| 8 | provisions; providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 1006.23, |
| 13 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 14 | 1006.23 Hazardous walking conditions.-- |
| 15 | (1) DEFINITION.--As used in this section, "student" means |
| 16 | any K-12 public elementary school student whose grade level does |
| 17 | not exceed grade 6. |
| 18 | (4) STATE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING HAZARDOUS WALKING |
| 19 | CONDITIONS.-- |
| 20 | (a) Walkways parallel to the road.-- |
| 21 | 1. It shall be considered a hazardous walking condition |
| 22 | with respect to any road along which students must walk in order |
| 23 | to walk to and from school if there is not an area at least 4 |
| 24 | feet wide adjacent to the road, having a surface upon which |
| 25 | students may walk without being required to walk on the road |
| 26 | surface. In addition, whenever the road along which students |
| 27 | must walk is uncurbed and has a posted speed limit of 35 55 |
| 28 | miles per hour, the area as described above for students to walk |
| 29 | upon shall be set off the road by no less than 3 feet from the |
| 30 | edge of the road. |
| 31 | 2. The provisions of subparagraph 1. do not apply when the |
| 32 | road along which students must walk: |
| 33 | a. Is in a residential area which has little or no |
| 34 | transient traffic; |
| 35 | b. Is a road on which the volume of traffic is less than |
| 36 | 180 vehicles per hour, per direction, during the time students |
| 37 | walk to and from school; or |
| 38 | c. Is located in a residential area and has a posted speed |
| 39 | limit of 30 miles per hour or less. |
| 40 | (b) Walkways perpendicular to the road.--It shall be |
| 41 | considered a hazardous walking condition with respect to any |
| 42 | road across which students must walk in order to walk to and |
| 43 | from school: |
| 44 | 1. If the traffic volume on the road exceeds the rate of |
| 45 | 360 vehicles per hour, per direction (including all lanes), |
| 46 | during the time students walk to and from school and if the |
| 47 | crossing site is uncontrolled. For purposes of this subsection, |
| 48 | an "uncontrolled crossing site" is an intersection or other |
| 49 | designated crossing site where no crossing guard, traffic |
| 50 | enforcement officer, or stop sign or other traffic control |
| 51 | signal is present during the times students walk to and from |
| 52 | school. |
| 53 | 2. If the total traffic volume on the road exceeds 4,000 |
| 54 | vehicles per hour through an intersection or other crossing site |
| 55 | controlled by a stop sign or other traffic control signal, |
| 56 | unless crossing guards or other traffic enforcement officers are |
| 57 | also present during the times students walk to and from school. |
| 58 | 3. If the road has six or more lanes whether the |
| 59 | intersection or crossing site is controlled or uncontrolled. |
| 60 | (c) Residents designated as sexual predators or sexual |
| 61 | offenders.--It shall be considered a hazardous walking condition |
| 62 | with respect to any road along which students must walk in order |
| 63 | to walk to and from school if a resident on the road has been |
| 64 | designated as a sexual predator under s. 775.21 or a sexual |
| 65 | offender under s. 943.0435 whose victims include a minor. |
| 66 |
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| 67 | For purposes of this subsection, traffic volume shall be |
| 68 | determined by the most current traffic engineering study |
| 69 | conducted by a state or local governmental agency. |
| 70 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (22) of section |
| 71 | 1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 72 | 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.--Parents of public |
| 73 | school students must receive accurate and timely information |
| 74 | regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed |
| 75 | of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 |
| 76 | students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory |
| 77 | rights including, but not limited to, the following: |
| 78 | (22) TRANSPORTATION.-- |
| 79 | (b) Hazardous walking conditions.--K-12 K-6 public school |
| 80 | students shall be provided transportation if they are subjected |
| 81 | to hazardous walking conditions, in accordance with the |
| 82 | provisions of ss. 1006.21(3)(b) and 1006.23. |
| 83 | Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section |
| 84 | 1006.21, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 85 | 1006.21 Duties of district school superintendent and |
| 86 | district school board regarding transportation.-- |
| 87 | (3) District school boards, after considering |
| 88 | recommendations of the district school superintendent: |
| 89 | (b) Shall provide transportation for K-12 public |
| 90 | elementary school students in membership whose grade level does |
| 91 | not exceed grade 6, and may provide transportation for public |
| 92 | school students in membership in grades 7 through 12, if such |
| 93 | students are subjected to hazardous walking conditions as |
| 94 | provided in s. 1006.23 while en route to or from school. |
| 95 | Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section |
| 96 | 1011.68, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 97 | 1011.68 Funds for student transportation.--The annual |
| 98 | allocation to each district for transportation to public school |
| 99 | programs, including charter schools as provided in s. |
| 100 | 1002.33(17)(b), of students in membership in kindergarten |
| 101 | through grade 12 and in migrant and exceptional student programs |
| 102 | below kindergarten shall be determined as follows: |
| 103 | (1) Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education, |
| 104 | each district shall determine the membership of students who are |
| 105 | transported: |
| 106 | (e) With respect to K-12 elementary school students whose |
| 107 | grade level does not exceed grade 6, by reason of being |
| 108 | subjected to hazardous walking conditions en route to or from |
| 109 | school as provided in s. 1006.23. Such rules shall, when |
| 110 | appropriate, provide for the determination of membership under |
| 111 | this paragraph for less than 1 year to accommodate the needs of |
| 112 | students who require transportation only until such hazardous |
| 113 | conditions are corrected. |
| 114 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |