| 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" |
| 16 | means any K-12 public elementary school student whose grade |
| 17 | level does 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 |
| 23 | order to walk to and from school if there is not an area at |
| 24 | least 4 feet wide adjacent to the road, having a surface upon |
| 25 | which students may walk without being required to walk on the |
| 26 | road surface. In addition, whenever the road along which |
| 27 | students must walk is uncurbed and has a posted speed limit of |
| 28 | 35 55 miles per hour, the area as described above for students |
| 29 | to walk upon shall be set off the road by no less than 3 feet |
| 30 | from the edge of the road. |
| 31 | 2. The provisions of subparagraph 1. do not apply when |
| 32 | the 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 |
| 39 | speed 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 |
| 48 | subsection, an "uncontrolled crossing site" is an intersection |
| 49 | or other designated crossing site where no crossing guard, |
| 50 | traffic enforcement officer, or stop sign or other traffic |
| 51 | control signal is present during the times students walk to |
| 52 | and from school. |
| 53 | 2. If the total traffic volume on the road exceeds 4,000 |
| 54 | vehicles per hour through an intersection or other crossing |
| 55 | site controlled by a stop sign or other traffic control |
| 56 | signal, unless crossing guards or other traffic enforcement |
| 57 | officers are also present during the times students walk to |
| 58 | and from school. |
| 59 | 3. If the road has six or more lanes whether the |
| 60 | intersection or crossing site is controlled or uncontrolled. |
| 61 | (c) Residents designated as sexual predators or sexual |
| 62 | offenders.--It shall be considered a hazardous walking |
| 63 | condition with respect to any section of road along which |
| 64 | students must walk in order to walk to and from school if a |
| 65 | resident on the section of road has been designated as a |
| 66 | sexual predator under s. 775.21 or a sexual offender under s. |
| 67 | 943.0435 whose victims include a minor. |
| 68 |
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| 69 | For purposes of this subsection, traffic volume shall be |
| 70 | determined by the most current traffic engineering study |
| 71 | conducted by a state or local governmental agency. |
| 72 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (22) of section |
| 73 | 1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 74 | 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.--Parents of |
| 75 | public school students must receive accurate and timely |
| 76 | information regarding their child's academic progress and must |
| 77 | be informed of ways they can help their child to succeed in |
| 78 | school. K-12 students and their parents are afforded numerous |
| 79 | statutory rights including, but not limited to, the following: |
| 80 | (22) TRANSPORTATION.-- |
| 81 | (b) Hazardous walking conditions.--K-12 K-6 public |
| 82 | school students shall be provided transportation if they are |
| 83 | subjected to hazardous walking conditions, in accordance with |
| 84 | the provisions of ss. 1006.21(3)(b) and 1006.23. |
| 85 | Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section |
| 86 | 1006.21, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 87 | 1006.21 Duties of district school superintendent and |
| 88 | district school board regarding transportation.-- |
| 89 | (3) District school boards, after considering |
| 90 | recommendations of the district school superintendent: |
| 91 | (b) Shall provide transportation for K-12 public |
| 92 | elementary school students in membership whose grade level |
| 93 | does not exceed grade 6, and may provide transportation for |
| 94 | public school students in membership in grades 7 through 12, |
| 95 | if such students are subjected to hazardous walking conditions |
| 96 | as provided in s. 1006.23 while en route to or from school. |
| 97 | Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section |
| 98 | 1011.68, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 99 | 1011.68 Funds for student transportation.--The annual |
| 100 | allocation to each district for transportation to public |
| 101 | school programs, including charter schools as provided in s. |
| 102 | 1002.33(17)(b), of students in membership in kindergarten |
| 103 | through grade 12 and in migrant and exceptional student |
| 104 | programs below kindergarten shall be determined as follows: |
| 105 | (1) Subject to the rules of the State Board of |
| 106 | Education, each district shall determine the membership of |
| 107 | students who are transported: |
| 108 | (e) With respect to K-12 elementary school students |
| 109 | whose grade level does not exceed grade 6, by reason of being |
| 110 | subjected to hazardous walking conditions en route to or from |
| 111 | school as provided in s. 1006.23. Such rules shall, when |
| 112 | appropriate, provide for the determination of membership under |
| 113 | this paragraph for less than 1 year to accommodate the needs |
| 114 | of students who require transportation only until such |
| 115 | hazardous conditions are corrected. |
| 116 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |