Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1424
By Senator Collins
14-00961A-25 20251424__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to K-12 school transportation;
3 amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; requiring school districts
4 to provide transportation to students in kindergarten
5 through grade 12 under certain circumstances;
6 requiring parents to provide written consent for all
7 school district transportation; amending s. 1006.21,
8 F.S.; requiring district school boards to provide
9 transportation to students in kindergarten through
10 grade 12 who live more than 1 mile from the nearest
11 appropriate school; providing requirements for school
12 bus stops and transportation routes; requiring the use
13 of artificial intelligence programs for specified
14 purposes within a certain timeframe of such programs
15 being made available; providing penalties for district
16 school boards that fail meet such requirements;
17 defining the term “artificial intelligence programs”;
18 amending s. 1006.23, F.S.; revising the criteria for
19 walkways parallel and perpendicular to the road to be
20 considered a hazardous walking condition; requiring
21 governmental entities to provide a specified
22 inspection within a certain timeframe relating to
23 hazardous walking conditions; providing that certain
24 students may continue to receive school district
25 transportation for a certain time period; providing an
26 effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (22) of
31 section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
32 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
33 school students must receive accurate and timely information
34 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
35 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
36 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
37 rights including, but not limited to, the following:
38 (22) TRANSPORTATION.—
39 (b) Hazardous walking conditions.—K-12 K-6 public school
40 students shall be provided transportation if they are subjected
41 to hazardous walking conditions, in accordance with the
42 provisions of ss. 1006.21(3)(b) and 1006.23.
43 (c) Parental consent.—Each parent of a public school
44 student must be notified in writing and give written consent
45 before the school district may provide transportation for a
46 student, including being may be transported in a privately owned
47 motor vehicle to school or a school function.
48 Section 2. Paragraphs (c) through (h) of subsection (3) of
49 section 1006.21, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
50 paragraphs (f) through (k), respectively, paragraphs (a) and (b)
51 of subsection (3) are amended, and new paragraphs (c) through
52 (e) are added to that subsection, to read:
53 1006.21 Duties of district school superintendent and
54 district school board regarding transportation.—
55 (3) District school boards, after considering
56 recommendations of the district school superintendent:
57 (a) Shall provide transportation for each student in
58 prekindergarten disability programs and in kindergarten through
59 grade 12 membership in a public school when, and only when,
60 transportation is necessary to provide adequate educational
61 facilities and opportunities which otherwise would not be
62 available and to transport students whose homes are more than 1
63 mile a reasonable walking distance, as defined by rules of the
64 State Board of Education, from the nearest appropriate school.
65 (b) Shall provide transportation for public elementary
66 school students in kindergarten through grade 12 membership
67 whose grade level does not exceed grade 6, and may provide
68 transportation for public school students in membership in
69 grades 7 through 12, if such students are subjected to hazardous
70 walking conditions as provided in s. 1006.23 while en route to
71 or from school.
72 (c) Shall ensure that each student’s school bus stop is not
73 more than 1,000 feet from the home of the student.
74 (d) Shall ensure that transportation routes are the fastest
75 and most efficient routes possible for the transportation of
76 students to and from school. For purposes of this paragraph, the
77 term “fastest and most efficient” means the least amount of time
78 on a bus and the least amount of stops for a student while
79 preventing the most backup of traffic on the street.
80 (e) If available, shall use artificial intelligence
81 programs to help determine safe, efficient, and the fastest
82 transportation routes. District school boards shall implement
83 the use of such programs within 3 years after such programs
84 becoming available. If a district school board fails to use such
85 programs, the district must receive a 15 percent reduction in
86 state funds for the transportation of students under s. 1011.68
87 each year until the district school board is in compliance with
88 the requirements of this paragraph. For purposes of this
89 paragraph, the term “artificial intelligence programs” means
90 software that uses machine learning and predictive analytics to
91 evaluate diverse routing scenarios and optimize student
92 transportation efficiency.
93 Section 3. Subsections (1), (2), and (3) of section
94 1006.23, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
95 1006.23 Hazardous walking conditions.—
96 (1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term “student”
97 means any public elementary school student whose grade level
98 does not exceed grade 12 6.
99 (2) HAZARDOUS WALKING CONDITIONS.—
100 (a) Walkways parallel to the road.—
101 1. It shall be considered a hazardous walking condition
102 with respect to any road along which students must walk in order
103 to walk to and from school if:
104 a. There is not a sidewalk adjacent to the road.
105 b. an area at least 4 feet wide adjacent to the road, not
106 including drainage ditches, sluiceways, swales, or channels,
107 having a surface upon which students may walk without being
108 required to walk on the road surface. In addition, whenever The
109 road along which students must walk is uncurbed and has a posted
110 speed limit of 50 miles per hour or greater, the area as
111 described above for students to walk upon shall be set off the
112 road by no less than 3 feet from the edge of the road.
113 c. The student must walk along a roadway within 4 feet of
114 lanes of traffic.
115 d. The student must at any point walk in the dark.
116 e. The student must travel along a roadway that is 30 miles
117 per hour or greater.
118 f. A student must walk within 3 miles of a sexual offender
119 or sexual predator.
120 2. Subparagraph 1. does not apply when the road along which
121 students must walk:
122 a. Is a road on which the volume of traffic is less than
123 180 vehicles per hour, per direction, during the time students
124 walk to and from school; or
125 b. Is located in a residential area and has a posted speed
126 limit of 30 miles per hour or less.
127 (b) Walkways perpendicular to the road.—It shall be
128 considered a hazardous walking condition with respect to any
129 road across which students must walk in order to walk to and
130 from school if:
131 1. The traffic volume on the road exceeds the rate of 360
132 vehicles per hour, per direction (including all lanes), during
133 the time students walk to and from school and if The crossing
134 site is uncontrolled. For purposes of this subsection, an
135 “uncontrolled crossing site” is an intersection or other
136 designated crossing site where no crossing guard, traffic
137 enforcement officer, or stop sign or other traffic control
138 signal is present during the times students walk to and from
139 school.
140 2. The total traffic volume on the road exceeds 4,000
141 vehicles per hour through an intersection or other crossing site
142 controlled by a stop sign or other traffic control signal,
143 unless crossing guards or other traffic enforcement officers are
144 also present during the times students walk to and from school.
145
146 Traffic volume shall be determined by the most current traffic
147 engineering study conducted by a state or local governmental
148 agency.
149 (c) Crossings over the road.—It shall be considered a
150 hazardous walking condition with respect to any road at any
151 uncontrolled crossing site which students must walk in order to
152 walk to and from school if:
153 1. The road has a posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour
154 or greater; or
155 2. The road has six lanes or more, not including turn
156 lanes, regardless of the speed limit.
157 (3) IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS.—
158 (a) When a request for review is made by the district
159 school superintendent with respect to a road over which a state
160 or local governmental entity has jurisdiction concerning a
161 condition perceived to be hazardous to students in that district
162 who live within the 1-mile 2-mile limit and who walk to school,
163 such condition shall be inspected within 72 hours after the
164 request jointly by a representative of the school district, a
165 representative of the state or local governmental entity with
166 jurisdiction over the perceived hazardous location, and a
167 representative of the municipal police department for a
168 municipal road, a representative of the sheriff’s office for a
169 county road, or a representative of the Department of
170 Transportation for a state road. If the jurisdiction is within
171 an area for which there is a metropolitan planning organization,
172 a representative of that organization must shall also be
173 included. The governmental representatives shall determine
174 whether the condition constitutes a hazardous walking condition
175 as provided in subsection (2). If the governmental
176 representatives concur that a condition constitutes a hazardous
177 walking condition as provided in subsection (2), the
178 governmental entity with jurisdiction must shall report that
179 determination in writing to the district school superintendent,
180 who shall initiate a formal request for correction as provided
181 in subsection (4). A student who is subjected to the hazardous
182 walking condition is eligible for school district transportation
183 for as long as the student resides at the address and is
184 enrolled at a school in the school district.
185 (b) If the governmental representatives are unable to reach
186 a consensus, the reasons for lack of consensus must shall be
187 reported to the district school superintendent, who shall
188 provide a report and recommendation to the district school
189 board. The district school board may initiate a proceeding under
190 chapter 86 seeking a determination as to whether the condition
191 constitutes a hazardous walking condition as provided in
192 subsection (2) after providing at least 30 days’ notice in
193 writing to the state or local governmental entity having
194 jurisdiction over the road of its intent to do so unless, within
195 30 days after such notice is provided, the state or local
196 governmental entity concurs in writing that the condition is a
197 hazardous walking condition as provided in subsection (2) and
198 provides the position statement pursuant to subsection (4). If a
199 proceeding is initiated under this paragraph, the district
200 school board has the burden of proving such condition by the
201 greater weight of evidence. If the district school board
202 prevails, the district school superintendent must shall report
203 the outcome to the Department of Education and initiate a formal
204 request for correction of the hazardous walking condition as
205 provided in subsection (4).
206 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.