|
Until now all Central District 301 students have been transported to school by bus. With the addition of new schools being built in residential neighborhoods, the District is establishing walking requirements based on state regulations and guidelines.
If a student lives within 1.5 miles from school, he/she can reasonably be expected to walk to and from school, and the district is not responsible to provide transportation. In defining the district's responsibility to provide transportation, state regulations and guidelines presume that a student should be expected to walk up to 1.5 miles on a 'normally traveled' walking path. Walking a footpath will, in most cases, be safer than walking alongside or even in vehicular traffic which previously had been the only option to busing for virtually all of our students.
The State Board of Education believes that a 'normally traveled' walking path should be used in measuring the distance from a student's home to school for the purpose of determining whether the student lives 1.5 miles or more from school. Article 29 of the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/29-3), states that the distance SHALL BE measured from the exit of the residence property to the point where the students are normally unloaded at the school attended, determined by the shortest distance on a normally traveled roads or streets.
This information has been provided in legal opinions from the State Board of Education. |
