HIBBING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 701


BOARD POLICY 706
SERIES: 700 Non-Instructional Operations and Business Services
SUBJECT: 706 Transportation of Public School Students
ADOPTED:  
REVISED:  


The following definitions shall be used to clarify this policy:
1. “Disabled student” includes every child who has a hearing impairment, visual disability, speech or language impairment, physical handicap, other health impairment, mental handicap, emotional/behavioral disorder, specific learning disability, autism, traumatic brain injury, multiple disabilities, or deaf/blind disability and needs special instruction and services, as determined by the standards of the State Board of Education.  In addition, every child under age three, and at the school district’s discretion from age three to seven, who needs special instruction and services, as determined by the standards of the State Board of Education, because the child has a substantial delay or has an identifiable physical or mental condition known to hinder normal development is a child with a disability.
2. “Home” is the legal residence of the child.  Home may also be defined as a licensed day care facility, a respite care facility, the residence of a relative, or the residence of a person chosen by the student’s parent or guardian as the home of a student for part or all of the day, if requested by the student’s parent or guardian, and if the facility or residence is within the attendance area of the school the student attends.
3. “Nonpublic school” means any school, church, or religious organization, or home school located within the state, and wherein a resident of Minnesota may legally fulfill the compulsory instruction requirements of state and federal statutes.
4. “Nonresident student” is a student who attends school in the school district and resides in another district, defined as the “nonresident district.”  In those instances when the divorced parents share joint physical custody of a student and the divorced parents reside in different school districts, the student shall be a resident of the school district designated by the student’s parents.
5. “Student” means any student or child attending or required to attend any school as provided in Minnesota law and who is a resident or child of a resident of Minnesota.


Eligibility

1. Upon the request of a parent or guardian, the school district shall provide transportation to and from school, at the expense of the school district for all resident students who reside two or more miles from the school, except for those students whose transportation privileges have been revoked or, in the case of a secondary student, have been voluntary surrendered by the student’s parent or guardian.
2. The school district may, in its discretion, also provide transportation to any student to and from school, at the expense of the school district, for any other purpose deemed appropriate by the school board.


Transportation of Nonresident Students

1. If requested by the parent of a nonresident student, the school district shall provide transportation to a nonresident student within its borders.
2. When divorced parents reside in different school districts and share physical custody of a student, the parents shall be responsible for the transportation of the student to the border of the school district during those times when the student is residing with the parent in the nonresident school district.


Transportation of Resident Students to Nonresident Schools

1. The school district shall not generally provide transportation between a resident student’s home and the border of a nonresident district where the student attends school under the Enrollment Options Program.
2. Resident students shall be eligible for transportation to and from a nonresident school district at the expense of the school district, if in the discretion of the school district, inadequate room, distance to school, unfavorable road conditions, or other facts or conditions make attendance in the resident student’s own district unreasonably difficult or impracticable.  The school district, in its discretion, may also provide for transportation of resident students to schools in other districts for grades and departments not maintained in the district, including high school, for the whole or a part of the year or for resident students who attend school in a building rented or leased by the school district in an adjacent district.


Special Education/Disabled Students/Students with Temporary Disabilities

1. Upon a request of a parent or guardian, a resident disabled student who is not yet enrolled in kindergarten, who requires special education services in a location other than the child’s home, shall be provided transportation to and from the student’s home at the expense of the school district and shall not be subject to any distance requirement.
2. Resident disabled students whose handicapping conditions are such that the student cannot be safely transported on the regular school bus and/or school bus route shall be entitled to special transportation at the expense of the school district.   The school district shall determine the type of vehicle used to
transport disabled students on the basis of the handicapping condition and applicable laws.  This provision shall not be applicable to parents who transport their own child under a contract with the school district.
3. If a resident disabled student attends a public school located in a contiguous school district and the school district of attendance does not provide special instruction and services, the school district shall provide necessary transportation for the student between the school district boundary and the educational facility where special instruction and services are provided within the school district.  The district may provide necessary transportation of the student between its boundary and the school attended in the contiguous district, but shall not pay the cost of transportation provided outside the school district boundary.
4. When a disabled student or a student with a short-term of temporary disability is temporarily placed for care and treatment in a day program located in another school district and the student continues to live within the school district during the care and treatment, the school district shall provide the transportation, at the expense of the school district, to that student.
5. When a nonresident disabled student or a student with a short term or temporary disability is temporarily placed in a residential program within the school district, including correctional facilities operated on a fee-for-service basis and state institutions, for care and treatment, the school district shall provide the necessary transportation at the expense of the school district.
6. Any parent of a disabled student who believes that the transportation services provided for that child are not in compliance with the applicable law may utilize the due process procedures provided for in state law.


Services, Manner of Transportation, and Restrictions

Transportation shall be provided on all regularly scheduled school days or make-up days.  Transportation will not be provided during the summer school break.  Transportation may be provided for summer instructional programs for students with a disability or in conjunction with a year long program.

The scheduling of routes, establishment of the location of bus stops, manner and method of transportation, control and discipline of school children, and any other matter relating thereto shall be within the sole discretion, control, and management of the superintendent.

Transportation by the school district is a privilege and not a right for an eligible student.  A student’s eligibility to ride a school bus may be revoked for a violation of school bus safety or conduct policies, or violation of any other law governing student conduct on a school bus pursuant to the school district’s discipline policy.  Revocation of a student’s bus riding privilege is not an exclusion, expulsion, or suspension under the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act of 1974.  Revocation procedures for a student who is an individual with a disability are governed by the specific legislation relating to those disabilities.




Legal References:
M.S. 125A.02 (Children, with a Disability, Defined)
M.S. 124D.03 (Enrollment Options Program)
M.S. 124D.04 (Enrollment Options Programs in Border States)
M.S. 122A.22 (Compulsory Instruction)
M.S. 125A.03 (Children with a Disability)