Chapter 553
2006 -- H 7841
Enacted 07/10/06
A N A C T
RELATING
TO A STATEWIDE SYSTEM OF SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Introduced
By: Representatives Mumford, Savage, Story, Ehrhardt, and McManus
Date
Introduced: March 07, 2006
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter
16-21.1 of the General Laws entitled "Transportation of School
Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits" is
hereby amended by adding thereto the following
sections:
16-21.1-7.
Statewide transportation of students with special needs. – Notwithstanding
the regional structure created in this chapter,
and pursuant to the obligation of school committees
to transport children with special needs to and
from school either within the school district or in
another school district of the state created by
section 16-24-4, the department of elementary and
secondary education, in collaboration with the
office of statewide planning of the department of
administration, and the Rhode Island public
transit authority shall develop a plan for the creation
and implementation of a statewide system of
transportation of students with special needs to and
from school. The statewide school transportation
system for children with special needs shall be
provided through a competitive request for
proposals to which vendors of transportation services
may respond. Effective upon the implementation
of this statewide system of transportation for
students with special needs, each school committee
may purchase the transportation services for
their own resident students with special needs
by accessing this integrated statewide system of
transportation for children with special needs
on a fee-for-service basis for each child. The goals
of the statewide system of transportation for
students with special needs shall be the reduction of
duplication of cost and routes in transporting
children from the various cities and towns to the
same special education program providers using
different buses from each city and town, the
improvement of services to children through the
development of shorter ride times and more
efficient routes of travel, and the reduction of
cost to local school committees through achieving
efficiency in eliminating the need for each
school district to contract for and provide these
specialized transportation services separately.
16-21.1-8.
Statewide transportation system for all students to be established. –
Notwithstanding the regional structure created
in this chapter, the department of elementary and
secondary education, in collaboration with the
office of statewide planning of the department of
administration, and the Rhode Island public
transit authority shall conduct a comprehensive study
of all current transportation services for
students in Rhode Island school districts in order to
develop a plan for the creation and
implementation of a statewide system of transportation of all
students to and from school. The statewide school
transportation system for all students shall be
provided through a competitive request for
proposals to which vendors of transportation services
may respond. Effective upon the implementation
of this statewide system of transportation for all
students, each school committee may purchase the
transportation services for their own resident
students by accessing this integrated statewide
system of transportation on a fee-for-service basis
for each child. The goals of the statewide
system of transportation for all students shall be the
reduction of duplication of cost and routes in
transporting children from the various cities and
towns using different buses within and between
each city and town, the improvement of services
to children through the development of shorter
ride times and more efficient routes of travel, and
the reduction of cost to local school committees
through achieving efficiency in eliminating the
need for each school district to contract for
and provide these transportation services separately.
The comprehensive study of all current
transportation services for students in Rhode Island
school districts and development of a plan for a
statewide system of transportation of all students
to and from school shall be completed, with a
report to the general assembly by January 15, 2007.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC02667
=======