N.Y. Education Law § 3635: Transportation

§ 3635. Transportation. 1. a. Sufficient transportation facilities

(including the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be

provided by the school district for all the children residing within the

school district to and from the school they legally attend, who are in

need of such transportation because of the remoteness of the school to

the child or for the promotion of the best interest of such children.

Such transportation shall be provided for all children attending grades

kindergarten through eight who live more than two miles from the school

which they legally attend and for all children attending grades nine

through twelve who live more than three miles from the school which they

legally attend and shall be provided for each such child up to a

distance of fifteen miles, the distances in each case being measured by

the nearest available route from home to school. The cost of providing

such transportation between two or three miles, as the case may be, and

fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be

a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the

district. Transportation for a lesser distance than two miles in the

case of children attending grades kindergarten through eight or three

miles in the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and

for a greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided by the

district with the approval of the qualified voters, and, if provided,

shall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing

in the district; provided, however, that this requirement shall not

apply to transportation offered pursuant to section thirty-six hundred

thirty-five-b of this article.

b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school

for pupils living within a specified distance from such school shall

designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up points and

shall provide transportation between such points and such nonpublic

schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such

nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.

The district shall not be responsible for the provision of

transportation for pupils between their home and such pick-up points.

The district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if the

residence of the pupil is located on an established route for the

transportation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided such

transportation does not result in additional costs to the district. The

cost of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such

nonpublic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.

(ii) A board of education may, at its discretion, provide

transportation for pupils residing within the district to a nonpublic

school located more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil

provided that such transportation has been provided to such nonpublic

school pursuant to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately

preceding three school years and such transportation is provided from

one or more centralized pick-up points designated pursuant to this

paragraph and that the distance from such pick-up points to the

nonpublic school is not more than fifteen miles. The district shall not

be responsible for the provision of transportation for pupils between

pupils homes and such pick-up points. The cost of providing

transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpublic schools

shall be an ordinary contingent expense.

c. The foregoing provisions of this subdivision shall not require

transportation to be provided for children residing within a city school

district, but if provided by such district pursuant to other provisions

of this chapter, such transportation shall be offered equally to all

such children in like circumstances; provided further that in city

school districts in cities having a population of one hundred

twenty-five thousand inhabitants or less such transportation, if

provided, shall be subject to the mileage limitations prescribed in

paragraph a of this subdivision or such greater or lesser limitations as

are approved by the board of education prior to July first, nineteen

hundred ninety-six or as otherwise authorized in subdivision twelve of

section twenty-five hundred three of this chapter. City school districts

with a population of more than two hundred twenty-five thousand and less

than three hundred thousand, according to the nineteen hundred eighty

federal census, which elect to provide transportation shall do so in

accord with the grade and distance provisions of this subdivision

including transportation outside the city limits.

d. Nothing contained in this subdivision, however, shall be deemed to

require a school district to furnish transportation to a child directly

to or from his or her home.

e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing

provisions of this subdivision, a board of education may, at its

discretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades

kindergarten through eight between the school such child legally attends

and before-and/or-after-school child care locations. For the purposes of

this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall

mean a place, other than the child's home, where care for less than

twenty-four hours a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who

attends school within the school district, provided that such place is

situated within the school district. This definition includes, but is

not limited to, a variety of child care services such as day care

centers, family day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such

transportation may be provided for children attending grades

kindergarten through eight where the distance between the school they

legally attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is

more than two miles, and may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen

miles, the distance in each case being measured by the nearest available

route from before-and/or-after-school child care locations to the school

they legally attend, except that transportation for a lesser distance

than two miles or a greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided

if transportation for such distances is provided to students between

home and school. Where a child receives transportation from a

before-school child care location to the school he or she legally

attends, such child shall be entitled to receive transportation from the

school he or she legally attends to his or her home or to an

after-school child care location in accordance with this subdivision.

Where a child receives transportation from the school he or she legally

attends to an after-school child care location, such child shall be

entitled to receive transportation from home to the school he or she

legally attends in accordance with this subdivision. Transportation may

be provided to any child attending grades kindergarten through eight

between the school the child legally attends and

before-and/or-after-school child care locations upon written request of

the parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the first day of

April preceding the next school year, provided, however, a parent or

guardian of a child not residing in the district on such date shall

submit a written request within thirty days after establishing residence

in the district and provided further that in order to be considered

eligible for such transportation in the nineteen hundred

eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year, such request must be submitted

by August first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of

transportation to or from before-and/or-after-school child care

locations, if provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like

circumstances residing in the district, provided that a board of

education furnishing transportation pursuant to this paragraph may limit

the provision of such transportation to child care locations located

within the attendance zone of the school the child attends, and to child

day care centers and school age child care programs licensed or

registered pursuant to section three hundred ninety of the social

services law located anywhere within the school district. The cost of

providing such transportation between two or three miles, as the case

may be, and fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of this

chapter to be a charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation

expense shall be eligible for state aid in accordance with clause one of

paragraph b of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of

this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a

duty upon boards of education to provide transportation to or from

before-and/or-after-school child care locations. Nothing in this

subdivision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to

provide to any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school

day care location and that child's home.

f. A board of education may, in its discretion, provide transportation

pursuant to this subdivision to a child of less than school age residing

within the school district to and from the school which his or her

parent legally attends; provided that such child is accompanied by such

parent, that such parent is under twenty-one years of age and has not

received a high school diploma, and that such transportation is

furnished for the purpose of allowing the child to receive child care

services and/or attend a nursery school, pre-school, or parenting

program. For all purposes under this chapter, a child receiving such

transportation shall be deemed a pupil legally attending the school

which his or her parent legally attends. The cost of providing such

transportation shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to

be a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the

district. Such transportation expense shall be eligible for state aid in

accordance with subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of subdivision seven of

section thirty-six hundred two of this article.

g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the

trustees or board of education of any school district may, in its

discretion, provide transportation for students attending a universal

pre-kindergarten program in addition to transportation funded by such

program or transportation for students attending another district

sponsored or district-run pre-kindergarten program, within mileage

limits established by the school district; if provided such

transportation shall be offered equally to all children in like

circumstances residing in the district. The cost of providing such

transportation shall be a charge upon the district and for purposes of

subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter,

such pupils shall be considered non allowable pupils and the costs of

their transportation shall not be aidable.

2. A parent or guardian of a child residing in any school district, or

any representative authorized by such parent or guardian, who desires

for a child during the next school year any transportation authorized or

directed by this chapter shall submit a written request therefor to the

school trustees or board of education of such district not later than

the first day of April preceding the next school year, provided,

however, that a parent or guardian of a child not residing in the

district on such date shall submit a written request within thirty days

after establishing residence in the district. No late request of a

parent or guardian for transportation shall be denied where a reasonable

explanation is provided for the delay. If the voters, school trustees,

or board of education fail to provide the transportation authorized or

directed by this chapter after receiving such a request, such parent,

guardian or representative, or any taxpayer residing in the district,

may appeal to the commissioner of education, as provided in section

three hundred ten of this chapter. Except as hereinbefore provided, the

commissioner of education shall not require that such parent, guardian

or representative present a request for such transportation to any

meeting of the voters, school trustees or board of education in order to

appeal. Upon such appeal, the commissioner of education shall make such

order as is required to effect compliance with the provisions of this

chapter and this section.

2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having

a population in excess of one million, shall prepare a public school

calendar and shall notify officials of nonpublic schools to which

transportation has been requested not later than the first day of June

in each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session

in the following school year. Such school district which provides

transportation to nonpublic schools shall provide such transportation

for the same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not

provide transportation services for more than one hundred eighty days.

Officials of each nonpublic school to which transportation is provided

by a city school district of a city having a population in excess of one

million may notify such district, not later than the first day of July

of each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of Saturdays,

Sundays or legal holidays upon which public schools are required to be

closed, on which the public schools are scheduled to be closed, except

that in any year in which the first or last day of Passover and Easter

Sunday are separated by more than seven days, such officials may notify

the district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will be

required to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided

that such five or ten additional days, whichever is applicable, are

limited to the following: the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

after Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the week in which public

schools are closed for spring recess, December twenty-fourth and the

week between Christmas day and New Year's day, the Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday and Friday after the observance of Washington's birthday, the

first day of the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the

preceding calendar year, known as Asian Lunar New Year, the fifteenth

day of the eighth month of the Indian calendar in each year, known as

Diwali, and, in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens only, Anniversary

Day as designated in section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this

chapter.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to

the contrary, in cities with a population of one million or more, the

requirement of paragraph c of subdivision one of this section, requiring

that a city school district providing transportation for children

residing within such district offer such transportation equally to all

such children in like circumstances, shall not apply to the use of

existing contract bus service provided for children in elementary grades

by pupils in grades seven and eight, but only where such use is a

reinstatement of a service provided in the school year beginning in

September, two thousand nine and ending in June two thousand ten.

5. For the purpose of affording the greatest possible protection to

school children, drive-off places on public highways may be designated

by the appropriate board of education or district superintendent to

permit school busses to be driven off the highway to receive or

discharge school children, and the state or municipality having

jurisdiction of such highway, is authorized to provide construction and

maintenance of such designated drive-offs.

6. In the event that the expenses entailed by the phase-out of

omnibuses required by paragraph (k) of subdivision twenty of section

three hundred seventy-five of the vehicle and traffic law are not

otherwise provided for, such expenses shall be an ordinary contingent

expense of a school district.

7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation,

where a child is permitted by a school district or board of education to

attend a public school other than the school to which they would

normally be assigned, a parent of such child may agree to waive

provision of transportation which would otherwise be required under this

section and no such transportation shall be required. Any agreement to

waive transportation must be renewed annually in writing.

* 8. a. The trustees or board of education of a school district may,

at its discretion, provide student transportation based upon patterns of

actual ridership. The actual ridership shall be determined by a school

district based upon documented history and experience that yields a

consistent pattern of eligible pupils not using district transportation;

or modeling of future ridership; or the sharing of transportation

regionally; or other criteria approved by the commissioner; provided

however that any methodology shall require an additional ten percent in

seating capacity above the number of seats derived using such

methodology which shall be available in case of unanticipated riders.

Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to reduce or relieve

school districts from the responsibility of providing transportation to

students otherwise eligible for such transportation. Nothing in this

subdivision shall be construed to authorize a school district to have

standing passengers in violation of section thirty-six hundred

thirty-five-c of this article, and unanticipated ridership shall not be

deemed an unforeseen occurrence for purposes of subdivision two of such

section after the first day in which such unanticipated ridership

occurs.

Any school district that, at its discretion, has elected to provide

student transportation based upon patterns of actual ridership shall

place such plans on the school district's website, if one exists, on or

before August fifteenth of the school year in which the transportation

plan will be implemented and shall be required to have a back up plan as

part of their emergency management practices for pupil transportation in

the event that a bus is filled beyond capacity.

b. The commissioner shall evaluate the effectiveness of this

subdivision including the methodologies used by school districts to

determine the patterns of actual ridership and whether such

methodologies ensure that all students otherwise eligible receive

transportation and that student safety is assured.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2029