§ 16-21-1 - Transportation of public and private school pupils.
SECTION 16-21-1
§ 16-21-1 Transportation of public andprivate school pupils. – (a) The school committee of any town or city shall provide suitabletransportation to and from school for pupils attending public and privateschools of elementary and high school grades, except private schools that areoperated for profit, who reside so far from the public or private school whichthe pupil attends as to make the pupil's regular attendance at schoolimpractical and for any pupil whose regular attendance would otherwise beimpracticable on account of physical disability or infirmity.
(b) For transportation provided to children enrolled ingrades kindergarten through five (5), school bus monitors, other than theschool bus driver, shall be required on all school bound and home bound routes.Variances to the requirement for a school bus monitor may be granted by thecommissioner of elementary and secondary education if he or she finds that analternative plan provides substantially equivalent safety for children. For thepurposes of this section a "school bus monitor" means any person sixteen (16)years of age or older.
(c) No school committee shall negotiate, extend, or renew anytransportation contract unless such contract enables the district toparticipate in the statewide transportation system, without penalty to thedistrict, upon implementation of the statewide transportation system describedin RIGL §§ 16-21.1-7 and 16-21.1-8. Notice of the implementation ofthe statewide transportation system for in-district transportation shall beprovided in writing by the department of elementary and secondary education tothe superintendent of each district upon implementation. Upon implementation ofthe statewide system of transportation for all students, each school committeeshall purchase transportation services for their own resident students byaccessing the statewide system on a fee-for-service basis for each student;provided, however, that any school committee that fulfills its transportationobligations primarily through the use of district-owned buses or districtemployees may continue to do so.