121.54 Transportation by school districts.
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121.54 Transportation by school districts.
(1)City option.
(a)Subsections
(2)and
(6)and s. 121.57 do not apply to pupils who reside in a school district that contains all or part of a city unless the school they attend is located outside the city but within the boundaries of the school district.
(b)If a school district elects under sub.
(c)to provide transportation for the pupils under par.
(a), state aid shall be paid in accordance with s. 121.58 , and there shall be reasonable uniformity in the transportation furnished to the pupils, whether they attend public or private schools.
(c)Paragraph
(a)does not apply to pupils who reside in a school district that contains all or part of a 1st, 2nd or 3rd class city with a population exceeding 40,000 unless transportation for the pupils is available through a common carrier of passengers operating under s. 85.20 or ch. 194 .
(2)General transportation.
(a)Except as provided in sub.
(1), every school board shall provide transportation to and from public school for all pupils who reside in the school district 2 miles or more from the nearest public school they are entitled to attend.
(am)In lieu of transporting a pupil who is eligible for transportation under par.
(a)to and from his or her residence, a school district may transport the pupil to or from, or both, a before- and after-school child care program under s. 120.125 , a child care program under s. 120.13
(14), or any other child care program, family child care home, or child care provider.
1. Except as provided in sub.
(1)or otherwise provided in this subsection, the school board of each district operating high school grades shall provide transportation to and from the school a pupil attends for each pupil residing in the school district who attends any elementary grade, including kindergarten, or high school grade at a private school located 2 miles or more from the pupil’s residence, if such private school is a school within whose attendance area the pupil resides and is situated within the school district or not more than 5 miles beyond the boundaries of the school district measured along the usually traveled route.
2. In lieu of transporting students under subd. 1. and paying for transportation under sub.
(b), an underlying elementary school district of a union high school district may elect, by resolution adopted at its annual or special meeting, to transport elementary school children who reside within the underlying district and qualify for transportation under subd. 1. , in vehicles owned, operated or contracted for by the district. Once adopted, such a resolution may be repealed only upon one year’s notice to the board of the union high school district of which the underlying district is a part. An elementary school district shall notify the union high school district of any action under this paragraph no later than June 15 preceding the school year in which the elementary school district’s action takes effect.
3. Annually by April 1, each private school shall submit its proposed attendance area for the ensuing school year to the school board of each school district having territory within the proposed attendance area. If a proposal is not submitted by April 1, the existing attendance area shall remain in effect for the ensuing school year.
4. No later than May 15 in each year, each private school shall notify each school board of the names, grade levels and locations of all pupils, if any, eligible to have transportation provided by such school board under this paragraph and planning to attend such private school during the forthcoming school term. The school board may extend the notification deadline.
(c)An annual or special meeting of a common or union high school district, or the school board of a unified school district, may elect to provide transportation for pupils who are not required to be transported under this section, including pupils attending public school under s. 118.145
(4)or 118.53 . Transportation may be provided for all or some of the pupils who reside in the school district to and from the public school they are entitled to attend or the private school, within or outside the school district, within whose attendance area they reside. If transportation is provided for less than all such pupils there shall be reasonable uniformity in the minimum distance that pupils attending public and private schools will be transported. Except for elementary school districts electing to furnish transportation under par.
(b)2. , this paragraph does not permit a school district operating only elementary grades to provide transportation for pupils attending private schools.
(d)A school board may provide transportation for teachers to and from public school, subject to the same controls and limitations as apply to the transportation of pupils.
(e)Notwithstanding par.
(a), if a pupil is living outside the school district in which he or she is enrolled because the pupil’s parents or guardians have joint legal custody, as defined in s. 767.001
(1s), of the pupil, upon the request of the pupil’s parent or guardian the school district shall transport the pupil to and from an agreed-upon location within the school district.
(3)Transportation for children with disabilities. Every school board shall provide transportation for children with disabilities, as defined in s. 115.76
(5), to any public or private elementary or high school, to the school operated by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired or the school operated by the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or to any special education program for children with disabilities sponsored by a state tax-supported institution of higher education, including a technical college, regardless of distance, if the request for such transportation is approved by the state superintendent. Approval shall be based on whether or not the child can walk to school with safety and comfort. Section 121.53 shall apply to transportation provided under this subsection.
(4)Summer class transportation. A school board may provide transportation for pupils residing in the school district and attending summer classes. If the school board provides transportation for less than all pupils, there shall be reasonable uniformity in the minimum and maximum distances pupils are transported.
(5)Transportation to technical colleges. The school board of a district operating high school grades may provide for the transportation or board and lodging of residents of the school district attending technical colleges outside the school district who are not high school graduates, are less than 20 years of age and attend such colleges full time. The school board of such a district may also provide transportation for residents of the district participating in vocational education programs organized cooperatively between school districts under s. 66.0301 . The school district shall be paid state aid for such transportation or board and lodging in accordance with s. 121.58 . This subsection does not apply if the distance between a pupil’s home and the technical college along the usually traveled public highway is more than 15 miles, unless the pupil resides on an approved bus route or board and lodging are provided.
(6)Transportation in special cases. The school board of a district operating high school grades which, under s. 121.78
(a), must permit a pupil to attend high school outside the school district shall provide transportation for such pupil if the pupil resides 2 or more miles from the high school that the pupil attends.
(7)Transportation for extracurricular activities.
(a)A school board may provide transportation for pupils attending public or private schools, their parents or guardians, authorized chaperones, school officers, faculty and employees and school doctors, dentists and nurses in connection with any extracurricular activity of the public or private school, such as a school athletic contest, school game, after school practice, late activity, school outing or school field trip or any other similar trip when: