2010 Rhode Island Code
Title 16 Education
CHAPTER 16-21.1 Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits
§ 16-21.1-7 Statewide transportation of students with special needs.

§ 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 § 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 shall 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; provided, however, that any school committee that fulfills its transportation obligations primarily through the use of district-owned buses or district employees may continue to do so. All fees paid for transportation services provided to students under the statewide system shall be paid into a statewide student transportation services restricted receipt account within the department of elementary and secondary education. Payments from the account shall be limited to payments to the transportation service provider and transportation system consultants. This restricted receipt account shall not be subject to the indirect cost recoveries provisions set forth in § 35-4-27. 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. The department of elementary and secondary education shall submit a report of their findings and plans to the general assembly by March 30, 2008.
History of Section.
(P.L. 2006, ch. 266, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 553, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 229, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 237, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 5, art. 12, § 2; P.L. 2010, ch. 23, art. 8, § 3.)