Funding and Disbursements
Parent/Guardian State Pupil Transportation Reimbursement Program
This program is for parents/guardians to whom free bussing is not provided. It is also utilized by parents/guardians which live less than 1.5 miles from the school and have a Serious Safety Hazard approval on file with their Regional Office of Education. The reimbursement rates are usually prorated, and are paid out on a per pupil basis.
Purpose and Eligibility
The purpose of the Parent/Guardian Pupil Transportation Program is to reimburse parents or guardians of eligible students for qualified transportation expenses. Statutory authority for this program can be found in the Illinois School Code at 105 ILCS 5/29-5.2 Student eligibility criteria for this initiative includes the following:
- The pupil must be under age 21 at the close of the school year;
- The pupil must be a full-time student in grades K-12;
- The pupil must live either:
- 1 1/2 miles or more from the school attended; or
- within 1 1/2 miles of the school attended, where a verified safety hazard exists (similar to the safety hazard mechanism in regular/vocational transportation reimbursement); and
- The pupil did not have access to transportation to and from school provided entirely at public expense.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO PARENTS:
Please do not try to file a parent/guardian claim individually. You must go to the school that your child attends in order to file a claim. The school is the only entity that can transmit a parent/guardian claim electronically via the IWAS system.
Parents can submit claim information at the attendance center their pupil attends until June 30 each year. Local education agencies must transmit claim data to the Illinois State Board of Education by July 30 each year.
If a student lives less within 1 1/2 miles of the school attended, where a verified safety hazard exists, an Application for Determination for Serious Safety Hazard must be filed with the Regional Superintendent in your area by February 1 each year. If a serious safety hazard is verified by the Illinois Department of Transportation, the approval is valid for four years.
