(1) The school board of any school district shall provide free transportation, partially provide free transportation, or pay an allowance for transportation in lieu of free transportation as follows:

(a) When a student attends an elementary school in his or her own school district and lives more than four miles from such elementary school as measured by the shortest route that must actually and necessarily be traveled by motor vehicle to reach the student's residence;

(b) When a student is required to attend an elementary school outside of his or her own school district and lives more than four miles from such elementary school as measured by the shortest route that must actually and necessarily be traveled by motor vehicle to reach the student's residence;

(c) When a student attends a secondary school in his or her own Class I, II, or III school district and lives more than four miles from such secondary school as measured by the shortest route that must actually and necessarily be traveled by motor vehicle to reach the student's residence. This subdivision does not apply to any elementary-only school district that merged with a high-school-only school district to form a new Class I, II, or III school district on or after January 1, 1997, and before June 16, 2006; and

(d) When a student, other than a student in grades ten through twelve in a Class V school district, attends an elementary or junior high school in his or her own Class V school district and lives more than four miles from such elementary or junior high school as measured by the shortest route that must actually and necessarily be traveled by motor vehicle to reach the student's residence.

(2)(a) For school years prior to school year 2017-18 and as required pursuant to subsection (3) of section 79-241, the school board of any school district that is a member of a learning community shall provide free transportation for a student who resides in such learning community and attends school in such school district if (i) the student is transferring pursuant to the open enrollment provisions of section 79-2110, qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches, lives more than one mile from the school to which he or she transfers, and is not otherwise disqualified under subdivision (2)(c) of this section, (ii) the student is transferring pursuant to the open enrollment provisions of section 79-2110, is a student who contributes to the socioeconomic diversity of enrollment at the school building he or she attends, lives more than one mile from the school to which he or she transfers, and is not otherwise disqualified under subdivision (2)(c) of this section, (iii) the student is attending a focus school or program and lives more than one mile from the school building housing the focus school or program, or (iv) the student is attending a magnet school or program and lives more than one mile from the magnet school or the school housing the magnet program.

(b) For purposes of this subsection, student who contributes to the socioeconomic diversity of enrollment at the school building he or she attends has the definition found in section 79-2110. This subsection does not prohibit a school district that is a member of a learning community from providing transportation to any intradistrict student.

(c) For any student who resides within a learning community and transfers to another school building pursuant to the open enrollment provisions of section 79-2110 and who had not been accepted for open enrollment into any school building within such school district prior to September 6, 2013, the school board is exempt from the requirement of subdivision (2)(a) of this section if (i) the student is transferring to another school building within his or her home school district or (ii) the student is transferring to a school building in a school district that does not share a common border with his or her home school district.

(3) The transportation allowance which may be paid to the parent, custodial parent, or guardian of students qualifying for free transportation pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall equal two hundred eighty-five percent of the mileage rate provided in section 81-1176, multiplied by each mile actually and necessarily traveled, on each day of attendance, beyond which the one-way distance from the residence of the student to the school exceeds three miles. Such transportation allowance does not apply to students residing in a learning community who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

(4) Whenever students from more than one family travel to school in the same vehicle, the transportation allowance prescribed in subsection (3) of this section shall be payable as follows:

(a) To the parent, custodial parent, or guardian providing transportation for students from other families, one hundred percent of the amount prescribed in subsection (3) of this section for the transportation of students of such parent's, custodial parent's, or guardian's own family and an additional five percent for students of each other family not to exceed a maximum of one hundred twenty-five percent of the amount determined pursuant to subsection (3) of this section; and

(b) To the parent, custodial parent, or guardian not providing transportation for students of other families, two hundred eighty-five percent of the mileage rate provided in section 81-1176 multiplied by each mile actually and necessarily traveled, on each day of attendance, from the residence of the student to the pick-up point at which students transfer to the vehicle of a parent, custodial parent, or guardian described in subdivision (a) of this subsection.

(5) When a student who qualifies under the mileage requirements of subsection (1) of this section lives more than three miles from the location where the student must be picked up and dropped off in order to access school-provided free transportation, as measured by the shortest route that must actually and necessarily be traveled by motor vehicle between his or her residence and such location, such school-provided transportation shall be deemed partially provided free transportation. School districts partially providing free transportation shall pay an allowance to the student's parent or guardian equal to two hundred eighty-five percent of the mileage rate provided in section 81-1176 multiplied by each mile actually and necessarily traveled, on each day of attendance, beyond which the one-way distance from the residence of the student to the location where the student must be picked up and dropped off exceeds three miles.

(6) The board may authorize school-provided transportation to any student who does not qualify under the mileage requirements of subsection (1) of this section and may charge a fee to the parent or guardian of the student for such service. No transportation payments shall be made to a family for mileage not actually traveled by such family. The number of days the student has attended school shall be reported monthly by the teacher to the board of such public school district.

(7) No more than one allowance shall be made to a family irrespective of the number of students in a family being transported to school.

(8) No student shall be exempt from school attendance on account of distance from the school.

Source:Laws 1927, c. 84, § 1, p. 251; Laws 1929, c. 92, § 1, p. 348; C.S.1929, § 79-1902; Laws 1931, c. 149, § 1, p. 405; Laws 1941, c. 163, § 1, p. 650; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 79-1902; R.S.1943, § 79-1907; Laws 1949, c. 256, § 128, p. 735; Laws 1951, c. 276, § 6, p. 930; Laws 1955, c. 315, § 9, p. 979; Laws 1963, c. 483, § 1, p. 1553; Laws 1969, c. 717, § 1, p. 2743; Laws 1969, c. 718, § 1, p. 2744; Laws 1969, c. 719, § 1, p. 2746; Laws 1976, LB 852, § 1; Laws 1977, LB 117, § 1; Laws 1977, LB 33, § 10; Laws 1979, LB 425, § 1; Laws 1980, LB 867, § 2; Laws 1981, LB 204, § 156; Laws 1981, LB 316, § 3; Laws 1986, LB 419, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 200, § 1; Laws 1990, LB 259, § 22; Laws 1990, LB 1059, § 38; Laws 1993, LB 348, § 21; Laws 1994, LB 1311, § 1; R.S.1943, (1994), § 79-490; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 372; Laws 1997, LB 710, § 4; Laws 1997, LB 806, § 28; Laws 1999, LB 272, § 84; Laws 2003, LB 394, § 7; Laws 2005, LB 126, § 42; Laws 2006, LB 1024, § 56; Referendum 2006, No. 422; Laws 2007, LB641, § 10; Laws 2008, LB1154, § 8; Laws 2009, LB549, § 25; Laws 2013, LB410, § 8; Laws 2013, LB585, § 2; Laws 2016, LB1067, § 29; Laws 2018, LB377, § 58; Laws 2021, LB528, § 27; Laws 2024, LB1329, § 67.
Effective Date: July 19, 2024

Annotations

Subsection (4) of this section grants affiliated school districts the authority to provide free transportation to high school students residing in an affiliated Class I district, but neither creates any mandatory legal duty nor provides for the enforcement of any duty. "May" in subsection (4) is to be interpreted as discretionary. Subsection (1) of this section provides that a school district must provide either free transportation or reimbursement at the statutory rate to high school students residing within that district. State ex rel. Fick v. Miller, 255 Neb. 387, 584 N.W.2d 809 (1998).

Implicit in this section is a school board's authority to provide free transportation to students if it chooses. School Dist. of Waterloo v. Hutchinson, 244 Neb. 665, 508 N.W.2d 832 (1993).

Section constitutional and not in violation of equal protection clause. Warren v. Papillion School Dist. No. 27, 199 Neb. 410, 259 N.W.2d 281 (1977).

Transportation allowance will be provided if child attending school resides more than specified distance from school. Galstan v. School Dist. of Omaha, 177 Neb. 319, 128 N.W.2d 790 (1964).

This section does not apply to the transportation of a physically handicapped child to a special school outside of school district. Schutte v. Decker, 164 Neb. 582, 83 N.W.2d 69 (1957).

Claim for transportation allowance must be filed monthly. George v. School Dist. No. 24 of Red Willow County, 157 Neb. 791, 61 N.W.2d 401 (1953).

In absence of authorization by electors to require transportation, school board can pay mileage. Bender v. Palmer, 154 Neb. 350, 48 N.W.2d 65 (1951).

This section does not control allowance for transportation when school board closes school. Batterman v. Bronderslev, 150 Neb. 875, 36 N.W.2d 284 (1949).