Duties of district school superintendent and district school board regarding transportation.

(1) The district school superintendent shall ascertain which students should be transported to school or to school activities, determine the most effective arrangement of transportation routes to accommodate these students; recommend such routing to the district school board; recommend plans and procedures for providing facilities for the economical and safe transportation of students; recommend such rules as may be necessary and see that all rules relating to the transportation of students approved by the district school board, as well as rules of the State Board of Education, are properly carried into effect, as prescribed in this chapter.

(2) After considering recommendations of the district school superintendent, the district school board shall make provision for the transportation of students to the public schools or school activities they are required or expected to attend; authorize transportation routes arranged efficiently and economically; provide the necessary transportation facilities, and, when authorized under rules of the State Board of Education and if more economical to do so, provide limited subsistence in lieu thereof; and adopt the necessary rules to ensure safety, economy, and efficiency in the operation of all buses and other vehicles used to transport students, as prescribed in this chapter.

(3) District school boards, after considering recommendations of the district school superintendent:

(a) Shall provide transportation for each student in prekindergarten disability programs and in kindergarten through grade 12 membership in a public school when, and only when, transportation is necessary to provide adequate educational facilities and opportunities which otherwise would not be available and to transport students whose homes are more than a reasonable walking distance, as defined by rules of the State Board of Education, from the nearest appropriate school.

(b) Shall provide transportation for public elementary school students in membership whose grade level does not exceed grade 6, and may provide transportation for public school students in membership in grades 7 through 12, if such students are subjected to hazardous walking conditions as provided in s. 1006.23 while en route to or from school.

(c) May provide transportation for public school migrant, exceptional, nursery, and other public school students in membership below kindergarten; kindergarten through grade 12 students in membership in a public school; and adult students in membership in adult career, basic, and high school graduation programs in a public school when, and only when, transportation is necessary to provide adequate educational facilities and opportunities which otherwise would not be available.

(d) May provide transportation for the transportation disadvantaged as defined in s. 427.011 and for other school-age children as provided for in s. 1006.261.

(e) Shall provide necessary transportation to pregnant students or student parents, and the children of those students, when the district school board operates a teenage parent program pursuant to s. 1003.54.

(f) May provide transportation for other persons to events or activities in which the district school board or school has agreed to participate or cosponsor. The district school board shall adopt a policy to address liability for trips pursuant to this paragraph.

(g) May provide transportation for welfare transition program participants as defined in s. 414.0252.

(h) May install and operate, or enter into an agreement with a private vendor or manufacturer to provide, a school bus infraction detection system pursuant to s. 316.173.

(4) In each case in which transportation of students is impracticable in the opinion of the district school board, the district school board may take steps for making available educational facilities as are authorized by law or rule of the State Board of Education and as, in the opinion of the district school board, are practical.

(5) Contiguous school districts shall make provisions for reciprocal policies and agreements for contracts for school bus transportation services, inspections, and screening requirements for public schools and public charter schools.