A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the use of school buses to transport students home from after‑school programs under certain circumstances.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑242(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	A school bus may be used for the transportation of pupils enrolled in and employees in the operation of the school to which such bus is assigned by the superintendent of the local school administrative unit. Except as otherwise herein provided, such transportation shall be limited to transportation to and from such school for the regularly organized school day, and from and to the points designated by the principal of the school to which such bus is assigned, for the receiving and discharging of passengers. No pupil or employee shall be so transported upon any bus other than the bus to which such pupil or employee has been assigned pursuant to the provisions of this Article: Provided, that children enrolled in a Headstart program or any More at Four program may be transported on public school buses, and any additional costs associated with such contractual arrangements shall be incurred by the benefiting Head Start or More at Four program: Provided further, that children participating in a school‑sponsored program at the school after school hours may be transported on public school buses from the school to a point designated by the principal of the school, and all costs shall be incurred by the local school administrative unit. Provided further, that children transported on public school buses from school to an after‑school program operated by a nonprofit entity may be transported from the program to a point designated by the principal of the school, and all costs associated with the contractual arrangements shall be incurred by the benefiting after‑school program. Provided further, that children with disabilities may be transported to and from the nearest appropriate private school having a special education program approved by the State Board of Education if the children to be transported are or have been placed in that program by a local school administrative unit as a result of the State or the unit's duty to provide such children with a free appropriate public education."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2009‑2010 school year.