49 CFR Parts 37 & 38 - Department of Transportation (DOT) ADA Regulations

Section 37.27 Transportation for Elementary and Secondary Education Systems

This section restates the statutory exemption from public entity requirements given to public school transportation. This extension also applies to transportation of pre-school children to Head Start or special education programs which receive Federal assistance. It also applies to arrangements permitting pre-school children of school bus drivers to ride a school bus or allowing teenage mothers to be transported to day care facilities at a school or along a school bus route so that their mothers may continue to attend school (See H. Rept. 101-485, pt. 1 at 27). The situation for private schools is more complex. According to the provision, a private elementary or secondary school's transportation system is exempt from coverage under this rule if all three of the following conditions are met: (1) The school receives Federal financial assistance; (2) the school is subject to section 504; and (3) the school's transportation system provides transportation services to individuals with disabilities, including wheelchair users, equivalent to those provided to individuals without disabilities. The test of equivalency is the same as that for other private entities, and is described under §37.105. If the school does not meet all these criteria, then it is subject to the requirements of Part 37 for private entities not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people.

The Department notes that, given the constitutional law on church-state separation, it is likely that church-affiliated private schools do not receive Federal financial assistance. To the extent that these schools' transportation systems are operated by religious entities or entities controlled by religious organizations, they are not subject to the ADA at all, so this section does not apply to them.