Pa Supreme Court Tells Local School District They Must Provide Transportation to Students Residing with Both Divorced Parents Within the Same District

The PA Supreme Court recently denied an appeal by Manheim Township School District holding that the district is required to provide bus services to the homes of both divorced parents when the student spends time at both parents home overnight during the school year. While divorced parents rejoice at the ruling in their favor making split custody arrangements a littler easier, school districts will feel the financial pinch of additional costs and organization associated with having to provide students with transportation to and from different homes depending on the custody schedule. However, this ruling simply requires the schools to allow children to ride a different bus on an already established bus route.  It does not change the requirements for students living outside of the district.

After the recent ruling, school districts can no longer require parents to choose one parent’s home as the sole bus stop, nor can they require a parent to drive the student to a stop that is further away than what they would require a student to walk.  If this situation applies to you, contact your school and get a secondary stop set up for your child.  If you are not sure how this will affect you, we suggest contacting a trusted legal advisor.

Lindsay Schoeneberger is an attorney at Russell, Krafft and Gruber, LLP in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She received her law degree from Widener University School of Law and practices in a variety of areas including Family Law.