Help with IL laws regarding daycare transport of kids?

Does anyone know how I can find out precise Illinois daycare laws regarding transport of kids? Here is the situation:

My son's daycare uses Ford 15 passenger vans to transport children. This includes field trips for ages 4 & 5, and also includes transport of children ages 5-10 to and from elementary school (for before and/or after-school care).

I understand that actual schools are not allowed to use these vans, but that daycares are somehow exempted. For the preschool field trips, the daycare lets parents bring in booster seats, but doesn't require them.

BUT...for before and after school care each day, the school transports children in NOTHING. No boosters. And of course these are also the low bench seats, and the middle belt is a lapbelt only. Is this breaking the law? Doesn't the school still have to follow the IL Booster laws? (age 8).

I am frustrated in general with the daycare's lack of concern regarding vehicle safety, and might move my child over this (he would use the before and after school care starting in August, when he starts kindergarten). But at the very least I would like to speak to the director if the law is being broken.

We generally love this daycare, but to me this is a serious problem. I probably cannot convince them to trade the vans for buses (all other daycares in our town use buses - every single one), but certainly I want to alert them if they break the law. Also, if we DO keep my child there, I will insist on a HB booster for school transport.

My son is nearly 5, still harnessed in our cars. He will be for years yet. On the one field trip he attended, we put him in a high back booster (he fits well, and knows to sit still, but I still didn't like it much). But most parents provided low-backs (Urgh!), in this darn van with bench seats.

Anyway, I am just trying to clarify the IL daycare laws, as it comes to transporting children, particularly to and from school. I've seen some references to field trips be "exempt" from the law, but that school transport must follow laws.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for reading this long novel

I am not sure on the specific IL laws regarding private schools (as your daycare is probably classified as), but you may want to look though this NHTSA website to see documents talking about 15-passenger van safety.

http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.13dd5c887c7e1358fefe0a2f35a67789/?vgnextoid=4fd686426c9b9110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD

When I was dealing with my former daycare's use of 15-passenger vans, I printed out a lot of documents from that site and wrote up a letter stating that my child would be required to be in a high back booster with a shoulder belt any time she rode in the van. I was hoping that some of my documentation would convince them to change vehicles or at least ask other parents to bring booster seats for their children. All last summer, my daughter was the only child using a booster seat.

We moved daycares and this new daycare has actual buses for the kids, so I am happier.

Illinois child passenger protection act.

Sec. 4. When any person is transporting a child in this State under the age of 8 years in a non‑commercial motor vehicle of the first division, any truck or truck tractor that is equipped with seat safety belts, any other motor vehicle of the second division with a gross vehicle weight rating of 9,000 pounds or less, or a recreational vehicle on the roadways, streets or highways of this State, such person shall be responsible for providing for the protection of such child by properly securing him or her in an appropriate child restraint system. The parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 8 years shall provide a child restraint system to any person who transports his or her child.
For purposes of this Section and Section 4b, "child restraint system" means any device which meets the standards of the United States Department of Transportation designed to restrain, seat or position children, which also includes a booster seat.
A child weighing more than 40 pounds may be transported in the back seat of a motor vehicle while wearing only a lap belt if the back seat of the motor vehicle is not equipped with a combination lap and shoulder belt.

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A 15 passenger van is a vehicle of the second division.

Sec. 1‑146. Motor vehicle. Every vehicle which is self‑propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except for vehicles moved solely by human power and motorized wheelchairs. For this Act, motor vehicles are divided into two divisions:
First Division: Those motor vehicles which are designed for the carrying of not more than 10 persons.
Second Division: Those motor vehicles which are designed for carrying more than 10 persons, those motor vehicles designed or used for living quarters, those motor vehicles which are designed for pulling or carrying freight, cargo or implements of husbandry, and those motor vehicles of the First Division remodelled for use and used as motor vehicles of the Second Division.

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(bolding mine in above quotes)

So, the way I read it, it depends on the GVWR of the specific van that they are using. If it is over 9,000 pounds, they are exempted from the child restraint law (but not the laws of physics, of course). If the GVWR is 9,000 pounds or less, the children must be properly restrained. No exemptions for daycares or schools based solely on being a daycare or a school.

The GVWR of a vehicle can be found on a plate or sticker, usually in the driver's door jamb. It may be on the edge of the door itself, or on the edge of the vehicle, where it would be covered when the door is closed.