S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 1103 2015-2016 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y January 8, 2015 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. FAHY, LUPARDO, CAMARA, SCARBOROUGH, JAFFEE, GUNTHER, MAGNARELLI, COLTON, STIRPE, OTIS, DUPREY, MONTESANO, RAIA, GIGLIO, ABINANTI, CLARK, ROBINSON, TENNEY, ORTIZ -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, DAVILA, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, McLAUGHLIN, PERRY, SCHI- MEL, SKARTADOS, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation of children attending pre-kindergarten; and repealing certain provisions of such law relating thereto THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the educa- 2 tion law, as amended by section 11 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws 3 of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 4 a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the operation and 5 maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district 6 for all the children residing within the school district to and from the 7 school they legally attend, who are in need of such transportation 8 because of the remoteness of the school to the child or for the 9 promotion of the best interest of such children. Such transportation 10 shall be provided for all children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending 11 grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight who live more than 12 two miles from the school which they legally attend and for all children 13 attending grades nine through twelve who live more than three miles from 14 the school which they legally attend and shall be provided for each such 15 child up to a distance of fifteen miles, the distances in each case 16 being measured by the nearest available route from home to school. The 17 cost of providing such transportation between two or three miles, as the 18 case may be, and fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of 19 this chapter to be a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent 20 expense of the district. Transportation for a lesser distance than two EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00827-01-5 A. 1103 2 1 miles in the case of children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending 2 grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight or three miles in 3 the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and for a 4 greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided by the district with 5 the approval of the qualified voters, and, if provided, shall be offered 6 equally to all children in like circumstances residing in the district; 7 provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to transporta- 8 tion offered pursuant to section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of 9 this article. 10 S 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education 11 law, as amended by chapter 69 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the operation and 14 maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district 15 for all the children residing within the school district to and from the 16 school they legally attend, who are in need of such transportation 17 because of the remoteness of the school to the child or for the 18 promotion of the best interest of such children. Such transportation 19 shall be provided for all children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending 20 grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight who live more than 21 two miles from the school which they legally attend and for all children 22 attending grades nine through twelve who live more than three miles from 23 the school which they legally attend and shall be provided for each such 24 child up to a distance of fifteen miles, the distances in each case 25 being measured by the nearest available route from home to school. The 26 cost of providing such transportation between two or three miles, as the 27 case may be, and fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of 28 this chapter to be a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent 29 expense of the district. Transportation for a lesser distance than two 30 miles in the case of children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending 31 grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight or three miles in 32 the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and for a 33 greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided by the district, 34 and, if provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like 35 circumstances residing in the district; provided, however, that this 36 requirement shall not apply to transportation offered pursuant to 37 section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this article. 38 S 3. Paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education law 39 is REPEALED. 40 S 4. Paragraph e of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education 41 law, as amended by chapter 665 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read 42 as follows: 43 e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing 44 provisions of this subdivision, a board of education may, at its 45 discretion, provide transportation to any child FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND 46 OLDER attending grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight 47 between the school such child legally attends and before-and/or-after- 48 school child care locations. For the purposes of this subdivision, a 49 before-and/or-after-school child care location shall mean a place, other 50 than the child's home, where care for less than twenty-four hours a day 51 is provided on a regular basis for a child who attends school within the 52 school district, provided that such place is situated within the school 53 district. This definition includes, but is not limited to, a variety of 54 child care services such as day care centers, family day care homes and 55 in-home care by non-relatives. Such transportation may be provided for 56 children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending grades [kindergarten] A. 1103 3 1 PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight where the distance between the school 2 they legally attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations 3 is more than two miles, and may be provided for up to a distance of 4 fifteen miles, the distance in each case being measured by the nearest 5 available route from before-and/or-after-school child care locations to 6 the school they legally attend, except that transportation for a lesser 7 distance than two miles or a greater distance than fifteen miles may be 8 provided if transportation for such distances is provided to students 9 between home and school. Where a child receives transportation from a 10 before-school child care location to the school he or she legally 11 attends, such child shall be entitled to receive transportation from the 12 school he or she legally attends to his or her home or to an after- 13 school child care location in accordance with this subdivision. Where a 14 child receives transportation from the school he or she legally attends 15 to an after-school child care location, such child shall be entitled to 16 receive transportation from home to the school he or she legally attends 17 in accordance with this subdivision. Transportation may be provided to 18 any child FOUR YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER attending grades [kindergarten] 19 PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight between the school the child legally 20 attends and before-and/or-after-school child care locations upon written 21 request of the parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the 22 first day of April preceding the next school year, provided, however, a 23 parent or guardian of a child not residing in the district on such date 24 shall submit a written request within thirty days after establishing 25 residence in the district and provided further that in order to be 26 considered eligible for such transportation in the nineteen hundred 27 eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year, such request must be submitted 28 by August first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of trans- 29 portation to or from before-and/or-after-school child care locations, if 30 provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances 31 residing in the district, provided that a board of education furnishing 32 transportation pursuant to this paragraph may limit the provision of 33 such transportation to child care locations located within the attend- 34 ance zone of the school the child attends, and to child day care centers 35 and school age child care programs licensed or registered pursuant to 36 section three hundred ninety of the social services law located anywhere 37 within the school district. The cost of providing such transportation 38 between two or three miles, as the case may be, and fifteen miles shall 39 be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be a charge upon the 40 district. Such substitute transportation expense shall be eligible for 41 state aid in accordance with clause one of paragraph b of subdivision 42 seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter. Nothing in this 43 subdivision shall be construed to impose a duty upon boards of education 44 to provide transportation to or from before-and/or-after-school child 45 care locations. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to 46 authorize boards of education to provide to any child transportation 47 between a before-and/or-after-school day care location and that child's 48 home. 49 S 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amend- 50 ments to paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education 51 law made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration 52 and reversion of such paragraph when upon such date the provisions of 53 section two of this act shall take effect.