Bill Text: NY A04294 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to school session days; adds general election day to the list of days when school will not be in session; allows a school district to elect to require staff attendance on a general election day or to schedule a professional development day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to education [A04294 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04294-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4294

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 14, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. STIRPE, GUNTHER, HUNTER, HYNDMAN, MAGNARELLI,
          RIVERA, SIMON, TAYLOR, ZEBROWSKI, SAYEGH, FAHY, REYES,  PHEFFER AMATO,
          D. ROSENTHAL,  BRONSON,  FRIEND, L. ROSENTHAL, WOERNER, COOK, DICKENS,
          STECK, WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law and the election law, in  relation  to
          school session days

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 3604  of  the  education  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  605  of  the  laws  of 2019, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    8. No school shall be in session on a Saturday, general  election  day
     5  or a legal holiday, except [general election day,] Washington's birthday
     6  and  Lincoln's birthday, and except that driver education classes may be
     7  conducted on a Saturday. A school district may elect  to  require  staff
     8  attendance  on  a  general  election  day  or to schedule a professional
     9  development day. A deficiency not exceeding four days during any  school
    10  year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by superinten-
    11  dents  of  schools  of  city  school districts or other school districts
    12  employing superintendents of schools shall be excused by the commission-
    13  er, notwithstanding any provision of law,  rule  or  regulation  to  the
    14  contrary,  a  school district may elect to schedule such conference days
    15  in the last two  weeks  of  August,  subject  to  collective  bargaining
    16  requirements  pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law, and
    17  such days shall be counted towards the required one hundred eighty  days
    18  of  session,  provided however, that such scheduling shall not alter the
    19  obligation of the school district to provide transportation to  students
    20  in  non-public  elementary  and secondary schools or charter schools. At
    21  least two such conference days during such school year  shall  be  dedi-
    22  cated  to  staff attendance upon conferences providing staff development
    23  relating to implementation  of  the  new  high  learning  standards  and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01758-01-3

        A. 4294                             2

     1  assessments,  as  adopted  by the board of regents.  Notwithstanding any
     2  other provision of law, rule  or  regulation  to  the  contrary,  school
     3  districts may elect to use one or more of such allowable conference days
     4  in  units  of  not  less than one hour each to provide staff development
     5  activities relating to implementation of the new high learning standards
     6  and assessments. A district making such election may provide such  staff
     7  development  on any day during which sessions are allowed and apply such
     8  units to satisfy a deficiency  in  the  length  of  one  or  more  daily
     9  sessions  of  instruction  for pupils as specified in regulations of the
    10  commissioner. The commissioner shall assure that  such  conference  days
    11  include  appropriate  school violence prevention and intervention train-
    12  ing, and may require that up to one such conference day be dedicated for
    13  such purpose.
    14    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
    15  chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
    16    3. A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible  as
    17  a  polling  place if it is situated in the same or a contiguous election
    18  district, and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places  as
    19  public  convenience  may require. The expense, if any, incidental to its
    20  use, shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration  and
    21  voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
    22  a  public  school  building  for such purpose, the board or agency which
    23  controls such building must make available  a  room  or  rooms  in  such
    24  building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
    25  close  as  possible  to  a convenient entrance to such building and must
    26  make available any such room or rooms which the board or body  designat-
    27  ing  such  building  determines  are  accessible  to physically disabled
    28  voters as provided in subdivision one-a of this section. Notwithstanding
    29  the provisions of any general, special or local law, if a board or  body
    30  empowered to designate polling places chooses a publicly owned or leased
    31  building[,  other  than a public school building,] for such purposes the
    32  board or body which controls such building must make available a room or
    33  rooms in such building which are suitable for  registration  and  voting
    34  and  which  are  as  close  as possible to a convenient entrance to such
    35  building, and must make available any such room or rooms which the board
    36  or body designating such building determines  are  accessible  to  phys-
    37  ically  disabled  voters unless, not later than thirty days after notice
    38  of its designation as a polling place, the  board  or  body  controlling
    39  such building, files a written request for a cancellation of such desig-
    40  nation  with  the board or body empowered to designate polling places on
    41  such form as shall be provided by the board or body making  such  desig-
    42  nation. The board or body empowered to so designate shall, within twenty
    43  days  after  such  request  is  filed, determine whether the use of such
    44  building as a polling place would unreasonably interfere with the  usual
    45  activities  conducted  in such building and upon such determination, may
    46  cancel such designation.
    47    § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.
feedback