Bill Text: NY A06576 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to pendency placements in a school district in a city having a population of one million or more.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-03 - REFERRED TO RULES [A06576 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06576-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6576--B
                                                                Cal. No. 219

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 19, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. EICHENSTEIN, CARROLL, PHEFFER AMATO, WEINSTEIN,
          COLTON -- read once and referred to  the  Committee  on  Education  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee -- ordered to a third  reading,  amended
          and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third read-
          ing

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to pendency placements in
          a school district in a city having a population of one million or more

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

     1    Section 1. Section 4404 of the education law is amended  by  adding  a
     2  new subdivision 1-b to read as follows:
     3    1-b.  a.  Notwithstanding    any other provision of law, rule or regu-
     4  lation to the contrary, in a school district in a city  having  a  popu-
     5  lation    of   one million   or   more, the parent or person in parental
     6  relation shall be entitled to the presumption that the school identified
     7  in a settlement agreement entered on or after the effective date of this
     8  subdivision is the student's operative placement  for  the  purposes  of
     9  pendency  until  there  is an intervening, pendency-changing event (that
    10  is, an actual agreement of the parties; an  unappealed  decision  by  an
    11  impartial  hearing  officer; a decision of the state review officer that
    12  agrees with the parents as to  the  appropriateness  of  their  proposed
    13  change  in  placement;  or a determination by a court on appeal from the
    14  decision of a state review officer) or a program offered by  the  school
    15  district  and  not  challenged  by the parent. Each child's IEP shall be
    16  reviewed  periodically,  but  not  less  frequently  than  annually,  as
    17  required  by  20  U.S.C. 1414(d)(4)(A)(i). Pendency payments for tuition
    18  shall be at the tuition cost of the previous year's  payments  unless  a
    19  new IEP was performed, and shall be made prospectively and shall be made
    20  for  amounts not less than two months' worth of tuition or the remaining
    21  balance on the contract, whichever is smaller, provided that the initial

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08863-13-2

        A. 6576--B                          2

     1  tuition payment may include retroactive payments. Pendency payments,  as
     2  provided  for  in subdivision four of this section, shall continue unin-
     3  terrupted while the appeal is pending.
     4    b. Where a claim for tuition for a school year commencing in two thou-
     5  sand  twenty  or  earlier  has been filed pursuant to this section on or
     6  before June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-one and remains  pending  and
     7  timely,  the  local  educational agency of a city having a population of
     8  over one million shall, on or before January first, two  thousand  twen-
     9  ty-three, make all reasonable efforts to finalize a settlement or inform
    10  the parent or person in parental relation, or their representative, that
    11  it  has  not  been  able  to settle the claim. Nothing in this act shall
    12  preclude parties from reaching a settlement  after  January  first,  two
    13  thousand  twenty-three.    Any  settlements for tuition, including those
    14  already settled, shall include a schedule for  payments,  the  first  of
    15  which  shall begin no later than sixty days after the latter of the date
    16  the settlement is fully executed or receipt of  documentation  necessary
    17  for  payment, and the remainder of which shall be completed within sixty
    18  days of receipt of any documentation necessary for payment.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect September 1, 2022.
feedback