Bill Text: NY S04864 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires persistently dangerous schools to file an incident reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce incidents of violence and disruption and requires notice to be given to victims of harassment, bullying, or violent offenses of their right to transfer to another public school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-03 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S04864 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S04864-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4864 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 3, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sens. DIAZ, COMRIE, HAMILTON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa- tion AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring persistently dangerous schools to file an incident reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce incidents of violence and disruption and requiring notice to be given to victims of harassment, bullying, or violent offenses of their right to transfer to another public school The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 2802 of the education law, as 2 added by chapter 425 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows: 3 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law, rule or 4 regulation to the contrary, any student who attends a persistently 5 dangerous public elementary or secondary school, as determined by the 6 commissioner pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision, or who is a 7 victim of harassment or bullying, as defined pursuant to subdivision 8 seven of section eleven of this chapter, or a violent criminal offense, 9 as defined pursuant to paragraph [b] c of this subdivision, that 10 occurred on the grounds of a public elementary or secondary school that 11 the student attends, shall [be allowed to attend] have the right to 12 transfer to a safe public school within the [local educational agency to13the extent required by section ninety-five hundred thirty-two of the No14Child Left Behind Act of 2001] school district. 15 a. The commissioner shall annually determine which public elementary 16 and secondary schools are persistently dangerous in accordance with 17 regulations of the commissioner developed in consultation with a repre- 18 sentative sample of local educational agencies. Such determination shall 19 be based on data submitted through the uniform violent incident report- 20 ing system over a period prescribed in the regulations, which shall not EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06618-01-7S. 4864 2 1 be less than two years, reports of violent incidents and criminal 2 offenses from school safety agents and police officers, reports of 3 violent or harmful conduct by teachers and administrative staff, and any 4 other data reasonably required by the commissioner related to safety. 5 b. Each public elementary and secondary school designated as persis- 6 tently dangerous pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision shall, in 7 the subsequent school year, submit to the commissioner an incident 8 reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce inci- 9 dents of violence and disruption and remove the persistently dangerous 10 designation by the following school year. Such plan shall include, at a 11 minimum, the prevention and intervention strategies recommended pursuant 12 to paragraph c of subdivision two of section two thousand eight hundred 13 one-a of this article. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, an 14 elementary or secondary school designated as persistently dangerous, and 15 which remains on the persistently dangerous list for three consecutive 16 years, shall be subject to closure on June thirtieth following the third 17 consecutive year of such persistently dangerous designation except that 18 upon a finding of good cause, the commissioner may grant such school up 19 to two additional academic years to achieve results that would remove 20 the persistently dangerous designation. 21 c. Each local educational agency required to provide unsafe school 22 choice shall establish procedures for determinations by the superinten- 23 dent of schools or other chief school officer of whether a student is 24 the victim of harassment, bullying, or a violent criminal offense that 25 occurred on school grounds of the school that the student attends. Such 26 superintendent of schools or other chief school officer shall, prior to 27 making any such determination, consult with any law enforcement agency 28 investigating such alleged violent criminal offense and consider any 29 reports or records provided by such agency. The trustees or board of 30 education or other governing board of a local educational agency may 31 provide, by local rule or by-law, for appeal of the determination of the 32 superintendent of schools to such governing board. Notwithstanding any 33 other provision of law to the contrary, the determination of such chief 34 school officer pursuant to this paragraph shall not have collateral 35 estoppel effect in any student disciplinary proceeding brought against 36 the alleged victim or perpetrator of such violent criminal offense. For 37 purposes of this subdivision, "violent criminal offense" shall mean a 38 crime that involved infliction of serious physical injury upon another 39 as defined in the penal law, a sex offense that involved forcible 40 compulsion or any other offense defined in the penal law that involved 41 the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon. 42 [c.] d. Each local educational agency, as defined in subsection twen- 43 ty-six of section ninety-one hundred one of the No Child Left Behind Act 44 of 2001, that is required to provide school choice pursuant to section 45 ninety-five hundred thirty-two of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 46 shall establish procedures for notification of parents of, or persons in 47 parental relation to, students attending schools that have been desig- 48 nated as persistently dangerous and parents of, or persons in parental 49 relation to, students who are victims of harassment, bullying, or 50 violent criminal offenses of their right to transfer to a safe public 51 school within the [local educational agency] school district and proce- 52 dures for such transfer[, except that nothing in this subdivision shall53be construed to require such notification where there are no other54public schools within the local educational agency at the same grade55level or such transfer to a safe public school within the local educa-56tional agency is otherwise impossible or to require a local educationalS. 4864 3 1agency that has only one public school within the local educational2agency or only one public school at each grade level to develop such3procedures]. Such notification shall also include a list of designated 4 safe public schools within the school district to which the student may 5 transfer, to the extent practicable, be provided in the dominant 6 language and mode of communication of parents of, or persons in parental 7 relation to, such students, and be provided no later than ten days after 8 such school has been designated as persistently dangerous, or for 9 students who are victims of harassment, bullying, or a violent criminal 10 offense, within twenty-four hours of such determination. If there are no 11 safe public schools within the school district at the same grade level, 12 the notification of the right to transfer shall include an offer of 13 assistance in pursuing options outside of the school district. The 14 commissioner shall be authorized to adopt any regulations deemed neces- 15 sary to assure that local educational agencies implement the provisions 16 of this subdivision. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that 18 the amendments to subdivision 7 of section 2802 of the education law 19 made by section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such 20 subdivision and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
