S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  5088

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               May 3, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KLEIN  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation  of
  children residing in a school district in the county of Westchester

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraphs a, b and e of subdivision 1 of section  3635  of
the  education  law, paragraph a as amended by chapter 69 of the laws of
1992, paragraph b as amended by chapter 718 of the laws of 1990, subpar-
agraph (i) of paragraph b as amended by chapter 571 of the laws of  1994
and  paragraph  e  as  amended  by  chapter 665 of the laws of 1990, are
amended to read as follows:
  a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the  operation  and
maintenance  of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district
for all the children residing within the school district to and from the
school they legally attend, who  are  in  need  of  such  transportation
because  of  the  remoteness  of  the  school  to  the  child or for the
promotion of the best interest of  such  children.  Such  transportation
shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through
eight  who  live  more than two miles from the school which they legally
attend and for all children attending grades  nine  through  twelve  who
live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and
shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles,
EXCEPT  UPON  THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING SUCH TRANSPORTATION
TO SEVEN MILES, BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL  DISTRICT  IN  THE
COUNTY  OF WESTCHESTER, the distances in each case being measured by the
nearest available route from home to school. The cost of providing  such
transportation between two or three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN
OR  fifteen  miles,  AS  THE  CASE  MAY  BE, shall be considered for the
purposes of this chapter to be a charge upon the district and  an  ordi-
nary  contingent  expense  of  the district. Transportation for a lesser

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11319-01-1
              

S. 5088                             2

distance than two miles in the case of children attending grades kinder-
garten through eight or three miles in the case  of  children  attending
grades  nine  through  twelve  and  for a greater distance than SEVEN OR
fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, may be provided by the district, and,
if  provided,  shall  be offered equally to all children in like circum-
stances residing in the district; provided, however, that this  require-
ment shall not apply to transportation offered pursuant to section thir-
ty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this [article] PART.
  b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school
for  pupils  living  within  a specified distance from such school shall
designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up  points  and
shall  provide  transportation  between  such  points and such nonpublic
schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such
nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.
The district shall not be responsible for the provision  of  transporta-
tion  for  pupils  between  their  home  and  such pick-up points.   The
district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if  the  resi-
dence  of the pupil is located on an established route for the transpor-
tation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided  such  trans-
portation does not result in additional costs to the district.  The cost
of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpub-
lic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.
  (ii)  A board of education may, at its discretion, provide transporta-
tion for pupils residing within  the  district  to  a  nonpublic  school
located more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil provided
that  such  transportation  has  been  provided to such nonpublic school
pursuant to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately  preced-
ing  three  school years and such transportation is provided from one or
more centralized pick-up points designated pursuant  to  this  paragraph
and  that  the distance from such pick-up points to the nonpublic school
is not more than fifteen miles. PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT  IN  A  SCHOOL
DISTRICT  THAT  HAS  ADOPTED  A  RESOLUTION  PROVIDING  THAT THE MAXIMUM
DISTANCE FOR TRANSPORTATION IS SEVEN MILES, PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH  A  OF
THIS SUBDIVISION, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY, AT ITS DISCRETION, PROVIDE
TRANSPORTATION  FOR  PUPILS  RESIDING WITHIN THE DISTRICT TO A NONPUBLIC
SCHOOL LOCATED MORE THAN SEVEN MILES FROM THE HOME  OF  ANY  SUCH  PUPIL
PROVIDED  THAT  SUCH  TRANSPORTATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO SUCH NONPUBLIC
SCHOOL PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION IN AT LEAST ONE OF  THE  IMMEDIATELY
PRECEDING  THREE  SCHOOL  YEARS AND SUCH TRANSPORTATION IS PROVIDED FROM
ONE OR MORE CENTRALIZED PICK-UP POINTS DESIGNATED PURSUANT TO THIS PARA-
GRAPH AND THAT DISTANCE FROM SUCH PICK-UP POINTS TO THE NONPUBLIC SCHOOL
IS NOT MORE THAN SEVEN MILES. The district shall not be responsible  for
the provision of transportation for pupils between pupils homes and such
pick-up  points. The cost of providing transportation between such pick-
up points and such nonpublic schools shall  be  an  ordinary  contingent
expense.
  e.  In  lieu  of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing
provisions of this  subdivision,  a  board  of  education  may,  at  its
discretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades kinder-
garten  through  eight between the school such child legally attends and
before-and/or-after-school child care locations.  For  the  purposes  of
this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall
mean  a  place,  other  than  the child's home, where care for less than
twenty-four hours a day is provided on a regular basis for a  child  who
attends  school  within the school district, provided that such place is
situated within the school district. This definition  includes,  but  is

S. 5088                             3

not  limited  to,  a  variety  of  child  care services such as day care
centers, family day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives.   Such
transportation  may be provided for children attending grades kindergar-
ten  through  eight  where  the distance between the school they legally
attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is more  than
two  miles,  and  may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen miles,
EXCEPT UPON THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING  SUCH  TRANSPORTATION
TO  SEVEN  MILES,  BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE
COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER, the distance in each case being measured  by  the
nearest  available  route  from  before-and/or-after-school  child  care
locations to the school they legally attend, except that  transportation
for  a lesser distance than two miles or a greater distance than FIVE OR
fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, may be provided if transportation for
such distances is provided to students between home and school. Where  a
child  receives  transportation from a before-school child care location
to the school he or she legally attends, such child shall be entitled to
receive transportation from the school he or she legally attends to  his
or her home or to an after-school child care location in accordance with
this  subdivision. Where a child receives transportation from the school
he or she legally attends to an after-school child care  location,  such
child  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  transportation from home to the
school he or she legally attends in accordance  with  this  subdivision.
Transportation  may be provided to any child attending grades kindergar-
ten through eight between the  school  the  child  legally  attends  and
before-and/or-after-school  child care locations upon written request of
the parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the first  day  of
April  preceding  the  next  school year, provided, however, a parent or
guardian of a child not residing in the  district  on  such  date  shall
submit a written request within thirty days after establishing residence
in  the  district  and  provided  further that in order to be considered
eligible for such transportation in the nineteen hundred  eighty-seven--
eighty-eight  school  year,  such  request  must  be submitted by August
first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of transportation to
or from before-and/or-after-school child care  locations,  if  provided,
shall  be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing
in the district, provided that a board of education furnishing transpor-
tation pursuant to this paragraph may limit the provision of such trans-
portation to child care locations located within the attendance zone  of
the  school the child attends, and  to child day care centers and school
age child care programs licensed or registered pursuant to section three
hundred ninety of the social services law located  anywhere  within  the
school  district.  The cost of providing such transportation between two
or three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN OR fifteen miles,  AS  THE
CASE  MAY BE, shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be
a charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation expense shall
be eligible for state aid in accordance with [clause]  SUBPARAGRAPH  one
of paragraph b of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of
this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a
duty  upon  boards  of  education  to  provide transportation to or from
before-and/or-after-school child care locations. Nothing in this  subdi-
vision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to provide to
any  child  transportation between a before-and/or-after-school day care
location and that child's home.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law.