S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9650
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 27, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to contracts for the
transportation of school children
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the educa-
tion law, as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to
read as follows:
a. (1) All contracts for the transportation of school children, all
contracts to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district
that are used for the transportation of school children, all contracts
for mobile instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain
and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a private food service
management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner,
who may disapprove a proposed contract if, in [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S
opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby.
Except as provided in paragraph e of this subdivision, all such
contracts involving an annual expenditure in excess of the amount speci-
fied for purchase contracts in the bidding requirements of the general
municipal law shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which
responsibility shall be determined by the board of education or the
trustee of a district, with power hereby vested in the commissioner to
reject any or all bids if, in [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S opinion, the
best interests of the district will be promoted thereby and, upon such
rejection of all bids, the commissioner shall order the board of educa-
tion or trustee of the district to seek, obtain and consider new
proposals. All proposals for such transportation, maintenance, mobile
instructional units, or cafeteria and restaurant service shall be in
such form as the commissioner may prescribe. Advertisement for bids
shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers designated by the board
of education or trustee of the district having general circulation with-
in the district for such purpose. Such advertisement shall contain a
statement of the time when and place where all bids received pursuant to
such advertisement will be publicly opened and read either by the school
authorities or by a person or persons designated by them. All bids
received shall be publicly opened and read at the time and place so
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14753-02-4
A. 9650 2
specified. At least five days shall elapse between the first publication
of such advertisement and the date so specified for the opening and
reading of bids. The requirement for competitive bidding shall not apply
to an award of a contract for the transportation of pupils or a contract
for mobile instructional units, if such award is based on an evaluation
of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to para-
graph e of this subdivision. The requirement for competitive bidding
shall not apply to annual, biennial, or triennial extensions of a
contract nor shall the requirement for competitive bidding apply to
quadrennial or quinquennial year extensions of a contract involving
transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses or mobile instruc-
tional units secured either through competitive bidding or through eval-
uation of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to
paragraph e of this subdivision, when such extensions [(1)] (I) are made
by the board of education or the trustee of a district, under rules and
regulations prescribed by the commissioner, and, [(2)] (II) do not
extend the original contract period beyond five years from the date
cafeteria and restaurant service commenced thereunder and in the case of
contracts for the transportation of pupils, for the maintenance of
school buses or for mobile instructional units, that such contracts may
be extended, except that power is hereby vested in the commissioner, in
addition to [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S existing statutory authority to
approve or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, [(i)] (A)
to reject any extension of a contract beyond the initial term thereof if
[he] SUCH COMMISSIONER finds that amount to be paid by the district to
the contractor in any year of such proposed extension fails to reflect
any decrease in the regional consumer price index for the N.Y.,
N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum-
ers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve month period; and [(ii)] (B) to
reject any extension of a contract after ten years from the date trans-
portation or maintenance service commenced thereunder, or mobile
instructional units were first provided, if in [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S
opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby.
Upon such rejection of any proposed extension, the commissioner may
order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain
and consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The board
of education or the trustee of a school district electing to extend a
contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount
to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an amount not to
exceed the regional consumer price index increase for the N.Y.,
N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum-
ers (CPI-U), during the preceding twelve month period, provided it has
been satisfactorily established by the contractor that there has been at
least an equivalent increase in the amount of [his] SUCH CONTRACTOR'S
cost of operation, during the period of the contract.
(2) (I) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH AT LEAST
ONE MILLION INHABITANTS SHALL INCLUDE IN CONTRACTS FOR THE TRANSPORTA-
TION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE, WHETHER
AWARDED THROUGH COMPETITIVE BIDDING OR THROUGH EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH E OF THIS
SUBDIVISION, PROVISIONS FOR THE RETENTION OR PREFERENCE IN HIRING OF
SCHOOL BUS WORKERS AND PROVISIONS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF WAGES, HEALTH,
WELFARE, AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND INDUSTRY TENURE FOR SCHOOL BUS
WORKERS WHO ARE HIRED PURSUANT TO SUCH PROVISIONS FOR RETENTION OR PREF-
ERENCE IN HIRING, IN CONNECTION WITH SUCH CONTRACTS.
A. 9650 3
(II) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, "SCHOOL BUS WORKER" SHALL
MEAN AN OPERATOR, MECHANIC, DISPATCHER OR ATTENDANT WHO IS EMPLOYED BY:
(A) A CONTRACTOR THAT WAS A PARTY TO A CONTRACT WITH THE BOARD OF
EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH AT LEAST ONE
MILLION INHABITANTS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KINDER-
GARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE, IN CONNECTION WITH SUCH CONTRACT; OR
(B) A SUBCONTRACTOR OF A CONTRACTOR THAT WAS A PARTY TO A CONTRACT
WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH
AT LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL CHIL-
DREN IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE, IN CONNECTION WITH SUCH
CONTRACT.
(III) WHEN ANY SCHOOL BUS WORKER GETS LAID OFF FROM THEIR CURRENT
EMPLOYMENT, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A
CITY WITH AT LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS SHALL CREATE AND MAINTAIN A
MASTER TENURE LIST OF SUCH LAID OFF OPERATORS, MECHANICS, AND DISPATCH-
ERS THAT WERE EMPLOYED AS OF THE LAST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IMMEDIATELY
PRECEDING THE LAYOFF AND A MASTER TENURE LIST OF SUCH LAID OFF ATTEND-
ANTS THAT WERE EMPLOYED AS OF THE LAST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IMMEDIATE-
LY PRECEDING THE LAYOFF ON WHICH SUCH WORKERS SHALL BE PLACED, AS APPRO-
PRIATE, IN ORDER OF THEIR TENURE IN THE SCHOOL BUS INDUSTRY. AN EMPLOYEE
ON ANY SUCH LIST SHALL REMAIN ON THE LIST UNTIL THE EMPLOYEE HAS AN
OPPORTUNITY TO SELECT AVAILABLE WORK. THE SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY ALLOW
EMPLOYEES WHO PASS ONCE WHEN IT IS THEIR TURN TO SELECT AVAILABLE WORK
TO REMAIN ON THE LIST. TENURE SHALL BE CALCULATED BASED ON CONTINUOUS
EMPLOYMENT BY ANY COMPANIES IN THE SCHOOL BUS INDUSTRY UNDER CONTRACT
WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH
AT LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS OR ITS SUBCONTRACTORS. SUCH COMPANIES
AND THEIR SUBCONTRACTORS SHALL GIVE PRIORITY IN HIRING FOR NEW, ADDI-
TIONAL, OR REPLACEMENT SCHOOL BUS WORKERS TO THE INDIVIDUALS ON THE
MASTER TENURE LIST UNTIL SUCH LIST IS EXHAUSTED. THE MASTER TENURE LIST
SHALL DETERMINE THE ORDER IN WHICH EMPLOYEES SELECT AVAILABLE WORK IN
THE INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, UPON HIRE FROM THE MASTER TENURE LIST, THE
EMPLOYEES SHALL GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SENIORITY LIST OF THEIR NEW
EMPLOYER. EMPLOYEES WHO MOVE FROM EMPLOYER TO EMPLOYER ON THEIR OWN, AND
HAVE NOT FOLLOWED THE WORK, SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE A BREAK IN SERVICE
AND SHALL NOT HAVE THE PROTECTION OF PRESERVATION OF WAGES, HEALTH,
WELFARE, AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND INDUSTRY TENURE. FOR AN EMPLOYEE
HIRED FROM THE MASTER TENURE LIST, IF THE EMPLOYEE HAS A CURRENT WAGE
RATE THAT IS HIGHER THAN THE WAGE RATE FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE SUCCESSOR
COMPANY WITH SIMILAR INDUSTRY TENURE, THE EMPLOYEE SHALL MAINTAIN AT
LEAST SUCH WAGE RATE AND BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE WAGE INCREASES.
(IV) THE RETIREMENT BENEFITS PROTECTION FOR THE SCHOOL BUS WORKER
SHALL APPLY WHETHER THE SCHOOL BUS WORKER PARTICIPATED IN A DEFINED
BENEFIT PENSION PLAN OR A DEFINED CONTRIBUTION (401(K)) PENSION PLAN OR
ANY OTHER PLAN, SUCH AS A 457 PENSION PLAN, WHEN EMPLOYED BY THE SCHOOL
BUS WORKER'S PRIOR EMPLOYER, AND THE SUCCESSOR COMPANY SHALL MAKE
PAYMENTS AS APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAN, BUT WITH THE GUARANTEE THAT THERE
SHALL BE NO DIMINISHMENT TO THE BENEFITS TO ANY SCHOOL BUS WORKER. SUCH
SUCCESSOR COMPANY SHALL MAKE SUCH PAYMENTS ON BEHALF OF SCHOOL BUS WORK-
ERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLAN WHILE EMPLOYED BY
THE SCHOOL BUS WORKER'S PRIOR EMPLOYER, AS ARE REQUIRED BY SUCH PLAN, SO
THE EMPLOYEE CONTINUES TO EARN CREDITS TOWARD A PENSION IN SUCH PLAN
WHILE EMPLOYED BY SUCH SUCCESSOR COMPANY.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.