Senate Bill S1088

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1088

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the education of
homeless children


 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

The purpose of the bill is to clarify the rights afforded to homeless
children in choosing the school and school district they will attend,
by more closely aligning the language of Education Law §3209 with
Subtitle B of Title VII of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless
Education Assistance Act, 42 use sections 11431 et seq.
("McKinney-Vento").

 SUMMARY OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE BILL :

Section 1 would amend the definitions of "designator", "school
district of origin" and "school district of current location" in
paragraphs b, c and d of subdivision 1 of section 3209 of the
Education Law and add definition of "school of origin" as set forth in
McKinney-Vento in a new paragraph f of subdivision 1 of section 3209
of the Education Law. The definition of "designator" would be amended
to include an unaccompanied youth, who has a right to make such
              

designation under McKinney-Vento. The definitions of "school district
of origin" and "school district of current location" would be amended
to delete the existing language providing that the school district of
origin must be different from the school district of location, so that
it is clear that a homeless child has the same rights regardless of
whether the school district of origin is the same as or different than
the school district of current location. In addition, the definition
of "school district of origin" is amended to refer to the school of
origin, rather than the school where previously enrolled, and to
clarify that the homeless child may choose to remain in the school of
origin for the duration of homelessness, except where continuing the
child's education in the school of origin is determined not to be in
the child's best interest.  New paragraph f would define "school of
origin"as the public school that the child or youth attended when
permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last
enrolled.

Section 2 would amend subdivision 2 of section 3209 of the Education
Law to clarify that the designator has the right to designate the
school of origin or the school serving the attendance zone in which
the temporary housing arrangement is located - in addition to the
school district of current location, school district of origin, or
school district participating in a regional placement plan - as the
school which the homeless child shall attend upon instruction.
Section 2 would also amend paragraph b of subdivision 2 to clarify
that where a homeless child is temporarily housed in the school
district of origin, such child may choose to remain in the school of
origin for the duration of homelessness, except where continuing the
child's education in the school of origin is determined not to be in
the child's best interest. Section 2 would also amend paragraph b to
provide that, where a homeless student becomes permanently housed
during a school year, such child may remain in the school of origin
until the end of the school year and for one additional year if that
year constitutes the child's terminal year in the building. Paragraph
c of subdivision 2 would also be amended to clarify that students who
have designated the school district of current location as the
district of attendance and have relocated to another temporary housing
arrangement outside of such district would be entitled to maintain the
prior designation to enable them to remain in the school of origin for
the duration of homelessness, except where it is not in the child's
best interest, and when the child becomes permanently housed during a
school year, for the duration of that school year and one additional
year.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph b of subdivision 2 of section
3209 to provide that, where the public school or district a homeless
student was attending when he or she became homeless is located
outside New York State, such student shall, to the extent required by
McKinney-Vento, have the right to designate a public school located in
a contiguous state as his or her school of origin. In addition, the
school district of current location would be required arrange for the
child's transportation to the school of origin in accordance with the
provisions of McKinney-Vento.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph e of subdivision 2 of section
3209 to clarify that a school district must immediately admit a
homeless child, treat such child as a resident for all purposes and,
where applicable, make a written request for the student's records
when a designator selects a school or school district as the child's
school or school district of attendance or the student is identified
as a homeless child by the district's local educational agency
liaison, whether or not the school district has received a completed
designation form. Thus, if a child is identified as a homeless child
through child find activities, or the parent or other designator
selects the school or district of attendance, the right to attend
school attaches immediately, not when a completed designation form is
received. The language also clarifies that, where applicable, the
school district must assist the homeless child or their parents in
completing the designation form.

Section 2 would also amend paragraph g of subdivision 2 of section
3209 to clarify that, if a charter school is a homeless student's
school of origin, the designated district would be deemed the school
district of residence for purposes of fiscal and programmatic
responsibility for such child. Further, paragraph g is amended to
provide that if a homeless child becomes permanently housed by being
placed in certain residential settings, the school district of origin
would be deemed the school district of residence for purposes of
fiscal and programmatic responsibility for such child.

Finally, two new paragraphs h and i would be added to §3209(2) to
clarify the obligations of each designated school district of
attendance under McKinney-Vento, including ensuring equal access to
the same public prekindergarten, secondary education, support services
and before- and after-school care programs as are provided to other
children residing in the school district. New paragraph i would
provide that each designated school district of attendance or charter
school must ensure that homeless students, at a minimum, be provided
services comparable to those offered to other students in the public
school they attend, including transportation, summer school,
educational services under Title I or similar state or local programs,
educational programs for limited English proficient students and
students with disabilities, vocational and technical education
programs, gifted and talented programs and school nutrition programs.

Section 3 would amend paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 3209 to
clarify, in light of the change in the definitions of the "school
district of origin" and "school district of current location" made in
section one of this act, that the school district providing
instruction to a homeless student shall be eligible for reimbursement
from the State Education Department for the direct cost of educational
services only when the homeless student's school district of origin is
different from the school district of current location. Where the
district of origin and the district of current location of a homeless
child are the same, such district would be entitled to claim State aid
for such homeless child as a resident student, as under current law.
Section 4 would add a new paragraph f to subdivision 4 of section 3209
to provide that homeless students are entitled to transportation to
certain summer educational programs in their designated school
district where their temporary housing arrangement is located outside
of the designated school district.

Section 5 is the effective date.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL :

In 1994, Education Law §3209 was amended by Chapter 569 of the Laws of
1994 to provide for the education of homeless children in accordance
with the predecessor to the current McKinney-Vento Homeless Education
Assistance Act. In 2003, Education Law §3209 was amended by Chapter 10
I of the Laws of 2003 to conform to changes in McKinney-Vento made by
the No Child Left Behind Act. Among those amendments was the addition
of a new subdivision 2-a to §3209 that requires school districts, as
local educational agencies, to comply with all the applicable
requirements of paragraphs 3 through 7 of subsection (g) of section
722 of subtitle B of Title VII of McKinney Vento, which set forth the
responsibilities of local educational agencies to homeless children
and youth under McKinney-Vento. Clearly, Education Law §3209 is
intended to require compliance with the requirements of McKinneyVento,
and that is how it has been interpreted by the State Education
Department.

However, the language used in the provisions of Education Law §3209
that were not amended by Chapter 101 of the Laws of 2003 differs in
some respects from the language of McKinney-Vento, which creates the
risk that it may be misinterpreted as conferring rights upon homeless
children and youth that are less than those conferred by McKinney-
Vento. This bill would more closely align the language of Education
Law §3209 with McKinney-Vento in order to clarify the rights of
homeless children and youth and their parents.

For example, McKinney-Vento confers upon the parents of homeless
children and unaccompanied youth or other designator the right to
designate a "school of origin" as the school he or she will attend,
while Education Law §3209 provides for the designation of the school
district the child will attend, and then provides for a right to
remain in the school building where previously enrolled. This bill
would more closely align Education Law §3209 with the language of
McKinney-Vento by adding a definition of "school of origin" identical
to that in McKinney-Vento and providing that the parent of the
homeless child or other designator designates both the school of
origin and the school district which the student will attend. By
making this change in the designation, this bill would clarify the
rights of affected homeless children to return to the school of origin
and help expedite the homeless student's return to such school.

Similarly, this bill would incorporate into Education Law §3209 the
language of McKinney-Vento that provides that a homeless child has a
right to remain in the school of origin for the duration of
homelessness, unless the school district determines that continuing
the child in such school is not in the best interest of the child.
For example, if the homeless child has completed the terminal year in
the school of origin, returning that child to such school would not be
in the child's best interest. Education Law §3209, in order to
minimize disruption of the education of homeless children, currently
allows the designation of a homeless child to continue so the homeless
child remains in the school of origin until the end of the school year
and for one additional year if that year is the terminal year in that
building. This bill, while conforming to McKinney-Vento, would
preserve this policy of preventing disruption of the education of
homeless children by specifying that the homeless child, once he or
she becomes permanently housed, may remain in the school of origin
until the end of the school year or for one additional year, if it is
the terminal year in the school.

With respect to homeless children who became homeless while attending
school in another state, this bill would retain the existing
requirement of Education Law §3209 that the homeless child be admitted
to the schools of the school district of current location, but would
clarify that such student has the right to designate a public school
in a contiguous state as the school of origin and the school district
of current location is responsible for arranging with the out-of-state
school district of origin for the transportation of such student in
accordance with McKinney-Vento. McKinney-Vento itself makes no
distinction between the rights of the homeless student based upon
which state the school of origin is located, so this change conforms
to what McKinney-Vento would require.

The provisions of this bill that address the responsibilities of
school districts and charter schools when a child becomes homeless
while attending a charter school are needed to protect the rights of
such homeless children while clarifying which school district has
fiscal and programmatic responsibility for the charter school student.
Under Article 56 of the Education Law, the child's school district of
residence is responsible for making payments of charter school tuition
for a child attending a charter school and to provide various services
to the charter school student, such as transportation, committee on
special education services and textbook loans.  When a child attending
a charter school becomes homeless, the identity of the school district
of residence becomes an issue, which this bill would resolve by
deeming the school district designated by the parent of the homeless
child or other designator to be the child's school district of
residence for purposes of Article 56.

The provisions of this bill that address the responsibilities of
school districts when a homeless child becomes permanently housed by
being placed in a residential placement, such as a foster home, an
intermediate care facility, hospital, correctional facility, child
care institution, state-operated or state-supported school for the
deaf or blind or approved private school for the education of students
with disabilities are similarly needed to clarify which school
district retains fiscal and programmatic responsibility, such as
committee on special education responsibility under the applicable
laws. This bill would deem the school district of origin of the
homeless child to be the child's school district of residence for all
such purposes.

Proposed new paragraph h of subdivision 2 of section 3209 would add
into state law language from McKinney-Vento regarding the rights of
homeless children to equal access to prekindergarten programs,
services offered to students who have separated from the public
schools, and before-school and after-school care programs, including
extracurricular activities.  Section 722(g)(1)(F) of McKinney-Vento
requires that the State Plan for the education of homeless children
and youth provide for equal access in such instances.

Proposed new paragraph i of subdivision 2 of section 3209 would
require that the school district of attendance, or the charter school
in the case of a homeless child attending a charter school, provide
services comparable to those offered other students, as required by
section 722(g)(4) of McKinney-Vento. Such comparable services must
include transportation, educational services (which would include
summer school), vocational and technical education, gifted and
talented programs and school nutrition programs.

Finally, proposed new paragraph f of subdivision 4 of section 3209
would require that transportation be provided to a summer school
program where such program is needed for the homeless child to advance
to the next grade or to complete a high school diploma with his or her
peers. This is consistent with the requirements of McKinney-Vento
relating to assuring that homeless children are afforded equal access
to education and comparable educational programs to other students.

Collectively, the provisions of this bill will clarify the rights of
homeless children and youth and more closely align the language of
state law with McKinney-Vento. By so doing, this bill should help
assure that homeless children and youth receive the educational
services to which they are entitled in a timely manner, so the
disruption of their education resulting from their homelessness is
minimized.

 BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS OF THE BILL :

Assuming that school districts are in full compliance with the
requirements of McKinney Vento, there should be no significant
additional costs to the State as a result of this bill. To the extent
school districts are complying with the requirements of McKinney-Vento
and state law as they have been interpreted by the State Education
Department, there should not be significant additional costs to school
districts, with one possible exception.  The proposed requirement for
transportation to summer school programs is a new requirement that
would result in additional transportation costs to county social
services or school districts of origin. There is no State aid
currently provided for summer school transportation, so there should
be no resulting cost to the State. The costs of providing summer
school transportation to courses needed for a homeless child to
advance to the next grade or complete a high school diploma are not
known.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
The bill would take effect on September first in the year next
succeeding the year in which it shall have become a law.