S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  9823

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 13, 2012
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  PAULIN,  CASTRO,  JAFFEE, ROBERTS, ROBINSON,
  ZEBROWSKI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law,  in  relation  to  transportation  of
  children by school districts

  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 section 11 of part A of
chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, paragraph b as amended by chapter 718 of
the laws of 1990, subparagraph (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, 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 ordinary contingent expense of the
district. Transportation for a lesser distance than  two  miles  in  the
case  of  children  attending grades kindergarten 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,

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

                                                           LBD15239-01-2

A. 9823                             2

may be provided by the district  with  the  approval  of  the  qualified
voters,  and,  if  provided, shall be offered equally to all children in
like circumstances residing in the  district;  provided,  however,  that
this  requirement  shall not apply to transportation offered pursuant to
section thirty-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
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-

A. 9823                             3

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,  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 SEVEN 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 transporta-
tion 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  kindergarten  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 trans-
portation 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 transportation pursuant to this
paragraph may limit the provision of such transportation 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]
ARTICLE.  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. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section  3635  of  the  education
law,  as  amended  by chapter 69 of the laws of 1992, is 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

A. 9823                             4

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,  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 ordinary contingent expense of  the
district.    Transportation  for a lesser distance than two miles in the
case of children attending grades kindergarten 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 circumstances residing in the  district;
provided,  however, that this requirement shall not apply to transporta-
tion offered pursuant to section  thirty-six  hundred  thirty-five-b  of
this [article] PART.
  S  3.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law; provided that  the  amend-
ments  to  paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education
law made by section one of this act shall be subject to  the  expiration
and  reversion  of  such  paragraph  pursuant to section 13 of part A of
chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, when upon such date  the  provisions  of
section two of this act shall take effect.