The New York State Senate

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

                                  9979

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              June 5, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Camara) --
  read once and referred to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to admission to a special
  high school in the city school district of the city of New  York;  and
  providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

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

  Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of  section  2590-h  of  the
education law, as amended by chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, is amended
to read as follows:
  (b)  all  specialized  [senior] high schools. The special high schools
shall include the present schools known as:
  The Bronx High School of Science,  Stuyvesant  High  School,  Brooklyn
Technical  High  School,  Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and
the Arts in the borough of Manhattan, BROOKLYN LATIN SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL
FOR MATH, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT CITY COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL OF AMERI-
CAN STUDIES AT LEHMAN COLLEGE, QUEENS HIGH SCHOOL FOR  THE  SCIENCES  AT
YORK  COLLEGE,  AND  STATEN  ISLAND  TECHNICAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  and  such
[further] ADDITIONAL schools which the city  board  may  designate  from
time  to  time.  THE CITY BOARD SHALL ESTABLISH PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS
FOR ADMISSION TO THE SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE  CITY  DISTRICT,  WHICH
SHALL  CONSIST OF MULTIPLE MEASURES OF STUDENT MERIT INCLUDING THE GRADE
POINT AVERAGES OF APPLICANTS, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE RECORDS,  SCHOOL  ADMIS-
SION  TEST  SCORES,  AND  STATE  TEST  SCORES;  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER, THAT
APPROVED SCHOOL ABSENCES SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A MEASURE OF STUDENT
MERIT FOR ATTENDANCE  PURPOSES.  THE  CITY  BOARD  OR  CHANCELLOR  SHALL
PROVIDE  WRITTEN  EXPLANATION  OF THE WEIGHTINGS SELECTED, AND MAKE SUCH
EXPLANATION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, INCLUDING VIA THE CITY BOARD'S  OFFICIAL
INTERNET  WEBSITE.  THE  CHANCELLOR  SHALL  ENSURE  THAT  NOTICE OF SUCH
SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOLS' ENTRANCE EXAMINATION IS WIDELY  AND  CONSPICUOUSLY
POSTED  IN  A MANNER TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS THAT
RECEIVE NOTICE, INCLUDING  PROVIDING  NOTICE  TO  AFFECTED  PARENTS  AND
STUDENTS.  The special schools shall be [permitted] REQUIRED to maintain
a discovery program [in accordance with the law in effect  on  the  date
preceding  the effective date of this section; admissions to the special
schools shall be conducted in accordance with the law in effect  on  the
date  preceding the effective date of this section;]. THE PRINCIPAL OF A

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD14478-04-4

A. 9979                             2

SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL MAY ADMIT A STUDENT WHO HAS SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED
SUCH A PROGRAM AT HIS OR HER SCHOOL, SUBJECT TO REGULATIONS OF THE  CITY
BOARD.
  S 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2590-h of the education
law,  as  amended by chapter 720 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read
as follows:
  (b) all specialized [senior] high schools. The  special  high  schools
shall include the present schools known as:
  The  Bronx  High  School  of Science, Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn
Technical High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School  of  Music  and
the Arts in the borough of Manhattan, BROOKLYN LATIN SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL
FOR MATH, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT CITY COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL OF AMERI-
CAN  STUDIES  AT  LEHMAN COLLEGE, QUEENS HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE SCIENCES AT
YORK  COLLEGE,  AND  STATEN  ISLAND  TECHNICAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  and  such
[further]  ADDITIONAL  schools  which  the city board may designate from
time to time. THE CITY BOARD SHALL ESTABLISH  PROCEDURES  AND  STANDARDS
FOR  ADMISSION  TO  THE SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE CITY DISTRICT, WHICH
SHALL CONSIST OF MULTIPLE MEASURES OF STUDENT MERIT INCLUDING THE  GRADE
POINT  AVERAGES  OF APPLICANTS, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE RECORDS, SCHOOL ADMIS-
SION TEST  SCORES,  AND  STATE  TEST  SCORES;  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT
APPROVED SCHOOL ABSENCES SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A MEASURE OF STUDENT
MERIT  FOR  ATTENDANCE  PURPOSES.  THE  CITY  BOARD  OR CHANCELLOR SHALL
PROVIDE WRITTEN EXPLANATION OF THE WEIGHTINGS SELECTED,  AND  MAKE  SUCH
EXPLANATION  PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, INCLUDING VIA THE CITY BOARD'S OFFICIAL
INTERNET WEBSITE. THE  CHANCELLOR  SHALL  ENSURE  THAT  NOTICE  OF  SUCH
SPECIAL  HIGH  SCHOOLS' ENTRANCE EXAMINATION IS WIDELY AND CONSPICUOUSLY
POSTED IN A MANNER TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF AFFECTED  INDIVIDUALS  THAT
RECEIVE  NOTICE,  INCLUDING  PROVIDING  NOTICE  TO  AFFECTED PARENTS AND
STUDENTS. The special schools shall be [permitted] REQUIRED to  maintain
a  discovery  program  [in accordance with the law in effect on the date
preceding the effective date of this section; admissions to the  special
schools  shall  be conducted in accordance with the law in effect on the
date preceding the effective date of this section]. THE PRINCIPAL  OF  A
SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL MAY ADMIT A STUDENT WHO HAS SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED
SUCH  A PROGRAM AT HIS OR HER SCHOOL, SUBJECT TO REGULATIONS OF THE CITY
BOARD;
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
the  date  on  which it shall have become a law, and shall expire and be
deemed repealed 5 years after such effective  date;  provided  that  the
amendments  to  paragraph  (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2590-h of the
education law, made by sections one and two of this act, shall apply  to
the Stuyvesant high school, the Bronx high school of science, the Brook-
lyn  technical high school, the Staten Island technical high school, the
Queens high school for the sciences at York college, the high school for
mathematics, science and engineering at city college,  the  high  school
for  American  studies at Lehman college, the Brooklyn Latin school, and
all additional schools that the board of education of  the  city  school
district of the city of New York designates as special high schools, not
including  the  Fiorello H. LaGuardia high school of music and the arts;
provided, further, that the amendments to paragraph (b) of subdivision 1
of section 2590-h of the education law made by section one of  this  act
shall  be subject to the expiration and reversion of such section pursu-
ant to subdivision 12 of section 17 of chapter 345 of the laws of  2009,
as  amended,  when  upon such date the provisions of section two of this
act shall take effect.