Assembly Bill A9866

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

                                  9866

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 20, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the reporting of child
  abuse in an educational setting by employees of contractors  providing
  transportation to the children of a school district

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

  Section 1. Subdivisions 3, 4 and 5 of section 1125  of  the  education
law,  subdivisions  3  and 4 as added by chapter 180 of the laws of 2000
and subdivision 5 as amended by section 1 of part E of  chapter  501  of
the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
  3.  "Employee"  shall  mean  any  person receiving compensation from a
school district, OR EMPLOYEE OR FORMER EMPLOYEE OF ANY PERSON OR  ENTITY
WHICH  CONTRACTS  WITH  A  SCHOOL  DISTRICT TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO
CHILDREN, or employee of a contracted service provider, or worker placed
within the school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant
to title nine-B of article five of the social services law, and consist-
ent with the provisions of such title for the provision of  services  to
such  district, its students or employees, directly or through contract,
whereby such services performed by such person  involve  direct  student
contact.
  4.  "Volunteer"  shall  mean  any  person, other than an employee, who
provides services to a school or school district,  OR  TO  A  PERSON  OR
ENTITY  WHICH CONTRACTS WITH A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION
TO CHILDREN, which involve direct student contact.
  5. "Educational setting" shall mean the  building  and  grounds  of  a
public school district, the vehicles provided DIRECTLY OR BY CONTRACT by
the  school  district  for  the  transportation  of students to and from
school buildings, field trips, co-curricular and extra-curricular activ-
ities both on and off school district  grounds,  all  co-curricular  and
extra-curricular  activity  sites,  and  any other location where direct
contact between an employee or  volunteer  and  a  child  has  allegedly
occurred.  Such  term shall not include a special act school district as

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD13535-01-6
              

A. 9866                             2

defined in section four thousand one of  this  chapter  which  shall  be
subject to article eleven of the social services law.
  S  2.  Section  1126  of  the education law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
  1-A. ANY EMPLOYEE OF A PERSON OR ENTITY WHICH CONTRACTS WITH A  SCHOOL
DISTRICT  TO  PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO CHILDREN SHALL REPORT OR CAUSE A
REPORT TO BE MADE TO SUCH PERSON OR ENTITY WHEN SUCH EMPLOYEE  KNOWS  OR
HAS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT ANY EMPLOYEE, FORMER EMPLOYEE OR VOLUNTEER OF
THE  CONTRACTING PERSON OR ENTITY SUBJECTED A CHILD TO CHILD ABUSE IN AN
EDUCATIONAL SETTING. IN ANY CASE WHERE AN ORAL OR WRITTEN ALLEGATION  IS
MADE  TO  A  PERSON  OR ENTITY WHICH CONTRACTS WITH A SCHOOL DISTRICT TO
PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO CHILDREN THAT A CHILD HAS  BEEN  SUBJECTED  TO
CHILD  ABUSE  BY  AN EMPLOYEE, FORMER EMPLOYEE OR VOLUNTEER IN AN EDUCA-
TIONAL SETTING, SUCH PERSON OR ENTITY SHALL UPON RECEIPT OF SUCH ALLEGA-
TION PROMPTLY COMPLETE A WRITTEN REPORT OF SUCH ALLEGATION INCLUDING THE
FULL NAME OF THE CHILD ALLEGED TO BE ABUSED; THE IDENTITY OF THE  PERSON
MAKING  THE  ALLEGATION  AND  THEIR  RELATIONSHIP  TO  THE ALLEGED CHILD
VICTIM; THE NAME OF THE EMPLOYEE, FORMER EMPLOYEE OR  VOLUNTEER  AGAINST
WHOM  THE ALLEGATION WAS MADE; AND A LISTING OF THE SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS
OF CHILD ABUSE IN AN EDUCATIONAL SETTING. SUCH WRITTEN REPORT  SHALL  BE
UPON  A  FORM AS PRESCRIBED IN SECTION ELEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO OF THIS
ARTICLE, AND SHALL BE PERSONALLY DELIVERED TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPER-
INTENDENT.
  S 3. The opening paragraph of section 1128 of the  education  law,  as
added by chapter 180 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
  Upon  receipt of a written report described in paragraph (a) of subdi-
vision one OR SUBDIVISION ONE-A of section eleven hundred twenty-six  of
this  article  alleging  that  a child has been abused in an educational
setting, a school administrator or superintendent shall where there is a
reasonable suspicion to believe that an act of child abuse has occurred:
  S 4. Subdivision 1 of section 1128-a of the education law, as added by
chapter 180 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
  1. Where a superintendent of schools forwards  to  law  enforcement  a
report  as  described in paragraph (a) of subdivision one OR SUBDIVISION
ONE-A of section eleven hundred twenty-six of this article,  he  or  she
shall refer such report to the commissioner where the employee or volun-
teer  alleged to have committed an act of child abuse as defined in this
article holds a certification or license issued by the department.
  S 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.