S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  1103

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             January 8, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  FAHY,  LUPARDO, CAMARA, SCARBOROUGH, JAFFEE,
  GUNTHER, MAGNARELLI, COLTON, STIRPE, OTIS,  DUPREY,  MONTESANO,  RAIA,
  GIGLIO, ABINANTI, CLARK, ROBINSON, TENNEY, ORTIZ -- Multi-Sponsored by
  -- M. of A. ABBATE, DAVILA, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, McLAUGHLIN, PERRY, SCHI-
  MEL,  SKARTADOS,  THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on
  Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation  of
  children  attending pre-kindergarten; and repealing certain provisions
  of such law relating thereto

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

  Section  1. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the educa-
tion law, as amended by section 11 of part A of chapter 97 of  the  laws
of 2011, 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
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 FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending
grades [kindergarten] PRE-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, 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 fifteen miles 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

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00827-01-5
              

A. 1103                             2

miles  in  the  case  of  children FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending
grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight or three  miles  in
the  case  of  children  attending  grades nine through twelve and for a
greater distance than fifteen miles 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  transporta-
tion  offered  pursuant  to  section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of
this article.
  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
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 FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending
grades [kindergarten] PRE-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, 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 fifteen miles 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 FOUR YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER attending
grades [kindergarten] PRE-KINDERGARTEN through eight or three  miles  in
the  case  of  children  attending  grades nine through twelve and for a
greater distance than fifteen miles 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  transportation  offered  pursuant to
section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this article.
  S 3. Paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education law
is REPEALED.
  S 4. Paragraph e of subdivision 1 of section  3635  of  the  education
law,  as  amended by chapter 665 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read
as follows:
  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 FOUR YEARS  OF  AGE  AND
OLDER  attending  grades  [kindergarten]  PRE-KINDERGARTEN 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  FOUR  YEARS  OF  AGE AND OLDER attending grades [kindergarten]

A. 1103                             3

PRE-KINDERGARTEN 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,  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 fifteen miles may  be
provided  if  transportation  for such distances is provided to students
between home and school. Where a child receives  transportation  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 FOUR YEARS OF AGE OR  OLDER  attending  grades  [kindergarten]
PRE-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  transportation  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 trans-
portation 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  attend-
ance 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 fifteen miles 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 one of paragraph  b  of  subdivision
seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter. 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  subdivision  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  5. This act shall take effect immediately, 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 when upon such date  the  provisions  of
section two of this act shall take effect.