BILL NUMBER:S5627

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to the
use of school buildings for school age child care

PURPOSE:  This bill provides that the provision of school age child
care in public school buildings shall primarily be subject to the
regulations of the commissioner of education.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill adds a new subdivision 3 to section 409 of the
Education Law to preempt any contradictory regulations promulgated by
another state agency, relating to the use of a school building by a
registered third party providing school aged child care as defined in
subparagraph (f) of subdivision one of section 390 of the social
service law.

Section 2 is the enacting clause.

JUSTIFICATION:  All youth deserve access to high-quality afterschool
programs. The State School-Age Child Care (SACC) regulations seek to
ensure the basic health and safety of children in child care and to
promote their positive development. Unfortunately, afterschool
programs are challenged in their efforts to meet those licensing
requirements and, in many ways, the regulations create barriers to
              

high-quality programming.

SACC regulations are sometimes inconsistent with school building
requirements. As a result, afterschool programs operating in school
buildings are then penalized for issues outside of their control -
issues that haven't been shown to pose any additional threat to
students after the school day ends. School buildings that are deemed
safe for students from 8 am to 3 pm should be deemed safe for students
from 3 pm to 6 pm.

A school building is the responsibility of the school district that
owns it, however, afterschool providers are made responsible for
resolving those instances in which the building is out of compliance
with the SACC regulations. The time that program staff spends trying
to get schools to update buildings is time that could have been spent
on developing high-quality programming and staff training. Putting the
staff in the uncomfortable position of asking the school administrator
to bring the school into compliance with SACC regulations strains
their relationship with the school.

For example, an afterschool program is held responsible for taking
down posters on the walls put up by teachers in their own classrooms
because these posters are considered a fire hazard in the afterschool
program based on the SACC regulations. School administrators do not
consider these posters a fire hazard - in fact they actively encourage
them during the school day - so they should not be considered a hazard
afterschool. This has led to tensions between the program and
teachers, and in some cases has resulted in teachers prohibiting the
afterschool program from using their classrooms during afterschool
hours because they do not want their posters moved.


This bill offers a common sense solution to these issues Keep and
respect the SACC regulations, waving only those that affect the
physical plant.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:. None

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Minimal

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect immediately.