S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1948
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 11, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. LATIMER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the office
of state review to render decisions on certain appeals pertaining to
children with handicapping conditions within thirty days of receipt of
such appeals
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph d of subdivision 7 of section 4410 of the educa-
tion law, as amended by section 57 of part H of chapter 83 of the laws
of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
d. (I) A state review officer of the education department shall review
the decision of the impartial hearing officer in the manner prescribed
in subdivision two of section forty-four hundred four of this article
and render a decision no later than thirty days after the decision of
such hearing officer.
(II) APPEALS TAKEN TO THE OFFICE OF STATE REVIEW SHALL BE DECIDED IN
THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE RECEIVED. IN THE EVENT THAT THE STATE REVIEW
OFFICER DOES NOT, WITHIN THIRTY DAYS, RENDER A FINAL DECISION AND
FORWARD SUCH DECISION TO THE PARTIES, THEN THE DECISION OF THE IMPARTIAL
HEARING OFFICER SHALL BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE DECISION THAT SHOULD HAVE
BEEN TIMELY RENDERED BY THE STATE REVIEW OFFICER AND DEEMED TO BE FINAL
FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES, WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ANY FURTHER APPEAL
THAT MAY BE TAKEN BY ANY AGGRIEVED PARTY TO THE FEDERAL COURT PURSUANT
TO 34 C.F.R. § 300.516.
§ 2. Subdivision 2 of section 4404 of the education law, as amended by
chapter 53 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
2. Review by state review officer. A. A state review officer of the
education department shall review and may modify, in such cases and to
the extent that the review officer deems necessary, in order to properly
effectuate the purposes of this article, any determination of the impar-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00917-01-7
S. 1948 2
tial hearing officer relating to the determination of the nature of a
child's handicapping condition, selection of an appropriate special
education program or service and the failure to provide such program and
require such board to comply with the provisions of such modification.
The commissioner shall adopt regulations governing the practice and
procedure in such appeals to the state review officer; provided, howev-
er, that in no event shall any fee or charge whatsoever be imposed for
any appeal taken pursuant to this subdivision. The state review officer
is empowered to make all orders which are proper or necessary to give
effect to the decision of the review officer.
B. APPEALS TAKEN TO THE OFFICE OF STATE REVIEW SHALL BE DECIDED IN THE
ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE RECEIVED. IN THE EVENT THAT THE STATE REVIEW
OFFICER DOES NOT, WITHIN THIRTY DAYS, RENDER A FINAL DECISION AND
FORWARD SUCH DECISION TO THE PARTIES, THEN THE DECISION OF THE IMPARTIAL
HEARING OFFICER SHALL BE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE FINAL DECISION THAT SHOULD
HAVE BEEN TIMELY RENDERED BY THE STATE REVIEW OFFICER AND DEEMED TO BE
FINAL FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES, WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ANY FURTHER
APPEAL THAT MAY BE TAKEN BY ANY AGGRIEVED PARTY TO THE FEDERAL COURT
PURSUANT TO 34 C.F.R. § 300.516.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply equally to
cases that have been pending before the office of state review for more
than 30 days following the receipt of a request for a review without
issuance of a decision as of the date this act shall have become a law
and to cases in which the 30-day period elapses without issuance of a
decision on or after the date this act shall have become a law.