S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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8304--A
Cal. No. 1730
I N S E N A T E
April 27, 2018
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Introduced by Sen. PHILLIPS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee
discharged and said bill committed to the Committee on Rules --
ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining
its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to allowing school
districts to start classes before the first of September
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 3604 of the education law, as
amended by section 3 of part B of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, is
amended to read as follows:
7. No district shall be entitled to any portion of such school moneys
on such apportionment unless the report of the trustees or board of
education for the preceding school year shall show that the public
schools were actually in session in the district and taught by a quali-
fied teacher or by successive qualified teachers or by qualified teach-
ers for not less than one hundred eighty days. BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND
COMMUNITY BOARDS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THIS STATE SHALL BE AUTHORIZED
TO START THE SCHOOL YEAR UP TO THREE DAYS BEFORE THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER,
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH SCHOOL YEAR CONSISTS OF AT LEAST ONE
HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS AS SET FORTH IN THIS SUBDIVISION; PROVIDED, ADDI-
TIONALLY THAT SUCH AUTHORIZATION SHALL BE SUBJECT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAIN-
ING AND SUCH BARGAINING MAY BE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ADJUSTING THE
INSTRUCTIONAL START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. The moneys payable to a school
district pursuant to section thirty-six hundred nine-a of this [chapter]
PART in the current year shall be reduced by one one-hundred eightieth
of the district's total foundation aid for each day less than one
hundred eighty days that the schools of the district were actually in
session, except that the commissioner may disregard such reduction, up
to five days, in the apportionment of public money, if he finds that the
schools of the district were not in session for one hundred eighty days
because of extraordinarily adverse weather conditions, impairment of
heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel,
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
S LBD15202-02-8
S. 8304--A 2
lack of electricity, natural gas leakage, unacceptable levels of chemi-
cal substances, a credible threat to student safety as reasonably deter-
mined by a lead school official or the destruction of a school building
either in whole or in part, and if, further, the commissioner finds that
such district cannot make up such days of instruction by using for the
secondary grades all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the
first scheduled regents examination day in June, and for the elementary
grades all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the last sched-
uled regents examination day in June. For the purposes of this subdivi-
sion, "scheduled vacation days" shall mean days on which the schools of
the district are not in session and for which no prohibition exists in
subdivision eight of this section for them to be in session.
§ 2. This act shall take effect ninety days after it shall have become
a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of
any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before
such date.
