Senate Bill S8487

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8487
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 9, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MARCELLINO  -- 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  the  attendance  of
   minors  upon  full  day  instruction  and  the  conditions under which
   districts are entitled to an apportionment of state aid; 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 c of subdivision 1 and subparagraph (i) of para-
 graph c of subdivision 2 of section 3205 of the education law, paragraph
 c of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 518 of the  laws  of  1993  and
 subparagraph  (i)  of paragraph c of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
 277 of the laws of 2017, are amended to read as follows:
   c. For purposes of this article, a minor who becomes six years of  age
 on  or before the first of December in any school year shall be required
 to attend upon full time instruction from the first day that the [appro-
 priate] public schools are in session [in September of] FOR such  school
 year, and a minor who becomes six years of age after the first of Decem-
 ber  in  any  school  year  shall  be  required to attend upon full time
 instruction from the first day of session in the  following  [September]
 SCHOOL  YEAR;  and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of
 this section, shall be required to remain in attendance until  the  last
 day  of  session  in  the school year in which the minor becomes sixteen
 years of age.
   (i) Minors whose parents elect not to enroll their children in  school
 until the following [September] SCHOOL YEAR.
   § 2. Subdivisions 7 and 8 of section 3604 of the education law, subdi-
 vision  7 as amended by section 3 of part B of chapter 54 of the laws of
 2016 and subdivision 8 as amended by chapter 260 of the  laws  of  2012,
 are 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-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14821-03-8

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 fied  teacher or by successive qualified teachers or by qualified teach-
 ers for not less than one hundred eighty days. The moneys payable  to  a
 school  district  pursuant  to section thirty-six hundred nine-a of this
 chapter  in  the current year shall be reduced by one one-hundred eight-
 ieth of the district's total foundation aid FOR THE BASE YEAR  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,
 (I)  FOR  ANY DAY ON WHICH SESSION HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED BUT THE
 SUPERINTENDENT WAS REQUIRED TO CLOSE THE SCHOOL  OR  SCHOOLS  DUE  TO  A
 PROPERLY  EXECUTED  DECLARATION  OF  A STATE OR LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY
 PURSUANT TO ARTICLE TWO-B OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW OR (II) FOR  UP  TO  FIVE
 DAYS  if  he  OR  SHE 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, lack of electricity, natural  gas  leak-
 age,  unacceptable  levels  of chemical substances, a credible threat to
 student safety as reasonably determined 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 examina-
 tion day in June, and for the elementary grades all  scheduled  vacation
 days  which occur prior to the last scheduled regents examination day in
 June. For the purposes of this subdivision,  "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.
   8. No school shall be in session on a Saturday  or  a  legal  holiday,
 except  general election day, Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birth-
 day, and except that driver education classes  may  be  conducted  on  a
 Saturday.
   8-A.  A  deficiency  not  exceeding  four  days during any school year
 caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by  superintendents
 of  schools of city school districts or other school districts employing
 superintendents  of  schools  shall  be  excused  by  the  commissioner,
 notwithstanding  any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contra-
 ry, a school district may elect to schedule such conference days in  the
 last  two weeks of August, subject to collective bargaining requirements
 pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service  law,  and  such  days
 shall  be  counted  towards  the  required  one  hundred  eighty days of
 session, provided however, that such  scheduling  shall  not  alter  the
 obligation  of the school district to provide transportation to students
 in non-public elementary and secondary schools or charter schools.  [The
 commissioner  shall  excuse  a deficiency not exceeding four days during
 such school year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by
 such superintendents, provided that at] AT  least  two  such  conference
 days during such school year shall be dedicated to staff attendance upon
 conferences  providing  staff  development relating to implementation of
 the new high learning standards and assessments, as adopted by the board
 of regents. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,  rule  or  regu-
 lation to the contrary, school districts may elect to use one or more of
 such  allowable  conference days in units of not less than one hour each
 to provide staff development activities relating  to  implementation  of
 the  new high learning standards and assessments. A district making such
 election may provide such staff development [during the regularly sched-

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 uled daily session] ON ANY DAY DURING WHICH  SESSIONS  ARE  ALLOWED  and
 apply  such  units  to satisfy a deficiency in the length of one or more
 daily sessions of instruction for pupils as specified in regulations  of
 the  commissioner.  The  commissioner  shall assure that such conference
 days include appropriate school  violence  prevention  and  intervention
 training,  and  may  require that up to one such conference day be dedi-
 cated for such purpose.
   § 3. Subdivisions 7-a and 7-b of section 3604 of the education law are
 REPEALED.
   § 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.