NY State Senate Bill 2017-S8487

Senate Bill S8487

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to the attendance of minors upon full day instruction and the conditions under which districts are entitled to an apportionment of state aid; repealer

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 20, 2018	committed to rules
Jun 05, 2018	advanced to third reading
Jun 04, 2018	2nd report cal.
May 31, 2018	1st report cal.1466
May 09, 2018	referred to education

Votes

- May 31, 2018 - Education Committee Vote
  S8487
  
  11
  
  Aye
  
  3
  
  Nay
  
  3
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  1
  
  Absent
  
  1
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Education Committee Vote: May 31, 2018
      
      aye (11)
      
      Avella
      
      Breslin
      
      Gallivan
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Marcellino
      
      Peralta
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Robach
      
      Seward
      
      Stavisky
      
      nay (3)
      
      Hamilton
      
      Mayer
      
      Serrano
      
      aye wr (3)
      
      Brooks
      
      Little
      
      Serino
      
      absent (1)
      
      Montgomery
      
      excused (1)
      
      Croci

co-Sponsors

2017-S8487 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10364
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§3205 & 3604, rpld §3604 subs 7-a & 7-b, Ed L

2017-S8487 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the attendance of minors upon full day instruction and the conditions under which districts are entitled to an apportionment of state aid.

2017-S8487 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8487

SPONSOR: MARCELLINO
 
TITLE OF BILL:  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

 
PURPOSE:

The proposed legislation would provide flexibility to school districts
when preparing their school district calendar so that they meet the
minimum number of instructional hours for State aid purposes and will
eliminate any penalties to school districts who are forced to close a
scheduled day of session because of a State or local emergency.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would amend § 3205(2)(c)(i)(1) of the Education
Law to authorize school districts, at their local discretion, to
commence the first day of session for a school year prior to September.

Section 2 of the bill would amend § 3604(7) and (8) of the Education Law
to allow school districts to count toward the minimum instructional time
for State aid purposes 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 2-B of the Executive Law.

This section would also calculate the penalty for failing to meet the
minimum requirement using aid levels from the year in which the
violation occurred, instead of at the time of the reporting.

Section 3 would repeal subdivisions 7-a and 7-b of the education law
regarding school year specific State aid reduction calculation disre-
gards and amend subdivision 8-a to clarify current requirements that
school districts are authorized to count four superintendent conference
days toward the 180-days of instruction requirement for State aid
purposes.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Education Law § 3604 requires that school districts be in session for
180 days, or be at risk of losing State aid. During the 2016-2017 school
year, the Department received a number of concerns through the Fraud,
Waste, and Abuse hotline relating to some districts not fully complying
with the 180-day requirement, despite reporting compliance to the State
Aid Office. At the same time, many questions arose from the Governor's
declaration of a statewide snow emergency in March 2017 during which all
State agencies were closed.  As a result of these two circumstances, in
April 2017 the State Aid Office at State Education Department (SED)
issued a guidance memorandum to districts, reminding them of the rules
associated with the 180-day requirement. This memo generated a number of
questions and concerns in the field.

In an effort to provide greater clarity to the field and implement any
necessary updates to the rules to adjust to modem practices, the Depart-
ment convened a 180-day Advisory Committee to recommend possible statu-
tory and regulatory amendments to streamline, clarify, and modernize the
existing 180-day instructional requirement for State Aid purposes. Indi-
viduals from a wide range of stakeholder groups from across the State,
including over 120 school districts, participated in either the Advisory
Committee and/or in five regional meetings or a questionnaire to provide
feedback to the Department on these issues. The five regional meetings
were held in:

*New York City (NYC and Hudson Valley)
*Long Island
*Batavia (Western New York, Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier)
*Albany (Capital District, Central New York, Mohawk Valley)
*Canton (North Country)

Through the Advisory Committee process and the regional meetings held
across the State, it became apparent that there are multiple factors
that are considered in the development of a school district calendar,
and school districts requested additional flexibility in the laws and
regulations to meet the 180-day instructional requirement. Based on the
feedback from the Advisory Committee, the Department has begun the proc-
ess of amending Part 175 of the Commissioner's regulations to provide
additional flexibility to school districts to meet the 180-day require-
ment. However, some of the Advisory Committee's concerns require statu-
tory changes.

The Advisory Committee also recommended legislative changes. One concern
raised by the Advisory Committee was that during adverse weather or
other conditions, school district officials may be prohibited by other
municipal and State officials from holding school in session, and it is
at times unfair to force districts to make up those days. This bill
would allow districts to count toward the 180-day requirement 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
2-B of the Executive Law.

The Advisory Committee also recommended pursuing legislative changes to
allow districts, at their local discretion, to schedule session days
outside of the traditional Labor Day through Rating Day time period.
This bill would provide districts with flexibility to allow districts to
hold session commencing July and August so that if the 180-days are not
fully utilized, districts will now be able to provide additional days
off or additional instructional days toward the end of the school year
at their local discretion. Districts shall, however, continue to work
with their calendar committees and communities to review their scheduled
breaks and snow day assumptions, knowing that snow day contingencies are
best incorporated into the school calendar.

The bill also clarifies possible confusion resulting from existing stat-
utory language. Education Law § 3604 currently contains language in two
places which references the authorization for districts to count four
superintendent conference days toward the 180-day instructional require-
ment. The bill clarifies the current requirement that only four super-
intendent conference days may be counted, not eight.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.

2017-S8487 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     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

 S. 8487                             2
 
 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-

 S. 8487                             3

 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.

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Senate Bill S8487

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Sponsored By

Carl L. Marcellino