Senate Bill S6338

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6338
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 22, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  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  enacting  the  "safe
   schools  by  design  act";  directing  the use of certain professional
   design services for school security and safety improvements

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "safe schools by design act".
   § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature  acknowledges  that  measures
 taken  to  enhance school safety through investments in facility harden-
 ing,  violence  intervention  services,  and  school  resource  officers
 contribute to a broader strategy to mitigate and prevent violent acts on
 school grounds.
   The  legislature  further acknowledges that schools are intended to be
 communities and should be planned without sacrificing the inherent posi-
 tive qualities of school environments we all desire  for  our  children,
 and  that  design  solutions  can  help  address  social, psychological,
 economic, environmental, and safety factors while maintaining a  healthy
 and productive learning environment.
   The legislature intends to provide school districts with the flexibil-
 ity  to  adapt  to  differing  and  evolving community concerns, support
 student health and safety, and create productive learning environments.
   § 3. The education law is amended by adding a  new  section  408-c  to
 read as follows:
   § 408-C. SCHOOL SAFETY DESIGN AND PLANNING. A FIVE YEAR CAPITAL FACIL-
 ITIES  PLAN, AS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (D) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF
 SECTION FOUR HUNDRED NINE-D OF THIS ARTICLE, SHALL CONSIDER THE INCORPO-
 RATION OF DESIGN ELEMENTS AND STRATEGIES  AS  PART  OF  A  COMPREHENSIVE
 APPROACH  TO  PROVIDE A SECURE AND SAFE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. ON OR BEFORE
 JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ISSUE  GUID-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02064-03-1

 S. 6338                             2
 
 ANCE  ON THE USE OF DESIGN ELEMENTS AND STRATEGIES BY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL
 DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE A SECURE AND SAFE ENVIRONMENT.
   §  4. Subdivision 4 of section 2801-a of the education law, as amended
 by chapter 525 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   4. Each district-wide school safety team shall  be  appointed  by  the
 board  of  education,  or  the chancellor in the case of the city school
 district of the city of New York, and shall include but not  be  limited
 to  representatives  of  the  school  board, teacher, administrator, and
 parent organizations, school safety personnel, and other school  person-
 nel  including  bus drivers and monitors. At the discretion of the board
 of education, or the chancellor in the case of the city of New  York,  a
 student  may  be  allowed  to  participate  on the safety team, provided
 however, that no portion  of  a  confidential  building-level  emergency
 response  plan  shall be shared with such student nor shall such student
 be present where details  of  a  confidential  building-level  emergency
 response  plan  or  confidential  portions  of a district-wide emergency
 response strategy are discussed. Each building-level emergency  response
 team  shall  be  appointed by the building principal, in accordance with
 regulations or guidelines prescribed by the board of education, chancel-
 lor or other governing body. Such building-level teams shall include but
 not be limited to representatives of teacher, administrator, and  parent
 organizations,  school  safety  personnel  and  other  school  personnel
 including bus drivers and monitors, community members,  law  enforcement
 officials,  fire  officials or other emergency response agencies, DESIGN
 PROFESSIONALS LICENSED PURSUANT TO ARTICLES ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE,  ONE
 HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN, OR ONE HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER, and any
 other  representatives  the  board  of  education,  chancellor  or other
 governing body deems appropriate.
   § 5. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section  2814  of  the  education
 law,  as added by chapter 181 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as
 follows:
   a. School safety activities. Programs eligible for funding pursuant to
 this section may include, but not be  limited  to:  (i)  safe  corridors
 programs;  (ii)  diversity  programs;  (iii) collaborative school safety
 programs with law enforcement agencies or community-based organizations;
 (iv) metal detectors,  intercom  and  other  intra-school  communication
 devices  and other devices to increase school security and the safety of
 school personnel and students; (v) PROGRAMS WHICH FACILITATE AND PROMOTE
 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT  IN  SCHOOL  FACILITY  PLANNING;  AND  (VI)  other
 programs   including  comprehensive  school-based  intervention  models,
 approved by the commissioner, that reduce violence  and  improve  school
 safety.  Comprehensive school based intervention models shall coordinate
 with and collaborate with other services currently being provided in the
 school  district, incorporate appropriate school violence prevention and
 intervention services, and coordinate  appropriate  funding  sources  to
 ensure  the  efficient  delivery of services. Such comprehensive school-
 based intervention models shall also include provisions for the involve-
 ment of teachers, parents, school administrators in the development  and
 implementation of the program, a detailed statement identifying specific
 performance  goals, a proposed timetable for implementation and achieve-
 ment of such goals and specific assessment methods which will be used to
 measure student and school progress.
   § 6. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph a of subdivision 6 of section 3602 of
 the education law, as amended by section 5 of part A of  chapter  60  of
 the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:

 S. 6338                             3
 
   (1)  For new construction and the purchase of existing structures, the
 cost allowances shall be based upon the rated capacity of  the  building
 or  addition and a basic per pupil allowance of up to six thousand three
 hundred seventy-five dollars  adjusted  monthly  by  a  statewide  index
 reflecting  changes in the cost of labor and materials since July first,
 nineteen hundred ninety-two, established by the commissioner  of  labor,
 modified by an annual county or multi-county labor market composite wage
 rate,  established by the commissioner of labor in consultation with the
 commissioner, for July first of the base year,  commencing  July  first,
 nineteen hundred ninety-seven for general construction contracts awarded
 on  or  after  July first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, indexed to the
 median of such county or multi-county rates,  but  not  less  than  one.
 Such  base  allowance  shall  apply to a building or an addition housing
 grades prekindergarten through six and shall be adjusted for a  building
 or  an addition housing grades seven through nine by a factor of one and
 four-tenths, for a building or an addition housing grades seven  through
 twelve  by  a  factor of one and five-tenths, for a building or addition
 housing special education programs by a factor of two, except that where
 such building or addition is connected to,  or  such  space  is  located
 within,  a  public  school  facility  housing  programs  for nondisabled
 pupils, as approved by the commissioner, a  factor  of  three  shall  be
 used. Rated capacity of a building or an addition shall be determined by
 the  commissioner  based  on  space standards and other requirements for
 building construction specified by  the  commissioner.    Such  assigned
 capacity ratings shall include, in addition to those spaces used for the
 instruction  of  pupils,  those spaces which are used for elementary and
 secondary school libraries,  cafeterias,  prekindergarten  instructional
 rooms, teachers' conference rooms, gymnasiums [and], auditoriums, HEALTH
 AND  WELLNESS  OFFICES,  AND  DE-ESCALATION  ROOMS. For new construction
 projects approved on or after July first, two thousand, by the voters of
 the school district or by the  board  of  education  of  a  city  school
 district  in  a  city  with  more  than one hundred twenty-five thousand
 inhabitants, and/or the chancellor in a city school district in  a  city
 having  a population of one million or more, such rated capacity for new
 buildings and additions constructed to replace existing buildings  that,
 in the judgment of the commissioner, have not been adequately maintained
 and have not reached their projected useful life shall be reduced by the
 commissioner  by  an amount proportional to the remaining unused portion
 of the useful life of the existing buildings, provided however that  the
 commissioner  may waive such requirement upon a finding that replacement
 of the existing building is necessary to protect the health  and  safety
 of  students  or  staff,  that  reconstruction  and modernization of the
 existing building would not adequately address such  health  and  safety
 problems,  and  that  the need to replace the building was not caused by
 failure to adequately maintain the  building.  If  the  commissioner  of
 labor  resets  the  statewide  index  reflecting changes in the costs of
 labor and materials since July first, nineteen hundred  ninety-two,  the
 commissioner  shall  adopt  regulations to supersede the basic per pupil
 allowance of up to six thousand three hundred  seventy-five  dollars  to
 the imputed allowance in effect at that time.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.