Senate Bill S8784

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8784

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the number and duties
of assistant principals to be assigned to the schools in the city school
district of the city of New York

 
PURPOSE:

To require minimal staffing levels of assistant principals in the vari-
ous schools in the New York City School District.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one adds three new paragraphs to subdivision (2) of the educa-
tion law.

Paragraph (d) states that each school shall have assigned to it at least
one assistant principal. Furthermore, each middle school and each high
school shall have at least two assistant principals. In schools with an
              

enrollment in excess of seven hundred fifty pupils, there shall be
assigned at least one additional assistant principal.  The Chancellor is
directed to take into consideration the needs of students with disabili-
ties in the assignment of assistant principals.

Paragraph (e) states that an assistant principal shall be responsible
for the safe operation of the school on occasions when the principal is
not present.

Paragraph (f) states that assistant principals may be required by the
chancellor or the superintendent to provide or participate in training
or other forms of staff development or to address identified areas of
educational need and promote student achievement and school performance.
This requirement mirrors a similar requirement for principals.

Section two provides that this act would take effect on the first of
July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The need for minimal levels of administrative staffing in schools cannot
be overemphasized. Students, especially those in the middle and high
school years and those with special needs, require, as much as possible,
personal attention to their educational progress, their social and envi-
ronmental circumstances, their need for regulation and order, their
disciplinary needs and other important factors which influence their
physical, mental, emotional and academic development.

There are over 100 schools in New York City without an assistant princi-
pal and these schools face serious safety concerns as a result.  When
principals of these schools are taken out of the building by the Depart-
ment of Education, there is no licensed administrator then present and
responsible to oversee the protocols and procedures to keep students
safe in an emergency. Further, many more schools deal with assistant
principal understaffing, often because principal requests to hire are
rejected without cause or explanation. The leadership of assistant prin-
cipals is critical to ensuring a positive school culture. Assistant
principals are particularly necessary to advance restorative approaches
to students' missteps, which understandably take time and care.

Throughout their school years, children face enormous pressures both in
and out of school. It is important to recognize the importance a
school's administration plays in helping students meet, face and over-
come the various demands that age, school, society, peers and life place
on them. By setting minimum staffing levels for schools, including addi-
tional numbers of assistant principals for large schools, middle
schools, high schools and for students with special needs, this legis-
lation ensures that students are given the structure, attention, guid-
ance and direction that they require in their formative years.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which to shall have become law.