S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1275--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 13, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. COLTON, LEE, DAVILA, PAULIN, REYES, SILLITTI,
   BORES, DILAN, DINOWITZ, McMAHON, BRAUNSTEIN, KELLES, LUNSFORD, STIRPE,
   DICKENS, FALL, BURGOS,  GALLAGHER,  LEVENBERG,  DE LOS SANTOS,  LUCAS,
   SIMONE, SHRESTHA, RAJKUMAR, RIVERA, RAGA, GLICK, CLARK, TAYLOR, GIBBS,
   ROZIC,  MAMDANI,  O'DONNELL,  ZACCARO,  CUNNINGHAM, KIM, L. ROSENTHAL,
   SAYEGH, CRUZ, BENDETT, MAHER, ZINERMAN, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, HEVESI  --
   Multi-Sponsored  by  --  M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to
   the Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to declaring Asian Lunar
   New Year a school holiday
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  8  of  section 3604 of the education law, as
 amended by chapter 605 of the laws  of  2019,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   8.  No  school shall be in session on a Saturday, THE FIRST DAY OF THE
 SECOND LUNAR MONTH AFTER THE WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE  PRECEDING  CALENDAR
 YEAR,  KNOWN AS ASIAN LUNAR NEW YEAR, UNLESS SUCH DAY FALLS ON A SUNDAY,
 IN WHICH CASE THE SCHOOL SHALL NOT BE IN SESSION ON THE MONDAY THEREAFT-
 ER, or a legal holiday, except general election day, Washington's birth-
 day and Lincoln's birthday, and except that driver education classes may
 be conducted on a Saturday. 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 contrary, 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00933-08-3
              

 A. 1275--A                          2
 
 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. At
 least two such conference days during such school year  shall  be  dedi-
 cated  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  regulation  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  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 train-
 ing, and may require that up to one such conference day be dedicated for
 such purpose.
   § 2.  Subdivision 2-a of section 3635 of the education law, as amended
 by chapter 424 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
   2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having
 a population in excess of one million, shall  prepare  a  public  school
 calendar and shall notify officials of nonpublic schools to which trans-
 portation  has  been  requested  not later than the first day of June in
 each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session in
 the following school year. Such school district which provides transpor-
 tation to nonpublic schools shall provide such  transportation  for  the
 same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not provide
 transportation  services  for  more than one hundred eighty days.  Offi-
 cials of each nonpublic school to which transportation is provided by  a
 city  school  district  of  a  city having a population in excess of one
 million may notify such district, not later than the first day  of  July
 of  each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of Saturdays,
 Sundays or legal holidays upon which public schools are required  to  be
 closed,  on  which the public schools are scheduled to be closed, except
 that in any year in which the first or last day of Passover  and  Easter
 Sunday  are separated by more than seven days, such officials may notify
 the district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will  be
 required to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided
 that  such  five  or  ten  additional days, whichever is applicable, are
 limited to the following: the Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Friday
 after  Labor  Day,  Rosh  Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the week in which public
 schools are closed for spring recess,  December  twenty-fourth  and  the
 week  between  Christmas day and New Year's day, the Tuesday, Wednesday,
 Thursday and Friday after the observance of Washington's  birthday,  THE
 FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  SECOND LUNAR MONTH AFTER THE WINTER SOLSTICE IN THE
 PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR, KNOWN AS ASIAN LUNAR  NEW  YEAR,  and,  in  the
 boroughs  of  Brooklyn and Queens only, Anniversary Day as designated in
 section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this chapter.
   § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.