S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
11266
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 4, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. P. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation of
children attending grades kindergarten through twelve
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraphs a, b, and e of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of
the education law, paragraph a as amended by section 11 of part A of
chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, paragraph b as amended by chapter 718 of
the laws of 1990, subparagraph (i) of paragraph b as amended by chapter
571 of the laws of 1994, and paragraph e as amended by chapter 665 of
the laws of 1990, are amended to read as follows:
a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the operation and
maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district
for all the children residing within the school district to and from the
school they legally attend, who are in need of such transportation
because of the remoteness of the school to the child or for the
promotion of the best interest of such children. Such transportation
shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through
eight who live more than two miles from the school which they legally
attend and for all children attending grades nine through twelve who
live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend,
THE DISTANCES IN EACH CASE BEING MEASURED BY THE NEAREST AVAILABLE ROUTE
FROM HOME TO SCHOOL, and shall be provided for each such child [up to a
distance of] WITHIN A fifteen [miles, the distances in each case being
measured by the nearest available route from home to school] MILE
RADIUS. The cost of providing such transportation between two or three
miles, as the case may be, and WITHIN A fifteen [miles] MILE RADIUS
shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be a charge upon
the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the district. Trans-
portation for a lesser distance than two miles in the case of children
attending grades kindergarten through eight or three miles in the case
of children attending grades nine through twelve and for a greater
distance than A fifteen [miles] MILE RADIUS may be provided by the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15672-02-6
A. 11266 2
district with the approval of the qualified voters, and, if provided,
shall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing
in the district; provided, however, that this requirement shall not
apply to transportation offered pursuant to section thirty-six hundred
thirty-five-b of this [article] PART.
b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school
for pupils living within a specified distance from such school shall
designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up points and
shall provide transportation between such points and such nonpublic
schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such
nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.
The district shall not be responsible for the provision of transporta-
tion for pupils between their home and such pick-up points. The
district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if the resi-
dence of the pupil is located on an established route for the transpor-
tation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided such trans-
portation does not result in additional costs to the district. The cost
of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpub-
lic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.
(ii) A board of education may, at its discretion, provide transporta-
tion for pupils residing within the district to a nonpublic school
located more than A fifteen [miles] MILE RADIUS from the home of any
such pupil provided that such transportation has been provided to such
nonpublic school pursuant to this subdivision in at least one of the
immediately preceding three school years and such transportation is
provided from one or more centralized pick-up points designated pursuant
to this paragraph and that the distance from such pick-up points to the
nonpublic school is not more than A fifteen [miles] MILE RADIUS. The
district shall not be responsible for the provision of transportation
for pupils between pupils homes and such pick-up points. The cost of
providing transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpublic
schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.
e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing
provisions of this subdivision, a board of education may, at its
discretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades kinder-
garten through eight between the school such child legally attends and
before-and/or-after-school child care locations. For the purposes of
this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall
mean a place, other than the child's home, where care for less than
twenty-four hours a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who
attends school within the school district, provided that such place is
situated within the school district. This definition includes, but is
not limited to, a variety of child care services such as day care
centers, family day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such
transportation may be provided for children attending grades kindergar-
ten through eight where the distance between the school they legally
attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is more than
two miles, THE DISTANCE BEING MEASURED BY THE NEAREST AVAILABLE ROUTE
FROM BEFORE-AND/OR-AFTER-SCHOOL CHILD CARE LOCATIONS TO THE SCHOOL THEY
LEGALLY ATTEND, and may be provided [for up to a distance of fifteen
miles, the distance in each case being measured by the nearest available
route from before-and/or-after-school child care locations to the school
they legally attend] WITHIN A FIFTEEN MILE RADIUS, except that transpor-
tation for a lesser distance than two miles or a greater distance than A
fifteen [miles] MILE RADIUS may be provided if transportation for such
distances is provided to students between home and school. Where a child
A. 11266 3
receives transportation from a before-school child care location to the
school [he or she] SUCH CHILD legally attends, such child shall be enti-
tled to receive transportation from the school [he or she] SUCH CHILD
legally attends to [his or her] SUCH CHILD'S home or to an after-school
child care location in accordance with this subdivision. Where a child
receives transportation from the school [he or she] SUCH CHILD legally
attends to an after-school child care location, such child shall be
entitled to receive transportation from home to the school [he or she]
SUCH CHILD legally attends in accordance with this subdivision. Trans-
portation may be provided to any child attending grades kindergarten
through eight between the school the child legally attends and before-
and/or-after-school child care locations upon written request of the
parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the first day of April
preceding the next school year, provided, however, a parent or guardian
of a child not residing in the district on such date shall submit a
written request within thirty days after establishing residence in the
district and provided further that in order to be considered eligible
for such transportation in the nineteen hundred eighty-seven--eighty-
eight school year, such request must be submitted by August first, nine-
teen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of transportation to or from
before-and/or-after-school child care locations, if provided, shall be
offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing in the
district, provided that a board of education furnishing transportation
pursuant to this paragraph may limit the provision of such transporta-
tion to child care locations located within the attendance zone of the
school the child attends, and to child day care centers and school age
child care programs licensed or registered pursuant to section three
hundred ninety of the social services law located anywhere within the
school district. The cost of providing such transportation between two
or three miles, as the case may be, and [fifteen miles] WITHIN A FIFTEEN
MILE RADIUS shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be a
charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation expense shall
be eligible for state aid in accordance with clause one of paragraph b
of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this [chapter]
ARTICLE. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a
duty upon boards of education to provide transportation to or from
before-and/or-after-school child care locations. Nothing in this subdi-
vision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to provide to
any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school day care
location and that child's home.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.