S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    460
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to residency requirements
   for charter schools
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  2 of section 2854 of the
 education law, as amended by section 3 of subpart A of part B of chapter
 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   (b) Any child who is qualified under the laws of this state for admis-
 sion to a public school is qualified for admission to a charter  school,
 PROVIDED THAT SUCH CHILD LIVES IN THE LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT IN WHICH THE
 CHARTER  SCHOOL  IS  LOCATED.    Applications for admission to a charter
 school shall be submitted on a uniform application form created  by  the
 department  and shall be made available by a charter school in languages
 predominately spoken in the community in which such  charter  school  is
 located.  The  school  shall  enroll each eligible student who submits a
 timely application by the first day  of  April  each  year,  unless  the
 number of applications exceeds the capacity of the grade level or build-
 ing.  In such cases, students shall be accepted from among applicants by
 a random selection process, provided, however, that an enrollment  pref-
 erence  shall  be  provided to pupils returning to the charter school in
 the second or any subsequent year of operation and  pupils  residing  in
 the school district in which the charter school is located, and siblings
 of pupils already enrolled in the charter school. Preference may also be
 provided  to  children  of  employees  of  the charter school or charter
 management organization, provided that such children  of  employees  may
 constitute  no  more  than fifteen percent of the charter school's total
 enrollment. The commissioner shall establish regulations to require that
 the random selection process conducted pursuant  to  this  paragraph  be
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02520-01-5
 A. 460                              2
 
 performed  in a transparent and equitable manner and to require that the
 time and place of the random selection process be publicized in a manner
 consistent with the requirements of section  one  hundred  four  of  the
 public  officers law and be open to the public. For the purposes of this
 paragraph and paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the school district  in
 which  the  charter  school  is  located shall mean, for the city school
 district of the city of New York, the community district  in  which  the
 charter school is located.
   §  2.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.