Senate Bill S1495A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1495--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. FAHY, SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when  printed  to be committed to the Committee on Education -- recom-
   mitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
   sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as
   amended and recommitted to said committee

 AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to school aid for trans-
   portation of children attending a universal pre-kindergarten  program;
   and  to  repeal  paragraph  g  of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the
   education law, relating thereto
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1 of section 3622-a of the education law, as
 added by chapter 474 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
   1. Transportation of pupils to and from school once  daily,  INCLUDING
 CHILDREN  ATTENDING  A  UNIVERSAL  PRE-KINDERGARTEN  PROGRAM PURSUANT TO
 SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS ARTICLE, provided, however,  in
 no case shall there be any deduction made in determining aidable regular
 transportation  on  the  basis  of bus mileage travelled in transporting
 children as part of a regional or joint transportation system;
   § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section  3635  of  the  education
 law,  as  amended  by  section 11 of part A of chapter 97 of the laws of
 2011, is 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03510-03-6
              

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 live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and
 shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles,
 the distances in each case being measured by the nearest available route
 from  home  to  school.  SUCH TRANSPORTATION MAY BE PROVIDED TO CHILDREN
 ATTENDING A UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM PURSUANT TO SECTION THIR-
 TY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS ARTICLE. The cost of providing such  trans-
 portation  between  two  or three miles, as the case may be, and fifteen
 miles shall be considered for the purposes  of  this  chapter  to  be  a
 charge  upon  the  district  and  an  ordinary contingent expense of the
 district. Transportation for a lesser distance than  two  miles  in  the
 case of children attending A UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM PURSUANT
 TO SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS ARTICLE OR grades kindergar-
 ten  through  eight  or  three  miles  in the case of children attending
 grades nine through twelve and for a greater distance than fifteen miles
 may be provided by the 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.
   § 3. Paragraph e of subdivision 1 of section  3635  of  the  education
 law,  as  amended by chapter 665 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read
 as follows:
   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  A  UNIVERSAL
 PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM PURSUANT TO SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF
 THIS  ARTICLE  OR  grades  kindergarten 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 A UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM PURSUANT TO SECTION THIR-
 TY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS  ARTICLE  OR  grades  kindergarten  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,
 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, except that transportation for a lesser distance than two  miles
 or  a greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided if transporta-
 tion for such distances is provided to students between home and school.
 Where a child receives transportation from a  before-school  child  care
 location  to  the  school  [he  or she] SUCH CHILD legally attends, such
 child shall be entitled 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.
 Transportation may be provided to any child attending A  UNIVERSAL  PRE-
 S. 1495--A                          3
 
 KINDERGARTEN  PROGRAM  PURSUANT  TO  SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF
 THIS ARTICLE OR 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 nine-
 teen hundred eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year, such  request  must
 be  submitted  by  August  first,  nineteen  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 transportation 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 regis-
 tered 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 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] SUBPARAGRAPH 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
 subdivision 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.
   § 4. Paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education law
 is REPEALED.
   §  5. Subdivision 2 of section 3635-b of the education law, as amended
 by chapter 422 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
   2. A board of education or board of trustees is authorized to adopt  a
 resolution  providing  for  pupil  transportation in child safety zones,
 where applicable, of a proposition to expend money for such  transporta-
 tion  presented  pursuant  to  the provisions of subdivision nineteen of
 section two thousand twenty-one and section two thousand  twenty-two  of
 this chapter. Such transportation may be provided without regard to like
 circumstances  based  solely upon the fact that the pupil resides within
 two miles, in the case  of  a  pupil  in  A  UNIVERSAL  PRE-KINDERGARTEN
 PROGRAM  PURSUANT TO SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS ARTICLE OR
 grade kindergarten through eight, and within three miles, in the case of
 a pupil in grade nine through twelve, from the school such pupil legally
 attends, notwithstanding the provisions of  section  thirty-six  hundred
 thirty-five  of this [article] PART. Such transportation may be provided
 upon the determination by the board that a hazardous zone  exists  which
 in the opinion of the board would be reasonably alleviated by the estab-
 lishment  of  a  child  safety zone. For purposes of this section, child
 safety zone means a designated area of a school district,  including  at
 least  one  personal  residence,  within  which children who reside at a
 lesser distance from the school they legally  attend  than  the  minimum
 transportation  limit of the district will be provided transportation on
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 the basis that their most direct walking route to school will traverse a
 hazardous zone.
   §  6.  Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 3623-a of the education
 law, as added by chapter 474 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read  as
 follows:
   a.  The  transportation  operating  expense  for  any  school district
 furnishing transportation for pupils  attending  a  school  within  such
 district  shall  be  reduced  by any moneys received for transportation,
 PROVIDED THAT UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM GRANTS AWARDED PURSUANT
 TO SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO-E OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL NOT BE CONSID-
 ERED MONEYS RECEIVED FOR TRANSPORTATION.
   § 7. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.