Bill Text: NY A06382 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Creates the New York state school resource officer program for school districts outside of New York City; requires retired police officers be certified by the department of education to become school resource officers; allows retired police officers employed as school resource officers to carry a firearm on school grounds given an appropriate license; relates to the earnings limitations for retired police officers employed as a school resource officer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-24 - print number 6382a [A06382 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A06382-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6382--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 5, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. STIRPE, SEAWRIGHT, SAYEGH, DAVILA, GUNTHER, McDO- NALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education -- recom- mitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, the criminal procedure law, and the retirement and social security law, in relation to the creation of the Comprehensive School Resource Officer Training and Implementation Program (SRO TIP) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2801-c. New York state school resource officer program. 1. For 4 purposes of this section, the term "school resource officer" shall mean 5 a school resource officer, school safety officer, school security offi- 6 cer, or any other substantially similar position or office whose purpose 7 is to provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds. 8 2. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 9 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- 10 lation of one million or more may employ, in either the classified or 11 unclassified service, any school resource officer. Such school resource 12 officer shall be: (a) a retired police officer, a retired state trooper, 13 a retired deputy sheriff, or a retired federal law enforcement officer 14 and who, once a certification process is established, is certified as a 15 school resource officer under section twenty-eight hundred one-d of this 16 article; or (b) an active duty state trooper, police officer in the 17 service of a town, city or village, or deputy sheriff from a county 18 sheriff's department. 19 3. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 20 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00232-07-4A. 6382--A 2 1 lation of one million or more may contract with the state of New York, 2 or a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state troop- 3 er, police officer or deputy sheriff, to serve as a school resource 4 officer. A board of cooperative educational services or school district 5 which is not in a city school district in a city having a population of 6 one million or more shall be authorized to employ or contract for as 7 many school resource officers as such board of cooperative educational 8 services or district deems necessary. 9 4. It shall be the primary role of the school resource officer to 10 provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds through 11 community policing techniques, investigative measures, and tactical 12 preparedness. In addition to such primary role, school resource officers 13 also may serve additional roles, including but not limited to: 14 (a) Proposing and enforcing policies and administrative procedures 15 related to school safety; 16 (b) Utilizing technology in the implementation of a comprehensive 17 safety program; 18 (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other commu- 19 nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti- 20 ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities; 21 (d) Proposing and implementing strategies concerning prevention, 22 response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency situations 23 occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis- 24 tration or visitors to the school; 25 (e) Proposing and assisting in the execution of school emergency 26 drills and proposing and assisting in the creation of school safety 27 plans; 28 (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students; 29 (g) Assisting in the design, explanation and enforcement of school 30 safety and security policies and procedures; and 31 (h) Performing such other and further roles, responsibilities and 32 activities as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a 33 law enforcement officer to perform, in order to advance the security, 34 safety and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors 35 to the school district's schools, transportation vehicles and school 36 grounds. 37 5. Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during 38 the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in this 39 subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to 40 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate 41 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal 42 law. 43 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-d to 44 read as follows: 45 § 2801-d. New York state school resource officer certification 46 program. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school resource 47 officer" shall mean a school resource officer, school safety officer, 48 school security officer, or any other substantially similar position or 49 office whose purpose is to provide improved public safety and/or securi- 50 ty on school grounds. 51 2. The department shall, utilizing boards of cooperative educational 52 services, establish a school resource officer training program to certi- 53 fy retired police officers, retired deputy sheriffs, retired state 54 troopers and retired federal law enforcement officers as school resource 55 officers as well as a school resource officer recertification program to 56 recertify school resource officers who have previously completed andA. 6382--A 3 1 passed the department's school resource officer certification program. 2 Such programs shall be designed by the department to include, but not be 3 limited to, counseling techniques, community policing practices, gender 4 and racial sensitivity awareness, and field and tactical training for 5 prevention and response to incidents. The department shall utilize 6 current or retired police officers, in order to train school resource 7 officers in any police related or tactical training provided for certif- 8 ication. The certifications granted from such programs shall expire one 9 year after the program was completed and passed. 10 3. The department shall separately offer the school resource officer 11 training program and the school resource officer recertification program 12 at least once per year per county. 13 § 3. Section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a 14 new subdivision 87 to read as follows: 15 87. Retired police officers, retired state troopers, retired deputy 16 sheriffs or retired federal law enforcement officers employed by boards 17 of cooperative educational services or a school district as a school 18 resource officer; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision 19 shall be deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or 20 dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license therefor has been 21 issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law. 22 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 212 of the retirement and social securi- 23 ty law, as added by section 1 of part Y of chapter 55 of the laws of 24 2013, is amended to read as follows: 25 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this 26 section, the commissioner of education may determine, pursuant to 27 section two hundred eleven of this article, that such earnings limita- 28 tions shall not apply to a retired police officer, retired state trooper 29 or retired deputy sheriff employed by boards of cooperative educational 30 services or a school district as a school resource officer; or to a 31 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff 32 who is employed as a school resource officer by a county, city, town or 33 village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district 34 to provide such services. The commissioner of education may include no 35 more than thirty thousand dollars in addition to the earning limitations 36 set forth in the table in subdivision two of this section to such 37 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff 38 who is employed as a school resource officer. 39 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would allow, with the approval of the Commissioner of Educa- tion, retired police officers, retired state troopers, and retired depu- ty sheriffs who are employed as school resource officers with an annual salary of $65,000 or less to continue to receive their full retirement benefit, provided that such employment is by any of (1) a school district, (2) a board of cooperative educational services, or (3) by a county, city, town or village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district to provide such services. Currently, only retired police officers employed as school resource officers by a school district are allowed enhanced post-retirement earning. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), if this bill were enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, the direct cost incurred would be the retiree's pension benefit paid while post-retirement earnings are between $35,000 and $65,000 each calendar year. The pension benefit expected to be paid by the NYSLRS during that 2-month period is estimated to be $15,000 per person.A. 6382--A 4 In addition to the direct cost quoted above, there would be additional costs in the form of lost employer contributions due to non-billable post-retirement earnings, which is estimated to be $4,500 per person. Pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of the provision. The number of members and retirees who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. For each retiree rehired pursuant to this proposal, an annual cost of $19,500 is expected. If large numbers of retirees are rehired into such positions, significant annual costs would result. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali- fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated March 7, 2024, and intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-70 Revised, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
