Bill Text: NY S00725 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires that all special education students attending schools scheduled to be closed or to undergo a significant change be assigned to new schools prior to the implementation of the closing or change.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO NEW YORK CITY EDUCATION [S00725 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00725-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           725
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens.  MONTGOMERY,  COMRIE,  PERSAUD  --  read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Education
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the education law, in relation to requiring that all
          special education students attending schools scheduled to be closed or
          to undergo a significant change be assigned to new  schools  prior  to
          the implementation of the closing or change
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (e) of subdivision 2-a of section 2590-h
     2  of the education law, as added by chapter 345 of the laws of  2009,  are
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    (b)  Such  educational  impact  statement  shall include the following
     5  information regarding the proposed school closing or significant  change
     6  in school utilization:
     7    (i) the current and projected pupil enrollment of the affected school,
     8  the prospective need for such school building, the ramifications of such
     9  school  closing  or  significant  change  in school utilization upon the
    10  community, initial costs and savings resulting from such school  closing
    11  or significant change in school utilization, the potential disposability
    12  of any closed school;
    13    (ii)  the impacts of the proposed school closing or significant change
    14  in school utilization to any affected students;
    15    (iii) an outline of any proposed or potential use of the school build-
    16  ing for other educational programs or administrative services;
    17    (iv) the effect of such school closing or significant change in school
    18  utilization on personnel  needs,  the  costs  of  instruction,  adminis-
    19  tration, transportation, and other support services;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01740-01-9
        S. 725                              2
     1    (v)  the  type,  age,  and physical condition of such school building,
     2  maintenance, and energy costs, recent or planned  improvements  to  such
     3  school building, and such building's special features;
     4    (vi)  the  ability of other schools in the affected community district
     5  to accommodate pupils following the school closure or significant change
     6  in school utilization, the current and  projected  pupil  enrollment  at
     7  each  such  other school and a list of affected special education school
     8  students scheduled to attend each such other school; and
     9    (vii) information regarding such school's academic performance includ-
    10  ing whether such school has been identified as a school under  registra-
    11  tion  review  or  has  been  identified  as  a school requiring academic
    12  progress, a school in need of improvement, or  a  school  in  corrective
    13  action or restructuring status.
    14    (e) (i) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f) of this subdivi-
    15  sion,  all  proposed  school  closings  or significant changes in school
    16  utilization shall be approved by the  city  board  pursuant  to  section
    17  twenty-five  hundred  ninety-g of this article and shall not take effect
    18  until all the provisions of this subdivision have been satisfied and the
    19  school year in which such city board approval was granted, has ended.
    20    (ii) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f)  of  this  subdivi-
    21  sion,  no proposed school closing or significant change in school utili-
    22  zation shall take effect until  all  special  education  pupils  in  the
    23  affected school have been assigned to new schools within the city of New
    24  York  and  the  chancellor  has verified that each new school within the
    25  city of New York accepting special education students from the  affected
    26  school  can accommodate such pupils as well as an additional increase in
    27  the total number of pupils of no less than  ten  percent  of  the  total
    28  school pupil population.
    29    §  2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
    30  ments to subdivision 2-a of section 2590-h of the education law made  by
    31  section  one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such subdivision
    32  and shall be deemed repealed therewith.