STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4505 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 9, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. LIU, MYRIE -- 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 prohibiting discrimi- nation of students on school property or at a school function based on religious attire The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 11 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 3 11. "Religious attire" shall mean any attire, clothing, hairstyle, 4 facial hairstyle, or head covering worn in accordance with the require- 5 ments of an individual's religion. 6 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 12 of the education law, as amended by 7 chapter 102 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 8 1. No student shall be subjected to harassment or bullying by employ- 9 ees or students on school property or at a school function; nor shall 10 any student be subjected to discrimination based on a person's actual or 11 perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, 12 religious practice, religious attire, disability, sexual orientation, 13 gender, or sex by school employees or students on school property or at 14 a school function. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to 15 prohibit a denial of admission into, or exclusion from, a course of 16 instruction based on a person's gender that would be permissible under 17 section thirty-two hundred one-a or paragraph (a) of subdivision two of 18 section twenty-eight hundred fifty-four of this chapter and title IX of 19 the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. section 1681, et. seq.), or 20 to prohibit, as discrimination based on disability, actions that would 21 be permissible under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06632-01-3