Bill Text: NY S04901 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to establishing the students with disabilities school choice act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-03 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S04901 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S04901-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4901 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 3, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- 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 establishing the students with disabilities school choice act 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 article 107 to 2 read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 107 4 STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES SCHOOL CHOICE ACT 5 Section 5300. Short title. 6 5301. Definitions. 7 5302. General provisions. 8 5303. Responsibilities of the resident school district. 9 5304. Responsibilities of the department. 10 5305. Accountability for participating schools. 11 5306. Responsibilities of the scholarship students and their 12 parents. 13 § 5300. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as 14 the "students with disabilities school choice act". 15 § 5301. Definitions. 1. "Program" means the special needs scholarship 16 program. 17 2. "Eligible student" means any elementary or secondary student 18 attending public school in the state with an individual education plan, 19 including but not limited to students who are mentally handicapped, 20 speech and language impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, visually 21 impaired, dual sensory impaired, physically impaired, emotionally hand- 22 icapped, specific learning disabled, autistic, or hospitalized or home- 23 bound due to illness or disability. 24 3. "Parent" includes a guardian, custodian or other person with 25 authority to act on behalf of the child. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07335-01-7S. 4901 2 1 4. "Resident school district" means the public school district in 2 which the student resides. 3 5. "Department" means the education department of the state of New 4 York. 5 6. "Participating school" means either a public school outside of the 6 resident school district or any non-public school that provides educa- 7 tion to elementary and/or secondary students that has notified the 8 department of their intention to participate in the program and comply 9 with its requirements. Participating school shall also include out-of- 10 state private schools that offer innovative services unavailable in the 11 state. 12 § 5302. General provisions. 1. Any parent of a public school special 13 needs student who is dissatisfied with the student's progress shall 14 qualify for a scholarship from the state for the child to enroll in and 15 attend a non-public school if: 16 (a) the special needs student has had an individual education plan 17 written in accordance with the rules of the department; and 18 (b) the student has been accepted for admission at a participating 19 school; and 20 (c) the parent has requested a scholarship from the state before the 21 deadline established by the department. 22 2. The department shall inform the resident school district that a 23 special needs student has requested a special needs scholarship. The 24 resident school district shall within three business days provide the 25 department with a copy of the student's most current individual educa- 26 tion plan. 27 3. Upon receipt of the special needs student's request for a scholar- 28 ship, the department shall review the individual education plan drafted 29 by the student's public school to determine the amount of the scholar- 30 ship. The department shall provide the student's parent with a timely 31 written explanation of their determination for the amount of the schol- 32 arship. 33 4. The maximum scholarship granted an eligible student shall be an 34 amount equivalent to the cost of the educational program that would have 35 been provided for the student in the resident school district. Although 36 the scholarship amount is a function of a student's individual education 37 plan, the participating school is not required to abide by the individ- 38 ual education plan. The parent and the participating school will mutual- 39 ly determine the best services and educational plan for the student. 40 5. The amount of the special needs scholarship shall be the lesser of 41 the amount calculated in subdivisions three and four of this section, or 42 the amount of the participating school's estimated costs for serving the 43 student. The costs of any assessment by the participating school of the 44 student's special needs may be included in the scholarship amount. 45 6. Participating students shall be counted in the enrollment of their 46 resident school district. The funds needed to provide a scholarship 47 shall be subtracted from the state school aid payable to the student's 48 resident school district. 49 7. The special needs scholarship shall remain in force until the 50 student returns to a public school or graduates from high school or 51 reaches their twenty-first birthday, whichever comes first. 52 8. At any time, the student's parent may remove the student from the 53 participating school and place the student in another participating 54 school or in a public school. 55 § 5303. Responsibilities of the resident school district. 1. A resi- 56 dent school district shall annually notify the parents of a specialS. 4901 3 1 needs student of the special needs scholarship program and offer that 2 student's parent an opportunity to enroll the student in a participating 3 school of their choice. 4 2. The resident school district shall provide a participating school 5 that has admitted an eligible student with a complete copy of the 6 student's school records while complying with the family educational 7 rights and privacy act of 1974. 8 3. The resident school district shall provide transportation for an 9 eligible student to and from the participating school under the same 10 conditions as the resident school district is required to provide trans- 11 portation for other resident students to non-public schools as per 12 current law. The resident school district will qualify for state trans- 13 portation aid for each student so transported. 14 4. If the parent of an eligible student participating in this program 15 requests that the student take the statewide assessments, the resident 16 school district shall provide locations and times for the student to 17 take all statewide assessments if they are not offered at the student's 18 participating school. 19 § 5304. Responsibilities of the department. 1. The department shall 20 adopt rules and procedures regarding: 21 (a) the eligibility and participation of non-public schools, including 22 timelines that will maximize student and public and non-public school 23 participation; 24 (b) the calculation and distribution of scholarships to eligible 25 students and participating schools; and 26 (c) the application and approval procedures for eligible students and 27 participating schools. 28 2. No liability shall arise on the part of the department or the state 29 based on the award or use of a special needs scholarship. 30 3. The department may bar a school from participation in the program 31 if the department establishes that the participating school has: 32 (a) intentionally and substantially misrepresented information 33 required under section five thousand three hundred five of this article; 34 or 35 (b) failed to refund to the state any scholarship overpayments in a 36 timely manner. 37 4. If the department decides to bar a participating school from the 38 program, it shall notify eligible students and their parents of this 39 decision as quickly as possible. 40 § 5305. Accountability for participating schools. To be eligible to 41 participate in the special needs scholarship program, a non-public 42 school must operate in this state and demonstrate: 43 1. Administrative accountability. To ensure that students are treated 44 fairly and kept safe, all participating schools shall: 45 (a) comply with all health and safety laws or codes that apply to 46 non-public schools; and 47 (b) hold a valid occupancy permit if required by their municipality; 48 and 49 (c) certify that they will not discriminate in admissions on the basis 50 of race, color, national origin, or religion; and 51 (d) comply with all state laws that apply to non-public schools 52 regarding criminal background checks for employees and exclude from 53 employment any people not permitted by state law to work in a non-public 54 school. 55 2. Financial accountability. To ensure that public funds are spent 56 appropriately, all participating schools shall:S. 4901 4 1 (a) demonstrate their financial accountability by: 2 (i) submitting a financial information report for the school that 3 complies with uniform financial accounting standards established by the 4 department and conducted by a certified public accountant; and 5 (ii) having the auditor certify the report is free of material 6 misstatements. The auditor's report shall be limited in scope to those 7 records that are necessary for the department to make payments to 8 schools for scholarships. 9 (b) demonstrate their financial viability by showing they can pay any 10 funds owed the state, if they are to receive fifty thousand dollars or 11 more during the school year, by: 12 (i) filing with the department prior to the start of the school year a 13 surety bond payable to the state in an amount equal to the aggregate 14 amount of the special needs scholarships expected to be paid during the 15 school year to students admitted to the participating school; or 16 (ii) filing with the department prior to the start of the school year 17 financial information that demonstrates the school has the ability to 18 pay an aggregate amount equal to the amount of the special needs schol- 19 arships expected to be paid during the school year to students admitted 20 to the participating school. 21 3. Academic accountability. To ensure that schools provide academic 22 accountability to parents of the students in the program, all partic- 23 ipating schools shall regularly report to the parent on the student's 24 progress. 25 4. Participating school autonomy. A participating school is autonomous 26 and not an agent of the state or federal government therefore: 27 (a) the department or any other state agency may not in any way regu- 28 late the educational program of a participating school that accepts a 29 special needs scholarship; and 30 (b) the creation of the special needs scholarship program does not 31 expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers or any school 32 district to impose any additional regulation of non-public schools 33 beyond those reasonably necessary to enforce the requirements of the 34 program; and 35 (c) participating schools shall be given the maximum freedom to 36 provide for the educational needs of their students without governmental 37 control. 38 § 5306. Responsibilities of the scholarship students and their 39 parents. 1. It shall be the responsibility of a parent to select their 40 child's school, apply for admission, and apply for a special needs scho- 41 larship. 42 2. Any student participating in the program must comply fully with a 43 participating school's written code of conduct and shall remain in 44 attendance throughout the school year, unless excused by the school for 45 illness or other good cause. However, a parent may transfer an eligible 46 student to another participating school at any time. The scholarship 47 amount shall be prorated between participating schools according to the 48 period of attendance at each school. 49 3. A parent's decision for their student to participate in the program 50 constitutes a non-public placement for purposes of the individuals with 51 disabilities education act. 52 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of September next 53 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
