Bill Text: NY S05346 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires persistently dangerous schools to file an incident reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce incidents of violence and disruption and requires notice to be given to victims of harassment, bullying, or violent offenses of their right to transfer to another public school.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO EDUCATION [S05346 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S05346-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5346
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     April 26, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- 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 persistently
          dangerous  schools  to  file  an incident reduction plan detailing the
          steps the school  will  take  to  reduce  incidents  of  violence  and
          disruption  and requiring notice to be given to victims of harassment,
          bullying, or violent offenses of their right to  transfer  to  another
          public school
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 2802  of  the  education  law,  as
     2  amended  by  section 8 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    7. Notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law, rule  or
     5  regulation  to  the  contrary,  any  student  who attends a persistently
     6  dangerous public elementary or secondary school, as  determined  by  the
     7  commissioner  pursuant  to  paragraph a of this subdivision, or who is a
     8  victim of harassment or bullying, as  defined  pursuant  to  subdivision
     9  seven  of section eleven of this chapter, or a violent criminal offense,
    10  as defined pursuant  to  paragraph  [b]  c  of  this  subdivision,  that
    11  occurred  on the grounds of a public elementary or secondary school that
    12  the student attends, shall [be allowed to  attend]  have  the  right  to
    13  transfer to a safe public school within the [local educational agency to
    14  the  extent  required  by  section eighty-five hundred thirty-two of the
    15  Elementary and Secondary Education Act of nineteen  hundred  sixty-five,
    16  as amended] school district.
    17    a.  The  commissioner shall annually determine which public elementary
    18  and secondary schools are  persistently  dangerous  in  accordance  with
    19  regulations  of the commissioner developed in consultation with a repre-
    20  sentative sample of local educational agencies. Such determination shall
    21  be based on data submitted through the uniform violent incident  report-
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10458-01-9
        S. 5346                             2
     1  ing  system over a period prescribed in the regulations, which shall not
     2  be less than two  years,  reports  of  violent  incidents  and  criminal
     3  offenses  from  school  safety  agents  and  police officers, reports of
     4  violent or harmful conduct by teachers and administrative staff, and any
     5  other data reasonably required by the commissioner related to safety.
     6    b.  Each  public elementary and secondary school designated as persis-
     7  tently dangerous pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision  shall,  in
     8  the  subsequent  school  year,  submit  to  the commissioner an incident
     9  reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce  inci-
    10  dents  of  violence and disruption and remove the persistently dangerous
    11  designation by the following school year. Such plan shall include, at  a
    12  minimum, the prevention and intervention strategies recommended pursuant
    13  to  paragraph c of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred one-a
    14  of this article. Notwithstanding  any  provision  to  the  contrary,  an
    15  elementary or secondary school designated as persistently dangerous, and
    16  which  remains  on the persistently dangerous list for three consecutive
    17  years, shall be subject to closure on June thirtieth following the third
    18  consecutive year of such persistently dangerous designation except  that
    19  upon  a finding of good cause, the commissioner may grant such school up
    20  to two additional academic years to achieve results  that  would  remove
    21  the persistently dangerous designation.
    22    [b] c. Each local educational agency required to provide unsafe school
    23  choice  shall establish procedures for determinations by the superinten-
    24  dent of schools or other chief school officer of whether  a  student  is
    25  the  victim  of harassment, bullying, or a violent criminal offense that
    26  occurred on school grounds of the school that the student attends.  Such
    27  superintendent  of schools or other chief school officer shall, prior to
    28  making any such determination, consult with any law  enforcement  agency
    29  investigating  such  alleged  violent  criminal offense and consider any
    30  reports or records provided by such agency. The  trustees  or  board  of
    31  education  or  other  governing  board of a local educational agency may
    32  provide, by local rule or by-law, for appeal of the determination of the
    33  superintendent of schools to such governing board.  Notwithstanding  any
    34  other  provision of law to the contrary, the determination of such chief
    35  school officer pursuant to this  paragraph  shall  not  have  collateral
    36  estoppel  effect  in any student disciplinary proceeding brought against
    37  the alleged victim or perpetrator of such violent criminal offense.  For
    38  purposes  of  this  subdivision, "violent criminal offense" shall mean a
    39  crime that involved infliction of serious physical injury  upon  another
    40  as  defined  in  the  penal  law,  a  sex offense that involved forcible
    41  compulsion or any other offense defined in the penal law  that  involved
    42  the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.
    43    [c]  d. Each local educational agency, as defined in subsection thirty
    44  of section eighty-one hundred one of the Elementary and Secondary Educa-
    45  tion Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, that is required to
    46  provide school choice pursuant to section eighty-five hundred thirty-two
    47  of the Elementary  and  Secondary  Education  Act  of  nineteen  hundred
    48  sixty-five,  as  amended, shall establish procedures for notification of
    49  parents of, or persons  in  parental  relation  to,  students  attending
    50  schools  that have been designated as persistently dangerous and parents
    51  of, or persons in parental relation to,  students  who  are  victims  of
    52  harassment,  bullying,  or  violent  criminal offenses of their right to
    53  transfer to a safe public school within the [local  educational  agency]
    54  school  district  and procedures for such transfer[, except that nothing
    55  in this subdivision shall be  construed  to  require  such  notification
    56  where  there  are  no  other public schools within the local educational
        S. 5346                             3

     1  agency at the same grade level or such transfer to a safe public  school
     2  within  the  local  educational  agency  is  otherwise  impossible or to
     3  require a local educational agency that has only one public school with-
     4  in  the local educational agency or only one public school at each grade
     5  level to develop such procedures].  Such notification shall also include
     6  a list of designated safe public schools within the school  district  to
     7  which  the  student may transfer, to the extent practicable, be provided
     8  in the dominant language and mode of communication  of  parents  of,  or
     9  persons in parental relation to, such students, and be provided no later
    10  than  ten  days  after  such  school has been designated as persistently
    11  dangerous, or for students who are victims of harassment, bullying, or a
    12  violent criminal offense, within  twenty-four  hours  of  such  determi-
    13  nation.  If  there are no safe public schools within the school district
    14  at the same grade level, the notification of the right to transfer shall
    15  include an offer of assistance in pursuing options outside of the school
    16  district. The commissioner shall be authorized to adopt any  regulations
    17  deemed necessary to assure that local educational agencies implement the
    18  provisions of this subdivision.
    19    §  2.  This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that
    20  the amendments to subdivision 7 of section 2802  of  the  education  law
    21  made  by  section  one  of  this act shall not affect the repeal of such
    22  subdivision and shall be deemed repealed therewith.