Bill Text: NY A00815 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to school session days; adds general election day to the list of days when school will not be in session; allows a school district to elect to require staff attendance on a general election day or to schedule a professional development day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 35-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to education [A00815 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00815-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           815
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 11, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. STIRPE, ABINANTI, CUSICK, GUNTHER, HUNTER, HYND-
          MAN, MAGNARELLI, M. G. MILLER, RIVERA, SIMON, TAYLOR -- read once  and
          referred to the Committee on Education
        AN  ACT  to amend the education law and the election law, in relation to
          school session days
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  8  of  section 3604 of the education law, as
     2  amended by chapter 260 of the laws  of  2012,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    8.  No  school shall be in session on a Saturday, general election day
     5  or a legal holiday, except [general election day,] Washington's birthday
     6  and Lincoln's birthday, and except that driver education classes may  be
     7  conducted  on  a  Saturday. A school district may elect to require staff
     8  attendance on a general election  day  or  to  schedule  a  professional
     9  development  day. A deficiency not exceeding four days during any school
    10  year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by superinten-
    11  dents of schools of city school  districts  or  other  school  districts
    12  employing superintendents of schools shall be excused by the commission-
    13  er,  notwithstanding  any  provision  of  law, rule or regulation to the
    14  contrary, a school district may elect to schedule such  conference  days
    15  in  the  last  two  weeks  of  August,  subject to collective bargaining
    16  requirements pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law,  and
    17  such  days shall be counted towards the required one hundred eighty days
    18  of session, provided however, that such scheduling shall not  alter  the
    19  obligation  of the school district to provide transportation to students
    20  in non-public elementary and secondary schools or charter  schools.  The
    21  commissioner  shall  excuse  a deficiency not exceeding four days during
    22  such school year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by
    23  such superintendents, provided that at least two  such  conference  days
    24  during  such  school  year  shall  be dedicated to staff attendance upon
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00503-01-9
        A. 815                              2
     1  conferences providing staff development relating  to  implementation  of
     2  the new high learning standards and assessments, as adopted by the board
     3  of  regents.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law, rule or regu-
     4  lation to the contrary, school districts may elect to use one or more of
     5  such  allowable  conference days in units of not less than one hour each
     6  to provide staff development activities relating  to  implementation  of
     7  the  new high learning standards and assessments. A district making such
     8  election may provide such staff development during the regularly  sched-
     9  uled  daily  session and apply such units to satisfy a deficiency in the
    10  length of one or more daily sessions of instruction for pupils as speci-
    11  fied in regulations of the commissioner. The commissioner  shall  assure
    12  that such conference days include appropriate school violence prevention
    13  and  intervention  training, and may require that up to one such confer-
    14  ence day be dedicated for such purpose.
    15    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
    16  chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
    17    3. A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible  as
    18  a  polling  place if it is situated in the same or a contiguous election
    19  district, and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places  as
    20  public  convenience  may require. The expense, if any, incidental to its
    21  use, shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration  and
    22  voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
    23  a  public  school  building  for such purpose, the board or agency which
    24  controls such building must make available  a  room  or  rooms  in  such
    25  building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
    26  close  as  possible  to  a convenient entrance to such building and must
    27  make available any such room or rooms which the board or body  designat-
    28  ing  such  building  determines  are  accessible  to physically disabled
    29  voters as provided in subdivision one-a of this section. Notwithstanding
    30  the provisions of any general, special or local law, if a board or  body
    31  empowered to designate polling places chooses a publicly owned or leased
    32  building[,  other  than a public school building,] for such purposes the
    33  board or body which controls such building must make available a room or
    34  rooms in such building which are suitable for  registration  and  voting
    35  and  which  are  as  close  as possible to a convenient entrance to such
    36  building, and must make available any such room or rooms which the board
    37  or body designating such building determines  are  accessible  to  phys-
    38  ically  disabled  voters unless, not later than thirty days after notice
    39  of its designation as a polling place, the  board  or  body  controlling
    40  such building, files a written request for a cancellation of such desig-
    41  nation  with  the board or body empowered to designate polling places on
    42  such form as shall be provided by the board or body making  such  desig-
    43  nation. The board or body empowered to so designate shall, within twenty
    44  days  after  such  request  is  filed, determine whether the use of such
    45  building as a polling place would unreasonably interfere with the  usual
    46  activities  conducted  in such building and upon such determination, may
    47  cancel such designation.
    48    § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.