Bill Text: NY A06576 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to pendency placements in a school district in a city having a population of one million or more.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-03 - REFERRED TO RULES [A06576 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06576-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6576--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 19, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to pendency placements in
          a school district in a city having a population of one million or more

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1.  Section 4404 of the education law is amended by  adding  a
     2  new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
     3    1-a.  a.  Notwithstanding    any other provision of law, rule or regu-
     4  lation to the contrary, in a school district in a city  having  a  popu-
     5  lation    of   one million   or   more, the parent or person in parental
     6  relation shall be entitled to the presumption that the school identified
     7  in a settlement agreement entered on or after the effective date of this
     8  subdivision is the student's operative placement  for  the  purposes  of
     9  pendency  until  there  is an intervening, pendency-changing event (that
    10  is, an actual agreement of the parties; an  unappealed  decision  by  an
    11  impartial  hearing  officer; a decision of the state review officer that
    12  agrees with the parents as to  the  appropriateness  of  their  proposed
    13  change  in  placement;  or a determination by a court on appeal from the
    14  decision of a state review officer) or a program offered by  the  school
    15  district  and  not  challenged  by the parent. Each child's IEP shall be
    16  reviewed  periodically,  but  not  less  frequently  than  annually,  as
    17  required  by  20  U.S.C. 1414(d)(4)(A)(i). Pendency payments for tuition
    18  shall be made prospectively and shall be made for amounts not less  than
    19  two  months'  worth of tuition or the remaining balance on the contract,
    20  whichever is smaller, provided that  the  initial  tuition  payment  may
    21  include  retroactive  payments.  Pendency  payments,  as provided for in
    22  subdivision four of this section, shall continue uninterrupted while the
    23  appeal is pending. If the child is moved into a program offered  by  the
    24  school  district during the school year, or the child is no longer enti-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08863-05-1

        A. 6576--A                          2

     1  tled to receive all the services that the child had been receiving  from
     2  the  non-public  school,  the  child's  parents shall not be required to
     3  repay any of the tuition reimbursement received prior  to  such  change,
     4  provided  the  cost  of  services  that  would have been provided by the
     5  school district had the child been attending public school is  the  same
     6  or  greater than the cost of the services that were actually provided to
     7  the student by the non-public school.
     8    b. Where a claim for tuition for a school year commencing in two thou-
     9  sand nineteen or earlier has been filed pursuant to this section  on  or
    10  before June thirtieth, two thousand twenty and remains pending and time-
    11  ly,  the  local educational agency of a city having a population of over
    12  one million shall, on or before September first,  two  thousand  twenty-
    13  two,  make all reasonable efforts to finalize a settlement or inform the
    14  parent or person in parental relation, or their representative, that  it
    15  has  not  been  able  to  settle  the  claim.  Nothing in this act shall
    16  preclude parties from reaching a settlement after September  first,  two
    17  thousand  twenty-two.    Any  settlements  for  tuition, including those
    18  already settled, shall include a schedule for  payments,  the  first  of
    19  which  shall begin no later than sixty days after the latter of the date
    20  the settlement is fully executed or receipt of  documentation  necessary
    21  for  payment, and the remainder of which shall be completed within sixty
    22  days of receipt of any documentation necessary for payment.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.
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