S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 8258 2011-2012 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y June 9, 2011 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation of children residing in a school district in the village of Tuckahoe THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs a, b and e of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of 2 the education law, paragraph a as amended by chapter 69 of the laws of 3 1992, paragraph b as amended by chapter 718 of the laws of 1990, subpar- 4 agraph (i) of paragraph b as amended by chapter 571 of the laws of 1994 5 and paragraph e as amended by chapter 665 of the laws of 1990, are 6 amended to read as follows: 7 a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the operation and 8 maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district 9 for all the children residing within the school district to and from the 10 school they legally attend, who are in need of such transportation 11 because of the remoteness of the school to the child or for the 12 promotion of the best interest of such children. Such transportation 13 shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through 14 eight who live more than two miles from the school which they legally 15 attend and for all children attending grades nine through twelve who 16 live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and 17 shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles, 18 EXCEPT UPON THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING SUCH TRANSPORTATION 19 TO SEVEN MILES, BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE 20 VILLAGE OF TUCKAHOE, the distances in each case being measured by the 21 nearest available route from home to school. The cost of providing such 22 transportation between two or three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN 23 OR fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, shall be considered for the 24 purposes of this chapter to be a charge upon the district and an ordi- 25 nary contingent expense of the district. Transportation for a lesser EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11995-01-1 A. 8258 2 1 distance than two miles in the case of children attending grades kinder- 2 garten through eight or three miles in the case of children attending 3 grades nine through twelve and for a greater distance than SEVEN OR 4 fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, may be provided by the district, and, 5 if provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like circum- 6 stances residing in the district; provided, however, that this require- 7 ment shall not apply to transportation offered pursuant to section thir- 8 ty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this [article] PART. 9 b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school 10 for pupils living within a specified distance from such school shall 11 designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up points and 12 shall provide transportation between such points and such nonpublic 13 schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such 14 nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school. 15 The district shall not be responsible for the provision of transporta- 16 tion for pupils between their home and such pick-up points. The 17 district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if the resi- 18 dence of the pupil is located on an established route for the transpor- 19 tation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided such trans- 20 portation does not result in additional costs to the district. The cost 21 of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpub- 22 lic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense. 23 (ii) A board of education may, at its discretion, provide transporta- 24 tion for pupils residing within the district to a nonpublic school 25 located more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil provided 26 that such transportation has been provided to such nonpublic school 27 pursuant to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately preced- 28 ing three school years and such transportation is provided from one or 29 more centralized pick-up points designated pursuant to this paragraph 30 and that the distance from such pick-up points to the nonpublic school 31 is not more than fifteen miles. PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IN A SCHOOL 32 DISTRICT THAT HAS ADOPTED A RESOLUTION PROVIDING THAT THE MAXIMUM 33 DISTANCE FOR TRANSPORTATION IS SEVEN MILES, PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A OF 34 THIS SUBDIVISION, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY, AT ITS DISCRETION, PROVIDE 35 TRANSPORTATION FOR PUPILS RESIDING WITHIN THE DISTRICT TO A NONPUBLIC 36 SCHOOL LOCATED MORE THAN SEVEN MILES FROM THE HOME OF ANY SUCH PUPIL 37 PROVIDED THAT SUCH TRANSPORTATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO SUCH NONPUBLIC 38 SCHOOL PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE IMMEDIATELY 39 PRECEDING THREE SCHOOL YEARS AND SUCH TRANSPORTATION IS PROVIDED FROM 40 ONE OR MORE CENTRALIZED PICK-UP POINTS DESIGNATED PURSUANT TO THIS PARA- 41 GRAPH AND THAT DISTANCE FROM SUCH PICK-UP POINTS TO THE NONPUBLIC SCHOOL 42 IS NOT MORE THAN SEVEN MILES. The district shall not be responsible for 43 the provision of transportation for pupils between pupils homes and such 44 pick-up points. The cost of providing transportation between such pick- 45 up points and such nonpublic schools shall be an ordinary contingent 46 expense. 47 e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing 48 provisions of this subdivision, a board of education may, at its 49 discretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades kinder- 50 garten through eight between the school such child legally attends and 51 before-and/or-after-school child care locations. For the purposes of 52 this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall 53 mean a place, other than the child's home, where care for less than 54 twenty-four hours a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who 55 attends school within the school district, provided that such place is 56 situated within the school district. This definition includes, but is A. 8258 3 1 not limited to, a variety of child care services such as day care 2 centers, family day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such 3 transportation may be provided for children attending grades kindergar- 4 ten through eight where the distance between the school they legally 5 attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is more than 6 two miles, and may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen miles, 7 EXCEPT UPON THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING SUCH TRANSPORTATION 8 TO SEVEN MILES, BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE 9 VILLAGE OF TUCKAHOE, the distance in each case being measured by the 10 nearest available route from before-and/or-after-school child care 11 locations to the school they legally attend, except that transportation 12 for a lesser distance than two miles or a greater distance than FIVE OR 13 fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, may be provided if transportation for 14 such distances is provided to students between home and school. Where a 15 child receives transportation from a before-school child care location 16 to the school he or she legally attends, such child shall be entitled to 17 receive transportation from the school he or she legally attends to his 18 or her home or to an after-school child care location in accordance with 19 this subdivision. Where a child receives transportation from the school 20 he or she legally attends to an after-school child care location, such 21 child shall be entitled to receive transportation from home to the 22 school he or she legally attends in accordance with this subdivision. 23 Transportation may be provided to any child attending grades kindergar- 24 ten through eight between the school the child legally attends and 25 before-and/or-after-school child care locations upon written request of 26 the parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the first day of 27 April preceding the next school year, provided, however, a parent or 28 guardian of a child not residing in the district on such date shall 29 submit a written request within thirty days after establishing residence 30 in the district and provided further that in order to be considered 31 eligible for such transportation in the nineteen hundred eighty-seven-- 32 eighty-eight school year, such request must be submitted by August 33 first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of transportation to 34 or from before-and/or-after-school child care locations, if provided, 35 shall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing 36 in the district, provided that a board of education furnishing transpor- 37 tation pursuant to this paragraph may limit the provision of such trans- 38 portation to child care locations located within the attendance zone of 39 the school the child attends, and to child day care centers and school 40 age child care programs licensed or registered pursuant to section three 41 hundred ninety of the social services law located anywhere within the 42 school district. The cost of providing such transportation between two 43 or three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS THE 44 CASE MAY BE, shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be 45 a charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation expense shall 46 be eligible for state aid in accordance with [clause] SUBPARAGRAPH one 47 of paragraph b of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of 48 this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a 49 duty upon boards of education to provide transportation to or from 50 before-and/or-after-school child care locations. Nothing in this subdi- 51 vision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to provide to 52 any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school day care 53 location and that child's home. 54 S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 55 the date on which it shall have become a law.