Bill Text: NY S02876 | 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 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-09 - PRINT NUMBER 2876A [S02876 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02876-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2876
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 30, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed 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
    25  conferences  providing  staff  development relating to implementation of
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00503-01-9
        S. 2876                             2
     1  the new high learning standards and assessments, as adopted by the board
     2  of regents. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,  rule  or  regu-
     3  lation to the contrary, school districts may elect to use one or more of
     4  such  allowable  conference days in units of not less than one hour each
     5  to provide staff development activities relating  to  implementation  of
     6  the  new high learning standards and assessments. A district making such
     7  election may provide such staff development during the regularly  sched-
     8  uled  daily  session and apply such units to satisfy a deficiency in the
     9  length of one or more daily sessions of instruction for pupils as speci-
    10  fied in regulations of the commissioner. The commissioner  shall  assure
    11  that such conference days include appropriate school violence prevention
    12  and  intervention  training, and may require that up to one such confer-
    13  ence day be dedicated for such purpose.
    14    § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by
    15  chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
    16    3. A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible  as
    17  a  polling  place if it is situated in the same or a contiguous election
    18  district, and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places  as
    19  public  convenience  may require. The expense, if any, incidental to its
    20  use, shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration  and
    21  voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses
    22  a  public  school  building  for such purpose, the board or agency which
    23  controls such building must make available  a  room  or  rooms  in  such
    24  building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as
    25  close  as  possible  to  a convenient entrance to such building and must
    26  make available any such room or rooms which the board or body  designat-
    27  ing  such  building  determines  are  accessible  to physically disabled
    28  voters as provided in subdivision one-a of this section. Notwithstanding
    29  the provisions of any general, special or local law, if a board or  body
    30  empowered to designate polling places chooses a publicly owned or leased
    31  building[,  other  than a public school building,] for such purposes the
    32  board or body which controls such building must make available a room or
    33  rooms in such building which are suitable for  registration  and  voting
    34  and  which  are  as  close  as possible to a convenient entrance to such
    35  building, and must make available any such room or rooms which the board
    36  or body designating such building determines  are  accessible  to  phys-
    37  ically  disabled  voters unless, not later than thirty days after notice
    38  of its designation as a polling place, the  board  or  body  controlling
    39  such building, files a written request for a cancellation of such desig-
    40  nation  with  the board or body empowered to designate polling places on
    41  such form as shall be provided by the board or body making  such  desig-
    42  nation. The board or body empowered to so designate shall, within twenty
    43  days  after  such  request  is  filed, determine whether the use of such
    44  building as a polling place would unreasonably interfere with the  usual
    45  activities  conducted  in such building and upon such determination, may
    46  cancel such designation.
    47    § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.