BILL NUMBER:S6282

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
authorizing the option of assigning community service as an
alternative to suspension of students or in conjunction thereof

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: Allows for the imposition of
community service in place of or in conjunction with suspension

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the education law by adding a new section 3214-a

Section 2 - effective date

JUSTIFICATION:  Under the current law, school principals may impose a
variety of penalties to students who violate the Code of Conduct,
including detentions, in-school suspensions from school, and out-of-
school suspensions from school for a period of up to five (5) days.
Principals have wide discretion in making these determinations.
However, when a student commits a significant violation of the Code of
Conduct that leads to hearing before the Superintendent of Schools,
the only penalty that a Superintendent may impose, if the student is
in fact proven guilty of the violation, is a further suspension of
school. That suspension can be for additional days, weeks or months,
depending on the severity of the violation.
              

Under certain circumstances, it is prudent to remove students from
school in order to protect and preserve the safety and continuity of
the learning environment for other students. However, in many cases a
prolonged absence from school significantly undermines the viability
of the educational program of the suspended students. This is true
even when the students (of compulsory age) are provided an alternative
learning settings (tutoring, etc.) to which that they are entitled.
(School districts are not required to provide alternative learning
opportunities for students who are beyond compulsory age.)
Furthermore, for those students who may not be fully invested in their
schooling, a lengthy suspension from school may in fact be an
incentive to violate a school's Code of Conduct. Thus in some
circumstances, a lengthy suspension from school may be
counterproductive to the overarching goal of schools, to prepare
students to be contributing members of our communities.

It is worthy to mention that under some circumstances, school
districts can work with families to reach an agreement whereby
students must perform community service in addition to or in lieu of a
suspension from school. However, absent such an agreement, a penalty
of community cannot be imposed. Therefore, this change to the law
would provide Superintendents with the discretion to determine the
best course of action with respect to a penalty for each student who
comes before him/her after a serious violation of the district's Code
of Conduct.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: new bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: none


EFFECTIVE DATE: this act shall take effect immediately