S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2402

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 15, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, CASTRO, JAFFEE, ROBERTS, ROBINSON -- read
  once and referred to the Committee on Education

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education law, in relation to transportation of
  children by school districts

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraphs a, b and e of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of
the education law, paragraph a as amended by section 11  of  part  A  of
chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, paragraph b as amended by chapter 718 of
the  laws of 1990, subparagraph (i) of paragraph b as amended by chapter
571 of the laws of 1994 and paragraph e as amended by chapter 665 of the
laws of 1990, are amended to read as follows:
  a. Sufficient transportation facilities (including the  operation  and
maintenance  of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school district
for all the children residing within the school district to and from the
school they legally attend, who  are  in  need  of  such  transportation
because  of  the  remoteness  of  the  school  to  the  child or for the
promotion of the best interest of such children.    Such  transportation
shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through
eight  who  live  more than two miles from the school which they legally
attend and for all children attending grades  nine  through  twelve  who
live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and
shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles,
EXCEPT  UPON  THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING SUCH TRANSPORTATION
TO SEVEN MILES, BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION  OF  A  SCHOOL  DISTRICT,  the
distances  in  each  case  being measured by the nearest available route
from home to school. The cost of providing such  transportation  between
two  or  three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS
THE CASE MAY BE, shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to
be a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of  the
district.  Transportation  for  a  lesser distance than two miles in the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05064-01-3
              

A. 2402                             2

case of children attending grades kindergarten through  eight  or  three
miles  in  the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and
for a greater distance than SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY  BE,
may  be  provided  by  the  district  with the approval of the qualified
voters, and, if provided, shall be offered equally to  all  children  in
like  circumstances  residing  in  the district; provided, however, that
this requirement shall not apply to transportation offered  pursuant  to
section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of this [article] PART.
  b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school
for  pupils  living  within  a specified distance from such school shall
designate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up  points  and
shall  provide  transportation  between  such  points and such nonpublic
schools for students residing in the district who live too far from such
nonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.
The district shall not be responsible for the provision  of  transporta-
tion  for  pupils  between  their  home  and  such pick-up points.   The
district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if  the  resi-
dence  of the pupil is located on an established route for the transpor-
tation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided  such  trans-
portation  does not result in additional costs to the district. The cost
of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such nonpub-
lic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.
  (ii) A board of education may, at its discretion, provide  transporta-
tion  for  pupils  residing  within  the  district to a nonpublic school
located more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil provided
that such transportation has been  provided  to  such  nonpublic  school
pursuant  to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately preced-
ing three school years and such transportation is provided from  one  or
more  centralized  pick-up  points designated pursuant to this paragraph
and that the distance from such pick-up points to the  nonpublic  school
is  not  more  than fifteen miles.   PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IN A SCHOOL
DISTRICT THAT HAS  ADOPTED  A  RESOLUTION  PROVIDING  THAT  THE  MAXIMUM
DISTANCE  FOR  TRANSPORTATION IS SEVEN MILES, PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A OF
THIS SUBDIVISION, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY, AT ITS DISCRETION, PROVIDE
TRANSPORTATION FOR PUPILS RESIDING WITHIN THE DISTRICT  TO  A  NONPUBLIC
SCHOOL  LOCATED  MORE  THAN  SEVEN MILES FROM THE HOME OF ANY SUCH PUPIL
PROVIDED THAT SUCH TRANSPORTATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED  TO  SUCH  NONPUBLIC
SCHOOL  PURSUANT  TO THIS SUBDIVISION IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE IMMEDIATELY
PRECEDING THREE SCHOOL YEARS AND SUCH TRANSPORTATION  IS  PROVIDED  FROM
ONE OR MORE CENTRALIZED PICK-UP POINTS DESIGNATED PURSUANT TO THIS PARA-
GRAPH AND THAT DISTANCE FROM SUCH PICK-UP POINTS TO THE NONPUBLIC SCHOOL
IS  NOT MORE THAN SEVEN MILES. The district shall not be responsible for
the provision of transportation for pupils between pupils homes and such
pick-up points. The cost of providing transportation between such  pick-
up  points  and  such  nonpublic schools shall be an ordinary contingent
expense.
  e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant  to  the  foregoing
provisions  of  this  subdivision,  a  board  of  education  may, at its
discretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades kinder-
garten through eight between the school such child legally  attends  and
before-and/or-after-school  child  care  locations.  For the purposes of
this subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall
mean a place, other than the child's home,  where  care  for  less  than
twenty-four  hours  a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who
attends school within the school district, provided that such  place  is
situated  within  the  school district. This definition includes, but is

A. 2402                             3

not limited to, a variety of  child  care  services  such  as  day  care
centers,  family  day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such
transportation may be provided for children attending grades  kindergar-
ten  through  eight  where  the distance between the school they legally
attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is more  than
two  miles,  and  may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen miles,
EXCEPT UPON THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING  SUCH  TRANSPORTATION
TO  SEVEN  MILES,  BY  THE  BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT, the
distance in each case being measured by the nearest available route from
before-and/or-after-school child  care  locations  to  the  school  they
legally  attend,  except  that transportation for a lesser distance than
two miles or a greater distance than SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS THE CASE
MAY BE, may be provided if transportation for such distances is provided
to students between home and school. Where a child receives  transporta-
tion  from  a  before-school child care location to the school he or she
legally attends, such child shall be entitled to receive  transportation
from  the  school  he or she legally attends to his or her home or to an
after-school child care location in accordance  with  this  subdivision.
Where  a child receives transportation from the school he or she legally
attends to an after-school child care  location,  such  child  shall  be
entitled  to  receive  transportation  from home to the school he or she
legally attends in accordance with this subdivision. Transportation  may
be  provided  to  any  child attending grades kindergarten through eight
between the school the child legally  attends  and  before-and/or-after-
school  child care locations upon written request of the parent or legal
guardian submitted not later than the first day of April  preceding  the
next school year, provided, however, a parent or guardian of a child not
residing  in  the  district  on such date shall submit a written request
within thirty days after establishing  residence  in  the  district  and
provided further that in order to be considered eligible for such trans-
portation  in  the  nineteen  hundred  eighty-seven--eighty-eight school
year, such request must be submitted by August first,  nineteen  hundred
eighty-seven.  The provision of transportation to or from before-and/or-
after-school child care locations, if provided, shall be offered equally
to all children in like circumstances residing in the district, provided
that a board of education furnishing  transportation  pursuant  to  this
paragraph  may  limit the provision of such transportation to child care
locations located within the attendance zone of  the  school  the  child
attends,  and  to  child  day  care  centers  and  school age child care
programs licensed or registered pursuant to section three hundred ninety
of the social services law located anywhere within the school  district.
The cost of providing such transportation between two or three miles, as
the  case  may be, and SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY BE, shall
be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be a charge  upon  the
district.  Such  substitute transportation expense shall be eligible for
state aid in accordance with [clause] SUBPARAGRAPH one of paragraph b of
subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two  of  this  [chapter]
ARTICLE.    Nothing  in  this subdivision shall be construed to impose a
duty upon boards of education  to  provide  transportation  to  or  from
before-and/or-after-school  child care locations. Nothing in this subdi-
vision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to provide to
any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school  day  care
location and that child's home.
  S  2.  Paragraph  a  of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education
law, as amended by chapter 69 of the laws of 1992, is  amended  to  read
as follows:

A. 2402                             4

  a.  Sufficient  transportation facilities (including the operation and
maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school  district
for all the children residing within the school district to and from the
school  they  legally  attend,  who  are  in need of such transportation
because  of  the  remoteness  of  the  school  to  the  child or for the
promotion of the best interest of  such  children.  Such  transportation
shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through
eight  who  live  more than two miles from the school which they legally
attend and for all children attending grades  nine  through  twelve  who
live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and
shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles,
EXCEPT  UPON  THE ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION, LIMITING SUCH TRANSPORTATION
TO SEVEN MILES, BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION  OF  A  SCHOOL  DISTRICT,  the
distances  in  each  case  being measured by the nearest available route
from home to school. The cost of providing such  transportation  between
two  or  three miles, as the case may be, and SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS
THE CASE MAY BE, shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to
be a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of  the
district.    Transportation  for a lesser distance than two miles in the
case of children attending grades kindergarten through  eight  or  three
miles  in  the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and
for a greater distance than SEVEN OR fifteen miles, AS THE CASE MAY  BE,
may  be  provided  by  the  district, and, if provided, shall be offered
equally to all children in like circumstances residing in the  district;
provided,  however, that this requirement shall not apply to transporta-
tion offered pursuant to section  thirty-six  hundred  thirty-five-b  of
this [article] PART.
  S  3.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law; provided that  the  amend-
ments  to  paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education
law made by section one of this act shall be subject to  the  expiration
and  reversion  of  such  paragraph  pursuant to section 13 of part A of
chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, when upon such date  the  provisions  of
section two of this act shall take effect.