S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6815
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 20, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring persistently
   dangerous schools to file an incident  reduction  plan  detailing  the
   steps  the  school  will  take  to  reduce  incidents  of violence and
   disruption and requiring notice to be given to victims of  harassment,
   bullying,  or  violent  offenses of their right to transfer to another
   public school
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  7  of  section 2802 of the education law, as
 amended by section 8 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of  2017,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   7.  Notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law, rule or
 regulation to the contrary,  any  student  who  attends  a  persistently
 dangerous  public  elementary  or secondary school, as determined by the
 commissioner pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision, or  who  is  a
 victim  of  HARASSMENT  OR  BULLYING, AS DEFINED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION
 SEVEN OF SECTION ELEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, OR a violent criminal  offense,
 as  defined  pursuant  to  paragraph  [b]  C  of  this subdivision, that
 occurred on the grounds of a public elementary or secondary school  that
 the  student  attends,  shall  [be  allowed to attend] HAVE THE RIGHT TO
 TRANSFER TO a safe public school within the [local educational agency to
 the extent required by section eighty-five  hundred  thirty-two  of  the
 Elementary  and  Secondary Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five,
 as amended] SCHOOL DISTRICT.
   a. The commissioner shall annually determine which  public  elementary
 and  secondary  schools  are  persistently  dangerous in accordance with
 regulations of the commissioner developed in consultation with a  repre-
 sentative sample of local educational agencies. Such determination shall
 be  based on data submitted through the uniform violent incident report-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD10458-01-9

 A. 6815                             2
 
 ing system over a period prescribed in the regulations, which shall  not
 be  less  than  two  years,  REPORTS  OF  VIOLENT INCIDENTS AND CRIMINAL
 OFFENSES FROM SCHOOL SAFETY  AGENTS  AND  POLICE  OFFICERS,  REPORTS  OF
 VIOLENT OR HARMFUL CONDUCT BY TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, AND ANY
 OTHER DATA REASONABLY REQUIRED BY THE COMMISSIONER RELATED TO SAFETY.
   B.  EACH  PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL DESIGNATED AS PERSIS-
 TENTLY DANGEROUS PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A OF THIS SUBDIVISION  SHALL,  IN
 THE  SUBSEQUENT  SCHOOL  YEAR,  SUBMIT  TO  THE COMMISSIONER AN INCIDENT
 REDUCTION PLAN DETAILING THE STEPS THE SCHOOL WILL TAKE TO REDUCE  INCI-
 DENTS  OF  VIOLENCE AND DISRUPTION AND REMOVE THE PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS
 DESIGNATION BY THE FOLLOWING SCHOOL YEAR. SUCH PLAN SHALL INCLUDE, AT  A
 MINIMUM, THE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES RECOMMENDED PURSUANT
 TO  PARAGRAPH C OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED ONE-A
 OF THIS ARTICLE. NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  AN
 ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL DESIGNATED AS PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS, AND
 WHICH  REMAINS  ON THE PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS LIST FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE
 YEARS, SHALL BE SUBJECT TO CLOSURE ON JUNE THIRTIETH FOLLOWING THE THIRD
 CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF SUCH PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS DESIGNATION EXCEPT  THAT
 UPON  A FINDING OF GOOD CAUSE, THE COMMISSIONER MAY GRANT SUCH SCHOOL UP
 TO TWO ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC YEARS TO ACHIEVE RESULTS  THAT  WOULD  REMOVE
 THE PERSISTENTLY DANGEROUS DESIGNATION.
   [b] C. Each local educational agency required to provide unsafe school
 choice  shall establish procedures for determinations by the superinten-
 dent of schools or other chief school officer of whether  a  student  is
 the  victim  of HARASSMENT, BULLYING, OR a violent criminal offense that
 occurred on school grounds of the school that the student attends.  Such
 superintendent  of schools or other chief school officer shall, prior to
 making any such determination, consult with any law  enforcement  agency
 investigating  such  alleged  violent  criminal offense and consider any
 reports or records provided by such agency. The  trustees  or  board  of
 education  or  other  governing  board of a local educational agency may
 provide, by local rule or by-law, for appeal of the determination of the
 superintendent of schools to such governing board.  Notwithstanding  any
 other  provision of law to the contrary, the determination of such chief
 school officer pursuant to this  paragraph  shall  not  have  collateral
 estoppel  effect  in any student disciplinary proceeding brought against
 the alleged victim or perpetrator of such violent criminal offense.  For
 purposes  of  this  subdivision, "violent criminal offense" shall mean a
 crime that involved infliction of serious physical injury  upon  another
 as  defined  in  the  penal  law,  a  sex offense that involved forcible
 compulsion or any other offense defined in the penal law  that  involved
 the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon.
   [c]  D. Each local educational agency, as defined in subsection thirty
 of section eighty-one hundred one of the Elementary and Secondary Educa-
 tion Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, that is required to
 provide school choice pursuant to section eighty-five hundred thirty-two
 of the Elementary  and  Secondary  Education  Act  of  nineteen  hundred
 sixty-five,  as  amended, shall establish procedures for notification of
 parents of, or persons  in  parental  relation  to,  students  attending
 schools  that have been designated as persistently dangerous and parents
 of, or persons in parental relation to,  students  who  are  victims  of
 HARASSMENT,  BULLYING,  OR  violent  criminal offenses of their right to
 transfer to a safe public school within the [local  educational  agency]
 SCHOOL  DISTRICT  and procedures for such transfer[, except that nothing
 in this subdivision shall be  construed  to  require  such  notification
 where  there  are  no  other public schools within the local educational

 A. 6815                             3

 agency at the same grade level or such transfer to a safe public  school
 within  the  local  educational  agency  is  otherwise  impossible or to
 require a local educational agency that has only one public school with-
 in  the local educational agency or only one public school at each grade
 level to develop such procedures].  SUCH NOTIFICATION SHALL ALSO INCLUDE
 A LIST OF DESIGNATED SAFE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITHIN THE SCHOOL  DISTRICT  TO
 WHICH  THE  STUDENT MAY TRANSFER, TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, BE PROVIDED
 IN THE DOMINANT LANGUAGE AND MODE OF COMMUNICATION  OF  PARENTS  OF,  OR
 PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION TO, SUCH STUDENTS, AND BE PROVIDED NO LATER
 THAN  TEN  DAYS  AFTER  SUCH  SCHOOL HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS PERSISTENTLY
 DANGEROUS, OR FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF HARASSMENT, BULLYING, OR A
 VIOLENT CRIMINAL OFFENSE, WITHIN  TWENTY-FOUR  HOURS  OF  SUCH  DETERMI-
 NATION.  IF  THERE ARE NO SAFE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITHIN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT
 AT THE SAME GRADE LEVEL, THE NOTIFICATION OF THE RIGHT TO TRANSFER SHALL
 INCLUDE AN OFFER OF ASSISTANCE IN PURSUING OPTIONS OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL
 DISTRICT. The commissioner shall be authorized to adopt any  regulations
 deemed necessary to assure that local educational agencies implement the
 provisions of this subdivision.
   §  2.  This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that
 the amendments to subdivision 7 of section 2802  of  the  education  law
 made  by  section  one  of  this act shall not affect the repeal of such
 subdivision and shall be deemed repealed therewith.