NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4409

Senate Bill S4409

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to universal pre-K school bus transportation

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to education
Mar 11, 2019	referred to education

2019-S4409 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5467
Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §3635, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: A8482
2015-2016: A1103
2017-2018: S5355, A1762
2021-2022: S1971, A2660
2023-2024: S5497, A3185

2019-S4409 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to universal pre-K school bus transportation.

2019-S4409 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4409

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
universal pre-kindergarten school bus transportation

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would ensure that Universal Pre-Kindergarten transportation
can be reimbursed like any other pupil transportation service, allowing
for the expansion of safe travel to and from beneficial educational
programs for the youth of our State

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends Section 3635 of the Education Law to state that costs
for pupil transportation for the purposes of Universal Pre-Kindergarten
and District-sponsored are aidable.

Section 2: This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the
2018-2019 school year and all years after.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The State currently allows school districts to offer pupil transporta-
tion for Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, but the legislation that
authorized this simultaneously prohibited transportation aid reimburse-
ment for these services. While some have suggested that this can be
achieved at no cost to the school district by route sharing, most
programs end at noon whereas the regular school bus routes do not resume
until the end of the "normal" school day. Current law has the uninten-
tional consequence of creating an unfunded mandate on school districts,
who must pay for additional routes without reimbursement by the state.
It also discourages the expansion of Pre-Kindergarten by creating a
major barrier - namely, transportation expenses for school districts.
This bill would ensure that Universal Pm-Kindergarten transportation can
be reimbursed like any other pupil transportation service, allowing for
the expansion of safe travel to and from beneficial educational programs
for the youth of our State.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2015/16: A1103
2016/17: A1762b

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To Be Determined

2019-S4409 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4409
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 11, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to universal  pre-kinder-
   garten school bus transportation
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the  educa-
 tion  law,  as  added  by chapter 244 of the laws of 2012, is amended to
 read as follows:
   g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law  to  the  contrary,  the
 trustees  or  board  of  education  of  any  school district may, in its
 discretion, provide transportation for students  attending  a  universal
 pre-kindergarten  program  in  addition to transportation funded by such
 program or transportation for students attending another district  spon-
 sored  or  district-run  pre-kindergarten program, within mileage limits
 established by the school  district;  if  provided  such  transportation
 shall  be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing
 in the district. The cost of providing such transportation  shall  be  a
 charge  upon  the district [and]; PROVIDED THAT for purposes of subdivi-
 sion seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this [chapter]  ARTICLE,
 such  pupils shall be considered [non] allowable pupils and the costs of
 their transportation shall [not] be aidable.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  apply  to  the
 2021--2022 school year and all school years commencing thereafter.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00988-01-9

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