S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3688
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  FELDER -- 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 residency requirements
   for certain charter schools
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  2 of section 2854 of the
 education law, as amended by section 3 of subpart A of part B of chapter
 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   (b) Any child who is qualified under the laws of this state for admis-
 sion to a public school is qualified for admission to a charter  school,
 PROVIDED  THAT  IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE, SUCH
 CHILD LIVES WITHIN A FIVE MILE RADIUS OF SUCH CHARTER SCHOOL.   Applica-
 tions  for admission to a charter school shall be submitted on a uniform
 application form created by the department and shall be  made  available
 by  a  charter school in languages predominately spoken in the community
 in which such charter school is located. The school  shall  enroll  each
 eligible  student  who  submits a timely application by the first day of
 April each year, unless the number of applications exceeds the  capacity
 of  the  grade  level  or  building.  In  such  cases, students shall be
 accepted from among applicants by a random selection process,  provided,
 however,  that  an  enrollment  preference  shall  be provided to pupils
 returning to the charter school in the second or any subsequent year  of
 operation  and pupils residing in the school district in which the char-
 ter school is located, OR IN THE CASE OF A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE
 MILLION OR MORE, PUPILS RESIDING WITHIN A FIVE MILE RADIUS OF SUCH CHAR-
 TER SCHOOL, and siblings of  pupils  already  enrolled  in  the  charter
 school.  Preference may also be provided to children of employees of the
 charter school or charter management organization,  provided  that  such
 children of employees may constitute no more than fifteen percent of the
 charter  school's  total  enrollment.  The  commissioner shall establish
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD08231-01-1

 S. 3688                             2
 
 regulations to require  that  the  random  selection  process  conducted
 pursuant  to  this paragraph be performed in a transparent and equitable
 manner and to require that the time and place of  the  random  selection
 process  be  publicized  in a manner consistent with the requirements of
 section one hundred four of the public officers law and be open  to  the
 public.  For  the purposes of [this paragraph and] paragraph (a) of this
 subdivision, the school district in which the charter school is  located
 shall  mean,  for  the city school district of the city of New York, the
 community district in which the charter school is located.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.