BILL NUMBER: S5743

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to advance enrollment of
military-connected students

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Relates to advance enrollment of military-connected students.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends Subdivision 18 of Section 3302 of the
Education Law, by adding the definition of a military-connected student,
to mean any student who is the dependent of either a person in the
active military service of the United States or in a full time status
during active service with a force of the organized militia, and makes
technical corrections by adding the United States Space Force to the
list of the military services.
              

Section 2 of the bill adds a new Section 3304-a of the Education Law to
allow a military-connected student whose parent or guardian is being
relocated to the state under military orders to be deemed to be a resi-
dent pupil of a school district for the purposes of enrollment.  A
school district shall permit military-connected students to enroll prel-
iminarily by remote registration without charge and shall not require
the parents or guardians of the military-connected student or the
student himself or herself to physically appear at a location within the
district to register the student, if the parents or guardians present
evidence of military orders. Proof of residency shall be required within
ten days of the student's attendance in the school district.

Section 3 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

About 185 thousand military children move between schools annually, and
may potentially miss important registration and application periods. As
a result, they may have to shift their planned courses of study, which
may require them to take courses during summer school, or even force
them to graduate later than their peers.

Military families transferring on official military permanent change of
station orders are not eligible to register in courses, enroll in
specialized academic programs, or submit their children's names in
random lotteries for charter or magnet school entry until they are phys-
ically located within district boundaries. When children of military
families move as a result of their parents' service, they are often
disadvantaged due to missed deadlines for course and program enrollment
and registration, which commonly occur in the spring.

When military students know which school they will be attending and
their class schedules in advance, they and their families have a sense
of comfort, relieving unneeded stress during their transition between
locations. Advance enrollment helps ease some of the challenges military
pupils face. They do not receive an advantage or priority over other
students. No new online systems are required.  Advance enrollment bene-
fits school districts by reducing the need to make projections regarding
their student population.

Each year, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) identifies ten
key issues for states to support the quality of life for service members
and military families. This legislation enacts the DoD best practices
for advance enrollment, to allow military children access to registra-
tion and enrollment to a school district at the same time it is open to
the general population. New York can best support its 17,000 active-duty
children by joining the 19 other states which have enacted this policy
since it was identified in 2019.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.