S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9650
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 27, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  O'DONNELL  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  contracts  for  the
   transportation of school children
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the  educa-
 tion  law,  as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a. (1) All contracts for the transportation of  school  children,  all
 contracts  to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district
 that are used for the transportation of school children,  all  contracts
 for  mobile  instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain
 and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a  private  food  service
 management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner,
 who  may disapprove a proposed contract if, in [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S
 opinion, the best interests of the district will  be  promoted  thereby.
 Except  as  provided  in  paragraph  e  of  this  subdivision,  all such
 contracts involving an annual expenditure in excess of the amount speci-
 fied for purchase contracts in the bidding requirements of  the  general
 municipal  law  shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which
 responsibility shall be determined by the  board  of  education  or  the
 trustee  of  a district, with power hereby vested in the commissioner to
 reject any or all bids if, in [his]  SUCH  COMMISSIONER'S  opinion,  the
 best  interests  of the district will be promoted thereby and, upon such
 rejection of all bids, the commissioner shall order the board of  educa-
 tion  or  trustee  of  the  district  to  seek,  obtain and consider new
 proposals. All proposals for such  transportation,  maintenance,  mobile
 instructional  units,  or  cafeteria  and restaurant service shall be in
 such form as the commissioner may prescribe.    Advertisement  for  bids
 shall  be published in a newspaper or newspapers designated by the board
 of education or trustee of the district having general circulation with-
 in the district for such purpose. Such  advertisement  shall  contain  a
 statement of the time when and place where all bids received pursuant to
 such advertisement will be publicly opened and read either by the school
 authorities  or  by  a  person  or  persons designated by them. All bids
 received shall be publicly opened and read at  the  time  and  place  so
              

 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14753-02-4
 A. 9650                             2
 
 specified. At least five days shall elapse between the first publication
 of  such  advertisement  and  the  date so specified for the opening and
 reading of bids. The requirement for competitive bidding shall not apply
 to an award of a contract for the transportation of pupils or a contract
 for  mobile instructional units, if such award is based on an evaluation
 of proposals in response to a request for proposals  pursuant  to  para-
 graph  e  of  this  subdivision. The requirement for competitive bidding
 shall not apply to  annual,  biennial,  or  triennial  extensions  of  a
 contract  nor  shall  the  requirement  for competitive bidding apply to
 quadrennial or quinquennial year  extensions  of  a  contract  involving
 transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses or mobile instruc-
 tional units secured either through competitive bidding or through eval-
 uation  of  proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to
 paragraph e of this subdivision, when such extensions [(1)] (I) are made
 by the board of education or the trustee of a district, under rules  and
 regulations  prescribed  by  the  commissioner,  and,  [(2)] (II) do not
 extend the original contract period beyond  five  years  from  the  date
 cafeteria and restaurant service commenced thereunder and in the case of
 contracts  for  the  transportation  of  pupils,  for the maintenance of
 school buses or for mobile instructional units, that such contracts  may
 be  extended, except that power is hereby vested in the commissioner, in
 addition to [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S existing  statutory  authority  to
 approve or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, [(i)] (A)
 to reject any extension of a contract beyond the initial term thereof if
 [he]  SUCH  COMMISSIONER finds that amount to be paid by the district to
 the contractor in any year of such proposed extension fails  to  reflect
 any  decrease  in  the  regional  consumer  price  index  for  the N.Y.,
 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum-
 ers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve month period; and [(ii)] (B)  to
 reject  any extension of a contract after ten years from the date trans-
 portation  or  maintenance  service  commenced  thereunder,  or   mobile
 instructional units were first provided, if in [his] SUCH COMMISSIONER'S
 opinion,  the  best  interests of the district will be promoted thereby.
 Upon such rejection of any  proposed  extension,  the  commissioner  may
 order  the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain
 and consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The  board
 of  education  or  the trustee of a school district electing to extend a
 contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount
 to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an  amount  not  to
 exceed  the  regional  consumer  price  index  increase  for  the  N.Y.,
 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum-
 ers (CPI-U), during the preceding twelve month period, provided  it  has
 been satisfactorily established by the contractor that there has been at
 least  an  equivalent  increase in the amount of [his] SUCH CONTRACTOR'S
 cost of operation, during the period of the contract.
   (2) (I) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS  SUBDIVISION,  THE
 BOARD  OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH AT LEAST
 ONE MILLION INHABITANTS SHALL INCLUDE IN CONTRACTS FOR  THE  TRANSPORTA-
 TION  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE, WHETHER
 AWARDED THROUGH COMPETITIVE BIDDING OR THROUGH EVALUATION  OF  PROPOSALS
 IN  RESPONSE  TO A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH E OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION, PROVISIONS FOR THE RETENTION OR  PREFERENCE  IN  HIRING  OF
 SCHOOL BUS WORKERS AND PROVISIONS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF WAGES, HEALTH,
 WELFARE,  AND  RETIREMENT  BENEFITS  AND  INDUSTRY TENURE FOR SCHOOL BUS
 WORKERS WHO ARE HIRED PURSUANT TO SUCH PROVISIONS FOR RETENTION OR PREF-
 ERENCE IN HIRING, IN CONNECTION WITH SUCH CONTRACTS.
 A. 9650                             3
 
   (II) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, "SCHOOL BUS WORKER"  SHALL
 MEAN AN OPERATOR, MECHANIC, DISPATCHER OR ATTENDANT WHO IS EMPLOYED BY:
   (A)  A  CONTRACTOR  THAT  WAS  A PARTY TO A CONTRACT WITH THE BOARD OF
 EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN  A  CITY  WITH  AT  LEAST  ONE
 MILLION INHABITANTS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KINDER-
 GARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE, IN CONNECTION WITH SUCH CONTRACT; OR
   (B)  A  SUBCONTRACTOR  OF  A CONTRACTOR THAT WAS A PARTY TO A CONTRACT
 WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY  WITH
 AT  LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL CHIL-
 DREN IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH  GRADE  TWELVE,  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  SUCH
 CONTRACT.
   (III)  WHEN  ANY  SCHOOL  BUS  WORKER GETS LAID OFF FROM THEIR CURRENT
 EMPLOYMENT, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL  DISTRICT  LOCATED  IN  A
 CITY  WITH  AT LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS SHALL CREATE AND MAINTAIN A
 MASTER TENURE LIST OF SUCH LAID OFF OPERATORS, MECHANICS, AND  DISPATCH-
 ERS THAT WERE EMPLOYED AS OF THE LAST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IMMEDIATELY
 PRECEDING  THE  LAYOFF AND A MASTER TENURE LIST OF SUCH LAID OFF ATTEND-
 ANTS THAT WERE EMPLOYED AS OF THE LAST DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IMMEDIATE-
 LY PRECEDING THE LAYOFF ON WHICH SUCH WORKERS SHALL BE PLACED, AS APPRO-
 PRIATE, IN ORDER OF THEIR TENURE IN THE SCHOOL BUS INDUSTRY. AN EMPLOYEE
 ON ANY SUCH LIST SHALL REMAIN ON THE LIST  UNTIL  THE  EMPLOYEE  HAS  AN
 OPPORTUNITY  TO  SELECT  AVAILABLE  WORK.  THE SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY ALLOW
 EMPLOYEES WHO PASS ONCE WHEN IT IS THEIR TURN TO SELECT  AVAILABLE  WORK
 TO  REMAIN  ON  THE LIST. TENURE SHALL BE CALCULATED BASED ON CONTINUOUS
 EMPLOYMENT BY ANY COMPANIES IN THE SCHOOL BUS  INDUSTRY  UNDER  CONTRACT
 WITH  THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT LOCATED IN A CITY WITH
 AT LEAST ONE MILLION INHABITANTS OR ITS SUBCONTRACTORS.  SUCH  COMPANIES
 AND  THEIR  SUBCONTRACTORS  SHALL GIVE PRIORITY IN HIRING FOR NEW, ADDI-
 TIONAL, OR REPLACEMENT SCHOOL BUS WORKERS  TO  THE  INDIVIDUALS  ON  THE
 MASTER  TENURE LIST UNTIL SUCH LIST IS EXHAUSTED. THE MASTER TENURE LIST
 SHALL DETERMINE THE ORDER IN WHICH EMPLOYEES SELECT  AVAILABLE  WORK  IN
 THE  INDUSTRY.    HOWEVER,  UPON  HIRE  FROM THE MASTER TENURE LIST, THE
 EMPLOYEES SHALL GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE  SENIORITY  LIST  OF  THEIR  NEW
 EMPLOYER. EMPLOYEES WHO MOVE FROM EMPLOYER TO EMPLOYER ON THEIR OWN, AND
 HAVE  NOT  FOLLOWED THE WORK, SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE A BREAK IN SERVICE
 AND SHALL NOT HAVE THE PROTECTION  OF  PRESERVATION  OF  WAGES,  HEALTH,
 WELFARE,  AND  RETIREMENT  BENEFITS AND INDUSTRY TENURE. FOR AN EMPLOYEE
 HIRED FROM THE MASTER TENURE LIST, IF THE EMPLOYEE HAS  A  CURRENT  WAGE
 RATE  THAT  IS  HIGHER THAN THE WAGE RATE FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE SUCCESSOR
 COMPANY WITH SIMILAR INDUSTRY TENURE, THE  EMPLOYEE  SHALL  MAINTAIN  AT
 LEAST SUCH WAGE RATE AND BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE WAGE INCREASES.
   (IV)  THE  RETIREMENT  BENEFITS  PROTECTION  FOR THE SCHOOL BUS WORKER
 SHALL APPLY WHETHER THE SCHOOL BUS  WORKER  PARTICIPATED  IN  A  DEFINED
 BENEFIT  PENSION PLAN OR A DEFINED CONTRIBUTION (401(K)) PENSION PLAN OR
 ANY OTHER PLAN, SUCH AS A 457 PENSION PLAN, WHEN EMPLOYED BY THE  SCHOOL
 BUS  WORKER'S  PRIOR  EMPLOYER,  AND  THE  SUCCESSOR  COMPANY SHALL MAKE
 PAYMENTS AS APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAN, BUT WITH THE GUARANTEE  THAT  THERE
 SHALL  BE NO DIMINISHMENT TO THE BENEFITS TO ANY SCHOOL BUS WORKER. SUCH
 SUCCESSOR COMPANY SHALL MAKE SUCH PAYMENTS ON BEHALF OF SCHOOL BUS WORK-
 ERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLAN WHILE EMPLOYED BY
 THE SCHOOL BUS WORKER'S PRIOR EMPLOYER, AS ARE REQUIRED BY SUCH PLAN, SO
 THE EMPLOYEE CONTINUES TO EARN CREDITS TOWARD A  PENSION  IN  SUCH  PLAN
 WHILE EMPLOYED BY SUCH SUCCESSOR COMPANY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.