NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8502

Senate Bill S8502

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Establishes a New York city grant program for laundry equipment or facilities in certain schools

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee New York City 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 06, 2024	referred to new york city education

2023-S8502 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9509
Current Committee:: Senate New York City Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Add §3641-c, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2025-2026 Legislative Session:: S1760

2023-S8502 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a grant program for New York city's public K-12 schools which are eligible for support provided under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, for the purposes of installing laundry equipment for facilities for use by students and parents or guardians of students.

2023-S8502 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8502

SPONSOR: PERSAUD
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a New
York city grant program for laundry equipment or facilities in certain
schools

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation would establish a pilot program for purposes of grant-
ing certain Title I primary and secondary New York City public schools
to assist with purchasing and installing laundry appliances and equip-
ment where such facilities would assist students residing in emergency
housing and their families, or would ameliorate frequent absenteeism due
to a lack of clean clothes.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 directs the Chancellor of the New York City Department of
Education to establish a competitive grant pilot program for certain

Title I primary and secondary public schools for purposes of installing
laundry equipment for students, parents and guardians with preference
going to those schools providing education to homeless students and or
students experiencing frequent absenteeism due to lack of clean cloth-
ing.

Section 2 establishes various reporting requirements.

Section 3 provides for an effective date of July 1st of the year follow-
ing becoming law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Lack of clean clothing due to unstable housing and economic disadvantage
is gaining recognition as a factor in school absenteeism rates. This
little known cause is often not reported as such to school attendance
officers due to the shame associated with living in poverty.

Lack of clean clothing can lead to absenteeism for a number of reasons.
Students may avoid attending school because they have been bullied for
wearing soiled or stained clothing. Other students may be sent home with
a notice or letter of concern from the school. A student's clothing may
be unclean due to a lack of laundry facilities at or near the student's
home, or because the student is unstably housed or living in an emergen-
cy shelter. The same barriers exist for economically disadvantaged
students that are required to wear uniforms to maintain compliance with
a school dress code.

A number of K-12 schools across the country have installed school-based
laundry facilities wherein students and their parents or guardians can
wash the family's clothing. Providing this service to students and fami-
lies has positively impacted student absenteeism rates. See:  Attendance
Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Chronic Absenteeism in the COVID
Era (2020). Georgetown University, FutureED and Attendance Works.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New legislation.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Dependent upon appropriation.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law.

2023-S8502 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8502
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 6, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. PERSAUD -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on New York City Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  establishing  a  New
   York city grant program for laundry equipment or facilities in certain
   schools
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3641-c
 to read as follows:
   § 3641-C. NEW YORK CITY PILOT GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAUNDRY  EQUIPMENT  OR
 FACILITIES.  THE CHANCELLOR OF THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 SHALL ESTABLISH A PILOT PROGRAM OF COMPETITIVELY AWARDED  GRANTS  WITHIN
 THE  AMOUNT  APPROPRIATED  FOR  SUCH  PURPOSE, TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS SERVING
 GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH  TWELVE,  WHICH  ARE  ELIGIBLE  FOR  SUPPORT
 PROVIDED  UNDER TITLE I OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF
 1965, FOR THE PURPOSES OF INSTALLING LAUNDRY  EQUIPMENT  FOR  FACILITIES
 FOR  USE BY STUDENTS AND PARENTS OR GUARDIANS OF STUDENTS. WHEN AWARDING
 SUCH GRANTS, PREFERENCE SHALL  BE  GIVEN  TO  SCHOOLS  WITH  SIGNIFICANT
 PERCENTAGES OF STUDENTS WHO RESIDE IN EMERGENCY HOUSING AND/OR WHO EXPE-
 RIENCE FREQUENT ABSENTEEISM DUE TO A LACK OF CLEAN CLOTHING.
   §  2.  Eighteen months after the effective date of this act, the chan-
 cellor shall submit a report on the New York city  pilot  grant  program
 for laundry equipment or facilities to the governor, the temporary pres-
 ident  of  the  senate,  the  speaker  of the assembly, the chair of the
 senate education committee, and the  chair  of  the  assembly  education
 committee,  as  well  as  make  the report available on its website. The
 report shall include, but is not limited to: (a) the number  of  schools
 that  were  awarded  funds;  (b)  the number of schools that applied for
 pilot grant but were not awarded funds; (c) the number  of  students  at
 each  school  that  were  awarded   pilot grant funds; (d) the number of
 students at each school that applied for the  pilot  grant  program  but
 were  not awarded funding; and (e) absenteeism and attendance results of
 schools that installed laundry equipment compared to previous years.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14442-01-4

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