Clarifies the responsibility of school districts for certain temporary-resident preschool children with disabilities who are in foster care, are homeless or are in residential care.
Directs the commissioner to convene statewide and regional conventions to bring together underrepresented educators annually to discuss experiences, best practices, and afford for networking, mentorship opportunities, and support.
Exempts school district providers of special services or programs for preschool students with disabilities from having to obtain program approval from the commissioner of education.
Provides that for the purposes of educational leave, an eligible incarcerated individual shall include an incarcerated individual who is within two years of being an eligible incarcerated individual.
S 16, "Jacobe's Law," requires school staff to contact parents or guardians when bullying or harassment is confirmed involving a student. School counselors, principals, or other designated staff must first discuss with the student whether contacting parents would raise health, safety, or privacy concerns before making reasonable efforts to notify them via phone, email, or mail. The law also protects individuals who report bullying or harassment in good faith from retaliation or legal liability. This affects students involved in such incidents, their parents/guardians, and school staff responsible for handling reports.
This bill authorizes Salamanca City School District to create a reserve fund (capped at $5 million) using existing district funds if federal impact aid decreases. The fund would stabilize school tax levies and maintain educational services if federal aid is reduced, directly affecting Salamanca students and taxpayers. Voter approval via a separate ballot question is required before establishing the fund, and withdrawals would be disclosed in annual budget reports. The bill specifies that funds would be drawn from unassigned balances or other existing reserves, not new taxes.
Requires any state aid owed to a school district from a prior year adjustment be paid as part of the first state aid payment of the following school year following the notification of such payments.
Enacts the "go green schools act" to assist school districts in converting to renewable energy sources as a primary source of energy; directs NYSERDA to conduct a study and make recommendations for such purpose.
Establishes a competitive emergency mapping grant program which will provide grants to school districts or boards of cooperative educational services to upgrade their floor plans, blueprints, schematics or other maps of their school interior, school grounds and road maps of the immediate surrounding area included in their building level emergency response plans.
S 523 requires New York school districts to be reimbursed for actual costs incurred when conducting studies mandated by the education department to approve reorganization (such as mergers, consolidations, or annexations). It directly affects school districts undergoing reorganization that are eligible for state aid under existing law. The bill establishes a reimbursement mechanism for these study expenses, contingent on the state making a specific budget appropriation for this purpose. If no appropriation is made by the effective date, the law delays implementation until funds are secured, with formal notifications required to track this process.
