Relates to purchases of food products for school meals from New York state farmers, growers, producers or processors; prohibits sale of school foods containing certain synthetic color additives; establishes a "healthy kitchens, healthy schools program" to provide grants for kitchen upgrades; prohibits school meals from containing more than 25 grams of added sugars per day, in aggregate.
Bill S 7522 mandates that every elementary, middle, and high school in New York City must employ a school librarian. This bill amends existing education law, which currently allows school districts to decide whether to hire a librarian and assigns the role to other teachers if no librarian is present. The change ensures that all K-12 public schools within New York City will have a dedicated school librarian.
Grants school districts the ability to implement telehealth school-based mental health clinics; establishes the student mental telehealth reimbursement fund; relates to funding the student mental telehealth reimbursement fund.
Relates to instruction in food, agriculture and nutrition in elementary and high school; contents may be varied to meet the needs of particular school districts; need not be uniform throughout the state; school districts shall utilize either the curriculum for health education instruction regarding food, agriculture and nutrition prescribed by the commissioner or a course approved by the commissioner in accordance with criteria established by the commissioner.
Relates to establishing full-service community schools to improve student outcomes through a systematic effort designed to coordinate educational programs with essential health, mental health and enrichment services and facilitate parental involvement in their children's education.
Provides an annual tax levy limit allowing for expenditures directly or indirectly related to school safety, including improving district wide emergency response plans, training staff and/or students on school safety and/or conflict mediation, installing and maintaining safety technology and software in school buildings, hiring school resource officers, acquiring emergency medical equipment, installing fencing around the perimeter of school grounds, installing bulletproof doors and windows, acquiring and maintaining technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency.
Requires student onboarding and ongoing education on reproductive health services available to students including where the closest reproductive health clinics are located; all resources available to a student seeking reproductive health services including but not limited to financial assistance and mental health services and any reproductive health resources available to a student through the institution.
Establishes a farm-to-school task force; directs the commissioner of education to develop a program to require all public schools to provide fresh foods to students in a manner that supports local agriculture and increases market opportunities for farmers from under-represented communities.
This bill requires all elementary and secondary school libraries to provide equitable access to both physical resources (like books and technology) and digital resources (like e-books and databases). It mandates that libraries offer flexible access to space and staff for students, teachers, and faculty, and that school districts allocate budgets per student to maintain relevant resources. Districts must annually evaluate libraries using a state-created rubric, and the education commissioner will establish rules for library management and reporting. The law directly affects all public school districts in the state, setting concrete standards for library access and funding.
Relates to instruction in food, agriculture and nutrition in elementary and high school; contents may be varied to meet the needs of particular school districts; need not be uniform throughout the state; school districts shall utilize either the curriculum for health education instruction regarding food, agriculture and nutrition prescribed by the commissioner or a course approved by the commissioner in accordance with criteria established by the commissioner.
