New York Assembly Bill A01164 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1164--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON, FAHY, DICKENS, AUBRY, EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to high school diploma requirements The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 60 to read as follows: 3 60. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the 4 commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to require as a 5 condition of awarding a high school diploma to a student, the parent or 6 guardian of such student or, if the student is eighteen years of age or 7 older or legally emancipated, such student, to comply with one of the 8 following: 9 (i) complete and submit the free application for federal student aid 10 (FAFSA) for such student; or 11 (ii) complete a waiver form, created by the department, to be filed 12 with the student's school district indicating that the parent or guardi- 13 an or, if the student is eighteen years of age or older or legally eman- 14 cipated, the student, understands what the FAFSA is and has chosen not 15 to file an application pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (i) of 16 this paragraph. 17 b. Each school district shall be required to report to the commission- 18 er, on the first of July of each year: 19 (i) the total number of completed FAFSAs pursuant to subparagraph (i) 20 of paragraph a of this subdivision for the prior academic year; 21 (ii) the total number of completed waiver forms pursuant to subpara- 22 graph (ii) of paragraph a of this subdivision for the prior academic 23 year; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01528-03-3 
 A. 1164--A 2 1 (iii) the total number of senior year students in the prior academic 2 year; and 3 (iv) the anticipated number of senior year students in the coming 4 academic year. 5 c. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the commis- 6 sioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to require each school 7 district with at least one high school to provide each eligible high 8 school student and, if applicable, his or her parent or guardian any 9 support or assistance necessary for compliance with the rules and regu- 10 lations promulgated pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision. 11 d. The commissioner shall be required to create a uniform waiver form 12 described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph a of this subdivision. Such 13 form shall be made available in the twelve most common non-English 14 languages spoken by limited-English proficient individuals in the state, 15 based on the data in the most recent American Community Survey published 16 by the United States Census Bureau. The commissioner may, in his or her 17 discretion, offer such form in up to four additional languages beyond 18 the twelve most common languages. Such form shall be distributed in 19 English and any additional languages requested by a school district to 20 each school district in this state. School districts shall be required 21 to use the waiver form described in this paragraph when complying with 22 the provisions of this subdivision and shall not be permitted to create 23 their own versions of such form. 24 e. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring 25 each high school to give notice, no less than four times during each 26 school year for high school seniors and no less than two times during 27 each school year for high school juniors, with an explanation to each 28 senior or junior year student of the state-sponsored scholarships, 29 financial aid and assistance available to students attending college or 30 post-secondary education. 31 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July, two years after 32 the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the 33 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 34 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 35 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.