STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9445 IN ASSEMBLY March 14, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAYLOR -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring persistently dangerous schools to file an incident reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce incidents of violence and disruption and requiring notice to be given to victims of harassment, bullying, or violent offenses of their right to transfer to another public school The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 2802 of the education law, as 2 amended by section 8 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law, rule or 5 regulation to the contrary, any student who attends a persistently 6 dangerous public elementary or secondary school, as determined by the 7 commissioner pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision, or who is a 8 victim of harassment or bullying, as defined pursuant to subdivision 9 seven of section eleven of this chapter, or a violent criminal offense, 10 as defined pursuant to paragraph [b] c of this subdivision, that 11 occurred on the grounds of a public elementary or secondary school that 12 the student attends, shall [be allowed to attend] have the right to 13 transfer to a safe public school within the [local educational agency to 14 the extent required by section eighty-five hundred thirty-two of the 15 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, 16 as amended] school district. 17 a. The commissioner shall annually determine which public elementary 18 and secondary schools are persistently dangerous in accordance with 19 regulations of the commissioner developed in consultation with a repre- 20 sentative sample of local educational agencies. Such determination shall 21 be based on data submitted through the uniform violent incident report- 22 ing system over a period prescribed in the regulations, which shall not 23 be less than two years, reports of violent incidents and criminal 24 offenses from school safety agents and police officers, reports of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02707-01-3
A. 9445 2 1 violent or harmful conduct by teachers and administrative staff, and any 2 other data reasonably required by the commissioner related to safety. 3 b. Each public elementary and secondary school designated as persis- 4 tently dangerous pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision shall, in 5 the subsequent school year, submit to the commissioner an incident 6 reduction plan detailing the steps the school will take to reduce inci- 7 dents of violence and disruption and remove the persistently dangerous 8 designation by the following school year. Such plan shall include, at a 9 minimum, the prevention and intervention strategies recommended pursuant 10 to paragraph c of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred one-a 11 of this article. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, an 12 elementary or secondary school designated as persistently dangerous, and 13 which remains on the persistently dangerous list for three consecutive 14 years, shall be subject to closure on June thirtieth following the third 15 consecutive year of such persistently dangerous designation except that 16 upon a finding of good cause, the commissioner may grant such school up 17 to two additional academic years to achieve results that would remove 18 the persistently dangerous designation. 19 [b] c. Each local educational agency required to provide unsafe school 20 choice shall establish procedures for determinations by the superinten- 21 dent of schools or other chief school officer of whether a student is 22 the victim of harassment, bullying, or a violent criminal offense that 23 occurred on school grounds of the school that the student attends. Such 24 superintendent of schools or other chief school officer shall, prior to 25 making any such determination, consult with any law enforcement agency 26 investigating such alleged violent criminal offense and consider any 27 reports or records provided by such agency. The trustees or board of 28 education or other governing board of a local educational agency may 29 provide, by local rule or by-law, for appeal of the determination of the 30 superintendent of schools to such governing board. Notwithstanding any 31 other provision of law to the contrary, the determination of such chief 32 school officer pursuant to this paragraph shall not have collateral 33 estoppel effect in any student disciplinary proceeding brought against 34 the alleged victim or perpetrator of such violent criminal offense. For 35 purposes of this subdivision, "violent criminal offense" shall mean a 36 crime that involved infliction of serious physical injury upon another 37 as defined in the penal law, a sex offense that involved forcible 38 compulsion or any other offense defined in the penal law that involved 39 the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon. 40 [c] d. Each local educational agency, as defined in subsection thirty 41 of section eighty-one hundred one of the Elementary and Secondary Educa- 42 tion Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, that is required to 43 provide school choice pursuant to section eighty-five hundred thirty-two 44 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of nineteen hundred 45 sixty-five, as amended, shall establish procedures for notification of 46 parents of, or persons in parental relation to, students attending 47 schools that have been designated as persistently dangerous and parents 48 of, or persons in parental relation to, students who are victims of 49 harassment, bullying, or violent criminal offenses of their right to 50 transfer to a safe public school within the [local educational agency] 51 school district and procedures for such transfer[, except that nothing 52 in this subdivision shall be construed to require such notification 53 where there are no other public schools within the local educational 54 agency at the same grade level or such transfer to a safe public school 55 within the local educational agency is otherwise impossible or to 56 require a local educational agency that has only one public school with-
A. 9445 3 1 in the local educational agency or only one public school at each grade 2 level to develop such procedures]. Such notification shall also include 3 a list of designated safe public schools within the school district to 4 which the student may transfer, to the extent practicable, be provided 5 in the dominant language and mode of communication of parents of, or 6 persons in parental relation to, such students, and be provided no later 7 than ten days after such school has been designated as persistently 8 dangerous, or for students who are victims of harassment, bullying, or a 9 violent criminal offense, within twenty-four hours of such determi- 10 nation. If there are no safe public schools within the school district 11 at the same grade level, the notification of the right to transfer shall 12 include an offer of assistance in pursuing options outside of the school 13 district. The commissioner shall be authorized to adopt any regulations 14 deemed necessary to assure that local educational agencies implement the 15 provisions of this subdivision. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.