STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5957 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to admission to the specialized high schools in the city of New York The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2590-h of the 2 education law, as amended by chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 (b) all specialized [senior] high schools. The [special] specialized 5 high schools shall include the [present] schools known as[:] 6 The Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn 7 Technical High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music [and 8 the Arts in the borough of Manhattan] & Art and Performing Arts, and 9 such [further] additional schools [which the city board may designate] 10 as may be designated by the chancellor from time to time. The [special] 11 specialized high schools shall be permitted to maintain a discovery 12 program in accordance with the law in effect on the date preceding the 13 effective date of this section; provided that the requirement that a 14 student who is considered for the discovery program attend and pass a 15 preparatory program administered by the specialized high school, demon- 16 strating thereby such student's ability to successfully cope with the 17 specialized high school program, shall refer to a program that can take 18 place during the school year or the summer; admissions to the [special] 19 specialized high schools shall be conducted in accordance with [the law 20 in effect on the date preceding the effective date of this] section 21 twenty-five hundred ninety-h-l of this article; 22 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2590-h of the education 23 law, as amended by chapter 720 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read 24 as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10491-01-5
S. 5957 2 1 (b) all specialized [senior] high schools. The [special] specialized 2 high schools shall include the [present] schools known as[:] 3 The Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn 4 Technical High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music [and 5 the Arts in the borough of Manhattan] & Art and Performing Arts, and 6 such [further] additional schools [which the city board may designate] 7 as may be designated by the chancellor from time to time. The [special] 8 specialized high schools shall be permitted to maintain a discovery 9 program in accordance with the law in effect on the date preceding the 10 effective date of this section; provided that the requirement that a 11 student who is considered for the discovery program attend and pass a 12 preparatory program administered by the specialized high school, demon- 13 strating thereby such student's ability to successfully cope with the 14 specialized high school program, shall refer to a program that can take 15 place during the school year or the summer; admissions to the [special] 16 specialized high schools shall be conducted in accordance with [the law 17 in effect on the date preceding the effective date of this] section 18 twenty-five hundred ninety-h-1 of this article; 19 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2590-h-1 to 20 read as follows: 21 § 2590-h-1. Admissions to the specialized high schools. 1. Admissions 22 to the specialized high schools shall be conducted in accordance with 23 this section, provided that students may also be admitted to the 24 specialized high schools for the two thousand twenty-six--two thousand 25 twenty-seven and the two thousand twenty-seven--two thousand twenty- 26 eight school years pursuant to the discovery program as set forth in 27 section twenty-five hundred ninety-h of this article. 28 2. For the admissions process conducted during the two thousand twen- 29 ty-five--two thousand twenty-six school year to determine admissions to 30 the specialized high schools for the two thousand twenty-six--two thou- 31 sand twenty-seven school year, students who meet the criteria set forth 32 in this subdivision shall be offered admission to the specialized high 33 schools in the following order: 34 (a) students attending public schools located in the city of New York 35 who are in the top three percent of their eighth grade class, as calcu- 36 lated based on multiple measures of student achievement pursuant to 37 subdivision five of this section, and who achieve a composite score 38 above or at the cut-off composite score for the school such students 39 have committed themselves to attend, pursuant to subdivision five of 40 this section, provided that such students shall also rank in the top 41 quarter of public school students in the eighth grade citywide based on 42 such multiple measures of student achievement, and provided further that 43 openings shall be reserved for such students at each specialized high 44 school as set forth in subdivision seven of this section; 45 (b) students in the city of New York who take a competitive, objective 46 and scholastic achievement examination in the eighth grade and achieve a 47 score above or at the cut-off score for the openings that remain in the 48 school for which such students have taken the examination; and 49 (c) students in the city of New York who take a competitive, objective 50 and scholastic examination in the ninth grade and achieve a score above 51 or at the cut-off score for the openings that remain in the school for 52 which such students have taken the examination. 53 3. For the admissions process conducted during the two thousand twen- 54 ty-six--two thousand twenty-seven school year to determine admissions to 55 the specialized high schools for the two thousand twenty-seven--two 56 thousand twenty-eight school year, students who meet the criteria set
S. 5957 3 1 forth in this subdivision shall be offered admission to the specialized 2 high schools in the following order: 3 (a) students attending public schools located in the city of New York 4 who are in the top five percent of their eighth grade class, as calcu- 5 lated based on multiple measures of student achievement pursuant to 6 subdivision five of this section, and who achieve a composite score 7 above or at the cut-off composite score for the school such students 8 have committed themselves to attend pursuant to subdivision five of this 9 section, provided that such students shall also rank in the top quarter 10 of public school students in the eighth grade citywide based on such 11 multiple measures of student achievement, and provided further that 12 openings shall be reserved for such students at each specialized high 13 school as set forth in subdivision seven of this section; 14 (b) students in the city of New York who take a competitive, objective 15 and scholastic achievement examination in the eighth grade and achieve a 16 score above or at the cut-off score for the openings that remain in the 17 school for which such students have taken the examination; and 18 (c) students in the city of New York who take a competitive, objective 19 and scholastic examination in the ninth grade and achieve a score above 20 or at the cut-off score for the openings that remain in the school for 21 which such students have taken the examination. 22 4. For the admissions process conducted during the two thousand twen- 23 ty-seven--two thousand twenty-eight school year and subsequent school 24 years to determine admissions to the specialized high schools for the 25 two thousand twenty-eight--two thousand twenty-nine school year and 26 subsequent school years, students who meet the criteria set forth in 27 this subdivision shall be offered admission to the specialized high 28 schools in the following order: 29 (a) students attending public schools located in the city of New York 30 who are in the top five to seven percent of their eighth grade class, 31 such percentage to be determined to allow openings to remain for admis- 32 sion pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision and as calculated 33 based on multiple measures of student achievement, determined as set 34 forth in subdivision five of this section, and who achieve a composite 35 score above or at the cut-off composite score for the school such 36 students have committed themselves to attend, determined as set forth in 37 subdivision five of this section, provided that such students shall also 38 rank in the top quarter of public school students in the eighth grade 39 citywide based on such multiple measures of student achievement, and 40 provided further that openings shall be reserved for such students at 41 each specialized high school as set forth in subdivision seven of this 42 section; and 43 (b) students in the city of New York who have a minimum grade point 44 average of 3.7, provided such students shall be admitted by a random 45 selection process for the openings that remain in each school. 46 5. The chancellor shall determine the multiple measures of student 47 achievement as referenced in this section, and the weight of each such 48 measure, provided that such measures shall include academic course 49 grades and standardized test scores. A description of such measures and 50 the weight accorded to each shall be made publicly available, including 51 on the website of the city school district. A student who is evaluated 52 based on such measures for the purposes of this subdivision shall be 53 assigned a composite score based on such weighted measures. Offers of 54 admission to the specialized high schools pursuant to paragraphs (a) of 55 subdivisions two through four of this section shall be determined by 56 arranging the composite scores of all students who are assigned such
S. 5957 4 1 scores and who then commit themselves to attend a particular specialized 2 high school in descending order from the highest score and counting down 3 to the cut-off composite score, which shall be the composite score of 4 the last student who receives an offer of admission to such school based 5 on the number of openings available in such school pursuant to such 6 paragraph. 7 6. Offers of admission to the specialized high schools pursuant to 8 paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivisions two and three of this section 9 shall be determined by arranging the scores of all the candidates who 10 took the competitive, objective and scholastic examination and who then 11 commit themselves to attend a particular specialized high school in 12 descending order from the highest score and counting down to the cut-off 13 score, which shall be the score of the last candidate who receives an 14 offer of admission to such school based on the number of openings avail- 15 able in such school. 16 7. The number of openings reserved at each specialized high school for 17 students who meet the criteria set forth in paragraphs (a) of subdivi- 18 sions two through four of this section shall be determined by multiply- 19 ing: (a) the total number of ninth grade available openings at such 20 school; by (b) the number of students who meet the criteria set forth in 21 paragraphs (a) of subdivisions two through four of this section divided 22 by the aggregate number of ninth grade available openings in all the 23 specialized high schools. 24 8. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, admission to the 25 Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, 26 and other schools of the arts that may be established pursuant to 27 section twenty-five hundred ninety-h of this article, shall be deter- 28 mined by a student's demonstrated abilities in music or the arts as well 29 as such student's scholastic achievement. 30 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 31 the amendments to paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 2590-h of 32 the education law made by section one of this act shall be subject to 33 the expiration and reversion of such section pursuant to subdivision 12 34 of section 17 of chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, as amended when upon 35 such date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.