S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        595--A
           Cal. No. 513
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                      (PREFILED)
                                    January 5, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sens.  FUSCHILLO, AVELLA, GOLDEN, HANNON, LARKIN -- read
         twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
         Committee on Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in
         accordance  with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said
         committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- reported favor-
         ably from said committee, ordered to first and second report,  ordered
         to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place
         in the order of third reading
       AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the transportation of
         children residing in a school district
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the educa-
    2  tion law, as amended by section 11 of part A of chapter 97 of  the  laws
    3  of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
    4    a.  Sufficient  transportation facilities (including the operation and
    5  maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be provided by the school  district
    6  for all the children residing within the school district to and from the
    7  school  they  legally  attend,  who  are  in need of such transportation
    8  because of the remoteness  of  the  school  to  the  child  or  for  the
    9  promotion  of  the  best interest of such children.  Such transportation
   10  shall be provided for all children attending grades kindergarten through
   11  eight who live more than two miles from the school  which  they  legally
   12  attend  and  for  all  children attending grades nine through twelve who
   13  live more than three miles from the school which they legally attend and
   14  shall be provided for each such child up to a distance of fifteen miles,
   15  the distances in each case being measured by the nearest available route
   16  from home to school. The cost of providing such  transportation  between
   17  two  or  three  miles,  as  the  case may be, and fifteen miles shall be
   18  considered for the purposes of this chapter to  be  a  charge  upon  the
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD00468-05-2
S. 595--A 2 1 district and an ordinary contingent expense of the district. Transporta- 2 tion for a lesser distance than two miles in the case of children 3 attending grades kindergarten through eight or three miles in the case 4 of children attending grades nine through twelve and for a greater 5 distance than fifteen miles may be provided by the district with the 6 approval of the qualified voters, and, if provided, shall be offered 7 equally to all children in like circumstances residing in the district; 8 provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to transporta- 9 tion offered pursuant to section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-b of 10 this article; PROVIDED FURTHER THAT THIS REQUIREMENT SHALL NOT APPLY TO 11 TRANSPORTATION THAT MAY, UPON A RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF 12 EDUCATION OR TRUSTEES OF ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT, BE OFFERED ON AN EQUITABLE 13 BASIS TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION FOR A LESSER DISTANCE THAN WHAT IS 14 REQUIRED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION TO CHILDREN WHO HAVE A PARENT OR 15 LEGAL GUARDIAN WITH A PHYSICALLY LIMITING IMPAIRMENT WHICH PROHIBITS 16 SUCH PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN FROM ACCOMPANYING THEIR CHILD TO OR FROM 17 SCHOOL, AS CERTIFIED BY THEIR PHYSICIAN, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT OR NURSE 18 PRACTITIONER. 19 S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 20 the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, that the amend- 21 ments to paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education 22 law made by section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of 23 such paragraph and shall be deemed to expire therewith.