Provides for notice of a bedbug infestation in a public school to the guardians of affected students in the school

3 Co-sponsors

• Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.
• Suzi Oppenheimer
• Kevin S. Parker

BILL NUMBER:S4231

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to persons required to be notified of bedbug infestations in certain public schools; and to amend chapter 426 of the laws of 2010, amending the education law relating to directing a city school district having a population of one million or more to provide notice of bedbug infestations in public schools, in relation to the effective date thereof

Purpose

This legislation would amend Chapter 426 of the Laws of 2010 to provide flexibility in notifying parents of students potentially affected by bedbug infestations in certain school districts.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of §920 of the Education Law, as added by Chapter 426 of the Laws of 2010, to provide more operational flexibility. Without these amendments, §920 would require a public school principal in a city school district having a population of 1 million or more to immediately notify all of the students' parents or persons in parental notification of a finding relating to infestation of bedbugs in that school, without regard to case-specific circumstances. This could lead to unnecessary notifications in circumstances where the infested area would not be expected to affect all or most pupils (e.g., self-contained classroom, nurse's office).

This bill provides that, where the Commissioner of Education has adopted regulations delineating circumstances where an infestation would be contained to a subset of the student population, notifications may be limited to the families of those students potentially affected by an infestation. This will enable the district to avoid the expense and confusion resulting from any inappropriate over-notifications. In such cases, the principal would advise the parents' association or PTA of the scope of the notification.

Bill § 1 also amends subdivision 2 of new §920 to ensure that a consistent and informative notice is developed and employed citywide. This notice will be developed with the assistance of city agencies with expertise in this area, and will provide parents with essential information on bedbug detection and proper prevention and control measures.

Bill §2 amends the effective date language of the chapter law adding §920 to clarify a reference to the Commissioner of Education.

Existing law

Without these amendments, §920 would be subject to the interpretation that excessive notification was mandated whether appropriate or not, as discussed above.

Justification

While it is important that the families of students who may have been affected by a bedbug infestation in their school should be informed of this fact and of the measures they should take, it is equally important that the families of students who are not at risk should not be caused needless worry by erroneous and excessive notifications. This bill will provide school principals with necessary guidance to allow targeted notifications to affected students in appropriate cases.

Legislative history

2010: A.11689 Referred to Assembly Education Committee S.8470 Referred to Senate Rules Committee

Fiscal implications

The flexibility added by this legislation will reduce any costs that would otherwise result under §920. Fewer notices will have to be generated and disseminated, and the more targeted nature of the notice will reduce any costs of responding to parents who would have been needlessly concerned about infestations in areas that could not have affected their children.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately, except section 1 shall take effect on July 1, 2011, the same date as Chapter 426 of the Laws of 2010.