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History
- Referred to education
Companion bill
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Relates to the statute of limitations for disciplinary procedures against tenured teachers
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Catherine Nolan
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7612
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the statute of limitations for disciplinary procedures against tenured teachers
Purpose
Relates to the statute of limitations for disciplinary procedures against tenured teachers
Summary of provisions
Section one amends subdivision 1 of section 3020-a of the education law to remove exemption language for certain school districts with respect to the statute of limitations period applied to charges of misconduct constituting a crime.
Section two amends subdivision 8 of section 2573 to provide for conforming language for provisions related to the statute of limitations applied to teacher misconduct charges that constitute a crime.
Section three provides the effective date.
Existing law
Education Law §3020-a(1): provides for the filing of charges against a tenured teacher. Prescribes a three year statute of limitations for all claims absent a charge of misconduct constituting a crime. Exempts schools governed by Section 2573 of the Education Law and Section 2590-j of the Education Law.
Education Law §2573(8): prohibits any charges against teachers of the Big 4 school districts to be filed more than three years after of the occurrence of the conduct unless the charge resulted in a conviction for a crime.
Education Law §2590-j(7): prescribes a statute of limitations period consistent with Section 3020-a for an NYC teachers.
Justification
The 3020-a disciplinary process is intended to provide for a comprehensive, yet timely, review of misconduct charges lodged against teachers. The prescribed statute of limitations period for filing a complaint balances the interests of justice with fairness - a three-year period is allowed for all allegations of misconduct, which affords complainants with a reasonable window of time to come forward, while also assuring educators a definitive resolution to cases.
Currently, all school districts except the Big Four (i.e. Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Yonkers) are permitted to bring 3020-a charges after the three-year statute of limitations has expired in cases where an individual has been charged with a crime. The Big Four school districts, however, may not bring charges under 3020-a beyond the statute of limitations unless there has been a conviction of a crime. As a result, the lack of a criminal conviction would prohibit teachers in Big Four school districts who have been charged with a crime to be reviewed under the 3020-a disciplinary process if such charges were brought after three years.
This legislation will make the statute of limitations period for the filing of 3020-a charges uniform for all school districts and will enable them to pursue disciplinary measures against all teachers who have been charged with a crime.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.