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History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
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Requires school districts to develop a policy limiting the use of school-owned cell phones to school related purposes
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Fred Thiele
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S812
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring public school districts to develop policies limiting the use of district-owned cellular phones
Purpose
Requires school districts to develop a policy limiting the use of school-owned cell phones to school related purposes.
Summary of provisions
The education law is amended by adding a new section 308-a.
Justification
New York State's taxpayers invest more than $39 billion per year for education in New York State. It is an investment that New Yorkers make because of their longstanding commitment to ensuring a quality education for all of their children and because of the recognition of the crucial role that education plays in ensuring the continued vitality of the state.
Because the investment is so important, it is crucial that we do everything we can to ensure that money is spent in a fiscally prudent and financially responsible manner. Unfortunately, recent events have underscored the fact that financial oversight of school districts is woefully inadequate and that fundamental change is required in order to ensure the continued confidence of New Yorkers in their education investment. Audits conducted by the State Comptroller's Office have revealed that some school districts have reimbursement policies for personal usage, while others completely lack policies and make feeble, if any, attempts to recoup monies for personal use of district cellular phones.
Although the Legislature enacted laws to improve the fiscal oversight of school district finances in the 2005 Legislative Session, this legislation did not substantially improve accountability and the use of district automobiles, cellular phones, and credit cards. This legislation will ensure that districts have "use policies" for cell phones and prevent the misuse of such taxpayer funded items. The lack of written policies makes it nearly impossible to ensure that money is being spent according to Board of Education policies and in the best interest of the school district and local taxpayers.
Legislative history
2009-10, S.1076; 2007-08, S.873; 2005-06, S.6665
Fiscal implications
None to state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.