Relates to the imposition of community service for students in place of or in conjunction with suspension

9 Co-sponsors

• Neil D. Breslin
• John A. DeFrancisco
• Kenneth P. LaValle
• Kathleen A. Marchione
• George D. Maziarz
• Velmanette Montgomery
• Ted O'Brien
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• Cecilia Tkaczyk

BILL NUMBER:S6282

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the option of assigning community service as an alternative to suspension of students or in conjunction thereof

Purpose or general idea of bill

Allows for the imposition of community service in place of or in conjunction with suspension

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: Amends the education law by adding a new section 3214-a

Section 2 - effective date

Justification

Under the current law, school principals may impose a variety of penalties to students who violate the Code of Conduct, including detentions, in-school suspensions from school, and out-of- school suspensions from school for a period of up to five (5) days. Principals have wide discretion in making these determinations. However, when a student commits a significant violation of the Code of Conduct that leads to hearing before the Superintendent of Schools, the only penalty that a Superintendent may impose, if the student is in fact proven guilty of the violation, is a further suspension of school. That suspension can be for additional days, weeks or months, depending on the severity of the violation.

Under certain circumstances, it is prudent to remove students from school in order to protect and preserve the safety and continuity of the learning environment for other students. However, in many cases a prolonged absence from school significantly undermines the viability of the educational program of the suspended students. This is true even when the students (of compulsory age) are provided an alternative learning settings (tutoring, etc.) to which that they are entitled. (School districts are not required to provide alternative learning opportunities for students who are beyond compulsory age.) Furthermore, for those students who may not be fully invested in their schooling, a lengthy suspension from school may in fact be an incentive to violate a school's Code of Conduct. Thus in some circumstances, a lengthy suspension from school may be counterproductive to the overarching goal of schools, to prepare students to be contributing members of our communities.

It is worthy to mention that under some circumstances, school districts can work with families to reach an agreement whereby students must perform community service in addition to or in lieu of a suspension from school. However, absent such an agreement, a penalty of community cannot be imposed. Therefore, this change to the law would provide Superintendents with the discretion to determine the best course of action with respect to a penalty for each student who comes before him/her after a serious violation of the district's Code of Conduct.

Prior legislative history

new bill

Fiscal implications

none

Effective date

this act shall take effect immediately