What's happening
This bill allows schools to close on general election days or use them for staff attendance or professional development instead of instruction.
Why it matters
Increases school flexibility and student safety. By allowing schools to close or hold non-instructional activities on general election days, the bill can help reduce student exposure to high numbers of outside visitors (voters) and ease logistical/safety concerns when schools serve as polling sites.
Enables uninterrupted civic participation. School staff can still be required to attend for professional development or other purposes, ensuring that schools remain accessible for voting without disrupting required staff training or contractual obligations.
Aligns school calendar with community needs. Schools can better coordinate their calendars with local election schedules, potentially reducing transportation conflicts, child care challenges for parents, and operational disruptions caused by the use of schools as polling places.
Clarifies access and use of public buildings for voting. The bill updates language to ensure that public school buildings—like other public buildings—must make suitable spaces available for voting, unless their use would unreasonably disrupt school activities, balancing educational operations with civic responsibilities.
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Who cares
Headline styles
No School on Election Day
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 55
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Let Schools Work on Election Day
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Albert A. Stirpe
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1041
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 6, 2017
Introduced by Sens. FUNKE, AKSHAR, AMEDORE, AVELLA, GOLDEN, HAMILTON, LARKIN, MARCHIONE, VALESKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the election law, in relation to school session days
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 3604 of the education law, as amended by chapter 260 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
8. No school shall be in session on a Saturday, general election day or a legal holiday, except [general election day,] Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday, and except that driver education classes may be conducted on a Saturday. A school district may elect to require staff attendance on a general election day or to schedule a professional development day. A deficiency not exceeding four days during any school year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by superintendents of schools of city school districts or other school districts employing superintendents of schools shall be excused by the commissioner, notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, a school district may elect to schedule such conference days in the last two weeks of August, subject to collective bargaining requirements pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law, and such days shall be counted towards the required one hundred eighty days of session, provided however, that such scheduling shall not alter the obligation of the school district to provide transportation to students in non-public elementary and secondary schools or charter schools. The commissioner shall excuse a deficiency not exceeding four days during such school year caused by teachers' attendance upon conferences held by such superintendents, provided that at least two such conference days during such school year shall be dedicated to staff attendance upon
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04250-01-7
S. 1041 2
conferences providing staff development relating to implementation of the new high learning standards and assessments, as adopted by the board of regents. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, school districts may elect to use one or more of such allowable conference days in units of not less than one hour each to provide staff development activities relating to implementation of the new high learning standards and assessments. A district making such election may provide such staff development during the regularly scheduled daily session and apply such units to satisfy a deficiency in the length of one or more daily sessions of instruction for pupils as specified in regulations of the commissioner. The commissioner shall assure that such conference days include appropriate school violence prevention and intervention training, and may require that up to one such conference day be dedicated for such purpose.
§ 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law, as amended by chapter 694 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
3. A building exempt from taxation shall be used whenever possible as a polling place if it is situated in the same or a contiguous election district, and may contain as many distinctly separate polling places as public convenience may require. The expense, if any, incidental to its use, shall be paid like the expense of other places of registration and voting. If a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses a public school building for such purpose, the board or agency which controls such building must make available a room or rooms in such building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as close as possible to a convenient entrance to such building and must make available any such room or rooms which the board or body designating such building determines are accessible to physically disabled voters as provided in subdivision one-a of this section. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law, if a board or body empowered to designate polling places chooses a publicly owned or leased building[, other than a public school building,] for such purposes the board or body which controls such building must make available a room or rooms in such building which are suitable for registration and voting and which are as close as possible to a convenient entrance to such building, and must make available any such room or rooms which the board or body designating such building determines are accessible to physically disabled voters unless, not later than thirty days after notice of its designation as a polling place, the board or body controlling such building, files a written request for a cancellation of such designation with the board or body empowered to designate polling places on such form as shall be provided by the board or body making such designation. The board or body empowered to so designate shall, within twenty days after such request is filed, determine whether the use of such building as a polling place would unreasonably interfere with the usual activities conducted in such building and upon such determination, may cancel such designation.
§ 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2018.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law and the election law, in relation to school session days
Purpose or general idea of bill
To provide that no school shall be in session on general election day, however, a school district can require staff attendance or a professional development day
Summary of specific provisions
Section one - amends subdivision 8 of section 3604 of the education law, as amended by chapter 260 of the laws of 2012 to add general election day to the list of no school session days
Section two - amends subdivision 3 of section 4-104 of the election law to allow public school buildings to appeal polling place designations
Section three - sets forth the effective date
Justification
In recent years, school safety has become an issue of discussion across the country, with schools in New York putting in a number of safety and security measures to protect students. Many schools are locked to the outside while school is in session so no one can enter without signing in and giving ID. While this is a basic security measure and many schools have even more in place, on general election day in New York, schools are one of the primary locations for voting. The city of New York already makes General Election Day a non-student attendance day, so this bill would expand to cover the entire state. This will not only address the concerns of student safety, but also alleviates the competition for space in the often crowded educational facilities. The Board of Elections sometimes has a difficult time finding appropriate spaces that would be fully accessible to all voters, so by closing schools to students it will open up more options.
Prior legislative history
S.4787A/A.6040B; Referred to Education
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect on January 1, 2018.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.