What's happening
This bill allows state aid for school districts providing transportation to universal pre-kindergarten students, starting in the 2019–2020 school year.
Why it matters
Expands state financial support. The bill provides state aid for school districts that choose to transport universal pre-kindergarten students, reducing local financial burdens and making transportation more accessible for young families.
Promotes equity in early education access. By making transportation aidable, the bill helps ensure that children from diverse backgrounds and neighborhoods can attend pre-kindergarten, addressing barriers like distance or lack of family transportation.
Aligns pre-K with K-12 funding. Treating pre-kindergarten students as "allowable pupils" for transportation aid brings early childhood programs closer to parity with K-12 funding structures, signaling increased recognition of the importance of early education.
May incentivize district participation. With state aid available, more districts might opt to offer or expand universal pre-K transportation, potentially increasing program enrollment and overall school readiness across the state.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Fund Universal Pre-K Busing
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Print number 5355a
- Amend and recommit to education
- 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.
Universal Pre-K Bus Service
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Patricia Fahy
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5355--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 22, 2017
Introduced by Sens. MARCHIONE, AMEDORE, BONACIC, GALLIVAN, RANZENHOFER, RITCHIE, SEWARD, VALESKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to universal pre-kindergarten school bus transportation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph g of subdivision 1 of section 3635 of the education law, as added by chapter 244 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the trustees or board of education of any school district may, in its discretion, provide transportation for students attending a universal pre-kindergarten program in addition to transportation funded by such program or transportation for students attending another district sponsored or district-run pre-kindergarten program, within mileage limits established by the school district; if provided such transportation shall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing in the district. The cost of providing such transportation shall be a charge upon the district [and]; provided that for purposes of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this [chapter] article, such pupils shall be considered [non] allowable pupils and the costs of their transportation shall [not] be aidable.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the 2019--2020 school year and all school years commencing thereafter.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10770-02-8
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, in relation to universal pre-kindergarten school bus transportation
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1. Amends Section 3635 of the Education Law to state that costs for pupil transportation for the purposes of Universal Pre-Kindergarten and District-sponsored Pre-Kindergarten are aidable.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the 2019-2020 school year and all years thereafter.
Justification
The State currently allows school districts to offer pupil transporta- tion for Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs, but the legislation that authorized this simultaneously prohibited transportation aid reimburse- ment for these services. While some have suggested that this can be achieved at no cost to the school district by route sharing, most programs end at noon whereas the regular school bus routes do not resume until the end of the "normal" school day.
Current law has the unintentional consequence of creating an unfunded mandate on school districts, who must pay for additional routes without reimbursement by the state. It also discourages the expansion of Pre- Kindergarten by creating a major barrier - namely, transportation expenses - for school districts. This bill would ensure that Universal Pre-Kindergarten transportation can be reimbursed like any other pupil transportation service, allowing for the expansion of safe travel to and from beneficial educational programs for the youth of our State.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to the 2019-2020 school year and all years thereafter.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.