What's happening
This bill requires that students with disabilities who receive extended testing time take no more than one Regents exam per day.
Why it matters
Addresses student well-being. By limiting students with disabilities who receive extended time to one Regents exam per day, the bill aims to reduce stress, fatigue, and cognitive overload that can occur during long testing days—helping ensure fairer assessment conditions.
Targets equity in testing accommodations. The legislation recognizes that simply granting extended time isn’t enough; without scheduling adjustments, students with disabilities may still face unequal burdens compared to their peers.
Balances exam security with student needs. The bill explicitly considers concerns about exam content security, indicating that the legislature weighed the risk of information sharing against the significant mental and physical toll on students.
Could impact school logistics and planning. Schools may need to adjust exam schedules and supervision procedures, potentially requiring more resources or staff to accommodate the new mandate, affecting how Regents exams are administered statewide.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Regents Tests Per Day
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Assembly Member · Assembly District 111
No co-sponsors yet.
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.
Limit Regents Tests Per Day
In Senate Committee · Education · Sponsor Timothy M. Kennedy
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1397
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the administration of exams to students with disabilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that certain students with disabilities are allowed extended testing time according to their individual education program, or perhaps even accommodations provided pursuant to regulations promulgated under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The legislature further finds that these students, as a result of this extended time allowance, are being subjected to ten or eleven straight hours of testing when they are required to take two regents exams on the same date.
The legislature acknowledges the department of education's need for security concerning the substance of the examination. As such, the legislature understands the department's continuing hesitance to allow these students with disabilities to take the exams on days other than which they had been officially scheduled.
However, the benefits of providing these children with respite between each exam far outweighs the potential of one of these students garnering information about the exam from another student who had previously taken the exam. Therefore, it is the intent of this legislature to have the commissioner of education implement a process whereby students with certain disabilities are not required to take more than one regents examination in any given day.
§ 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 319 to read as follows:
§ 319. Examination of students with disabilities. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations establishing guidelines which provide that any child who has extended testing time provisions on his or her indi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02414-01-9
A. 1397 2
vidualized education program, or who receives extended testing time accommodations pursuant to section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is provided an opportunity to only take one regents examination on any given day.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the timely implementation of this act on its effective date are hereby authorized to be made on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.