What's happening
This bill allows school districts to receive state aid for providing transportation to universal pre-kindergarten students.
Why it matters
Expands access to pre-kindergarten by reducing transportation barriers. By allowing state aid for transporting universal pre-K students, more families—especially those without reliable transportation—may be able to enroll their children in early education programs.
Creates new funding opportunities for school districts. Districts that previously avoided offering pre-K transportation due to lack of funding might now choose to do so, potentially increasing pre-K participation rates and supporting educational equity.
Aligns pre-K with K-12 transportation policy. Treating pre-K transportation costs as “aidable” puts pre-K students on more equal footing with older students, signaling a recognition of the importance of early childhood education in state policy.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
School district trustees and boards of education
The bill would make district-provided transportation for universal pre-K and other district-sponsored or district-run pre-K programs eligible for state transportation aid beginning in the 2021–2022 school year.
Families of children in district pre-K programs
Transportation would remain optional for districts, but districts providing it would have to offer it equally to children in like circumstances within district-set mileage limits.
District-sponsored and district-run pre-K providers
The bill would make transportation costs for their pupils aidable without requiring districts to provide bus service.
Headline styles
Guarantee Pre-K Bus Service
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
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.
Guarantee 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
4409
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 11, 2019
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
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 2021--2022 school year and all school years commencing thereafter.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00988-01-9
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
Purpose or general idea of bill
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
Summary of 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 are aidable.
Section 2: This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the 2018-2019 school year and all years after.
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 uninten- tional 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 Pm-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
2015/16: A1103 2016/17: A1762b
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
To Be Determined
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.