Requires a school bus attendant or school bus monitor on all school buses transporting students in kindergarten through sixth grade to or from school or to or from any school related activity.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3566
SPONSOR: Burke TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring a
school bus attendant or school bus monitor on all school buses
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This measure aims to ensure the safety of school children as they board
and disembark from school buses by requiring the presence of an adult
school bus attendant or monitor. These monitors will oversee students as
they cross the road, maintain a safe distance from the bus and other
vehicles, and ensure they safely reach their destination off the road-
way.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This legislation will require a school bus driver attendant or monitor
to be on all school buses operating in New York State, while transport-
ing students in grades K-6, to ensure that school children safely reach
their destination. As the bus comes to the stop the school bus driver
attendant or monitor will exit the bus with the child or children and
help them safely cross the street. Such assistant will then re-board
the bus and follow the same routine at each stop along the route.
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
the greatest risk for children who ride a school bus to and from school
is when they approach the bus and when they exit the bus. The NHTSA also
notes that while every state in America has a law making it illegal to
pass a school bus that is stopped with its red lights flashing and stop-
arm extended to load or unload students, many motorists simply choose to
ignore the law. It is estimated that in New York State, 50,000 motor
vehicles illegally pass school buses every day. While education and
enforcement efforts can help curb these behaviors, this staggering
figure clearly underscores the need for additional actions to ensure
that our school children make it to school and back home safely. Recent-
ly, a more disturbing trend has emerged whereby motorists have been
passing stopped buses on the shoulder of the road - where children enter
and exit the bus. This legislation will help prevent further injuries
and fatalities from occurring by ensuring that a responsible adult is
helping these students on and off the bus and is looking out for danger-
ous drivers who choose to disregard the law by passing a stopped school
bus. School bus monitors will also be able to ensure the safety of all
students who ride the bus by monitoring students and making sure they
are behaving and abiding by the rules. Having an attendant on board
every school bus that is transporting children will ensure the safety
and well-being of our children.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
05/16/23 referred to transportation
01/03/24 referred to transportation
A.8245 of 2019-2020A.1719 of 2007-2008
A.1913 of 2005-06A.322 of 2003-04
A.1792/2687 of 2001-02A.266/S.579 of 1999-00
A.2740/S.1827 of 1997-98A.4984/S.2931 of 1995-96
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
July 1, 2025
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3566
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring a
school bus attendant or school bus monitor on all school buses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1229-d of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as added by chapter 675 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 (1) (a) Every school bus operating in this state, which is transport-
5 ing students in kindergarten through sixth grade to or from school or to
6 or from any school related activity, shall have either a school bus
7 attendant or school bus monitor on board.
8 (b) The school bus attendant required by this section shall, in addi-
9 tion to keeping order on the bus, assist any child under the age of
10 thirteen, or any student with a disability with boarding and leaving the
11 bus and by crossing the street with the child where necessary.
12 (c) "School bus attendant" shall mean a person employed or authorized
13 by a school district to ride on a school bus as defined in paragraph (a)
14 of subdivision one of section five hundred nine-a of this chapter for
15 the purpose of maintaining order [or] and rendering assistance to
16 [pupils with special needs] students, including any student with a disa-
17 bility.
18 (d) "School bus monitor" shall mean any person employed or authorized
19 by a school district to ride on a school bus as defined in paragraph (a)
20 of subdivision one of section five hundred nine-a of this chapter for
21 the purpose of assisting children to safely embark and disembark from a
22 school bus which is owned, leased or contracted for by a public school
23 district or board of cooperative educational services, and for the
24 purpose of assisting the school bus driver with maintaining proper
25 student behavior on such school bus.
26 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
27 the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03542-01-5
