Requires the commissioner of education to establish standards, rules or regulations requiring that all chaperones or volunteers of school trips which involve taking students out of the state or out of the country be trained in first aid and to recognize certain medical emergencies.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4143
SPONSOR: McDonough TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to requiring the commissioner of education to establish standards, rules
or regulations requiring that all chaperones or volunteers of school
trips which involve taking students out of the state or out of the coun-
try be trained in first aid and to recognize certain medical emergencies
PURPOSE:
To require that all chaperones or volunteers of school trips which
involve taking students out of the state or out of the country be in
first.aid and to recognize certain medical emergencies.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends section 305 of the education law by adding
a new subdivision 60 requiring the Commissioner of education in collab-
oration with the commissioner of health to establish standards, rules
and regulations as may be necessary to ensure that chaperones and volun-
teers, of students on an out of the state or out of the country school
sanctioned activity or trip, are trained in first aid and to recognize
and respond to certain medical emergencies and the subdivision defines
chaperone and volunteer for the purposes, of the subdivision.
Section 2 of the bill adds a new subdivision 31 to section 206 of.the
public health law requiring the commissioner of health to assist the
commissioner of education in establishing the aforementioned standards,
rules and regulations.
Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2013; a Seaford High School student tragically passed away on a
school marching band trip to Disneyland in California. In order to
prevent a future tragedy, this bill increases the safety of students by
requiring that standards are established to train the adults, accompany-
ing students on school trips, in first aid to recognize and respond to
certain medical emergencies. Such school trips are specified as out of
the state or out of the country trips because these are circumstances
where parents may not be able to urgently reach their children, in the
event of an emergency.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE .HISTORY:
A3967 of 2022/2023 - Referred to Education
A4708 of 2021/2022 - Held for consideration in Education
A6236 of 2019/2020 - Referred to Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This Act Shall Take Effect Immediately,
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4143
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONOUGH -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation
to requiring the commissioner of education to establish standards,
rules or regulations requiring that all chaperones or volunteers of
school trips which involve taking students out of the state or out of
the country be trained in first aid and to recognize certain medical
emergencies
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 63 to read as follows:
3 63. The commissioner, in collaboration with the commissioner of
4 health, shall promulgate such standards, rules and regulations as may be
5 necessary to ensure that students who are on an out of the state or out
6 of the country school sanctioned activity or trip shall be accompanied
7 by at least one person who is trained in first aid and to recognize and
8 respond to certain medical emergencies at all times while the students
9 are out of the state or out of the country. Such standards, rules and
10 regulations shall provide that chaperones and volunteers of any school
11 sanctioned activity or trip which conveys students out of the state or
12 out of the country shall be trained in first aid and to recognize and
13 respond to certain medical emergencies. The commissioner of health
14 shall assist the commissioner in determining the medical emergencies
15 chaperones and volunteers shall be trained to recognize and respond to.
16 For the purposes of this subdivision, the terms "chaperone" and "volun-
17 teer" shall mean any adult who accompanies students on an excursion out
18 of the state or out of the country, regardless of whether such adult is
19 employed by the school district.
20 § 2. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding a new
21 subdivision 32 to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08429-01-5
A. 4143 2
1 32. The commissioner shall assist the commissioner of education in
2 promulgating standards, rules, and regulations relating to requiring
3 chaperones and volunteers of school sanctioned activities or trips which
4 convey students out of the state or out of the country to be trained in
5 first aid and determining the medical emergencies chaperones and volun-
6 teers shall be trained to recognize and respond to when accompanying
7 students on such trips or activities.
8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
