NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3600
SPONSOR: Fahy TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the dates for attend-
ance of minors upon full day instruction
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation amends the education law by phasing in over a three
year period the age a minor is required to be in order to begin attend-
ing school.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the
education law, as amended by chapter 518 of the laws of 1993
Section 2 amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the
education law as amended by section one of this act.
Section 3 amends paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the
education law, as amended by section two of this act.
JUSTIFICATION:
Children who are four when they begin Kindergarten are often too young
developmentally for a kindergarten education program and struggle
academically as a result. The negative impact of having a poor start to
their education may be long lasting and can affect their future academic
progress. This legislation amends the education law by phasing in over a
three year period the age a minor is required to be in order to begin
attending school. In New York State, children are not required by law to
attend school until age six and currently must turn six before December
1st. This bill changes the month gradually, over a period of three
years, to September 1st to ensure that children are slightly older and
more mature before starting school.
Though New York State law states that children must begin school by age
six, most school districts provide a kindergarten program to five year
olds or children about to turn five. Many children who turn five after
September 1st are not as ready for school developmentally, as compared
to children who turn five before September 1st and, as a result, suffer
long term educational challenges. The bill corrects this by gradually
phasing in a September 1st cut-off date for children turning six. This
will result in local school districts setting an earlier cut-off date to
be phased in for five year olds entering kindergarten that corresponds
to the state's legal requirement for when six year olds must begin
school.
The bill would require that in the first year of implementation the
child would have to be six on or before November 1s1, during the second
year the child would have to be six on or before October 1st, and in the
third year the child would have to be six on or before September 1st
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
to be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect July 1, 2016; provided, however, section two
of this act shall take effect July 1, 2017; and, provided further,
section three of this act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3600
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FAHY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the dates for attend-
ance of minors upon full day instruction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the educa-
2 tion law, as amended by chapter 518 of the laws of 1993, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 c. For purposes of this article, a minor who becomes six years of age
5 on or before the first of [December] November in any school year shall
6 be required to attend upon full time instruction from the first day that
7 the appropriate public schools are in session in September of such
8 school year, and a minor who becomes six years of age after the first of
9 [December] November in any school year shall be required to attend upon
10 full time instruction from the first day of session in the following
11 September; and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of
12 this section, shall be required to remain in attendance until the last
13 day of session in the school year in which the minor becomes sixteen
14 years of age.
15 § 2. Paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the education
16 law, as amended by section one of this act, is amended to read as
17 follows:
18 c. For purposes of this article, a minor who becomes six years of age
19 on or before the first of [November] October in any school year shall be
20 required to attend upon full time instruction from the first day that
21 the appropriate public schools are in session in September of such
22 school year, and a minor who becomes six years of age after the first of
23 [November] October in any school year shall be required to attend upon
24 full time instruction from the first day of session in the following
25 September; and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01303-01-5
A. 3600 2
1 this section, shall be required to remain in attendance until the last
2 day of session in the school year in which the minor becomes sixteen
3 years of age.
4 § 3. Paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the education
5 law, as amended by section two of this act, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 c. For purposes of this article, a minor who becomes six years of age
8 on or before the first of [October] September in any school year shall
9 be required to attend upon full time instruction from the first day that
10 the appropriate public schools are in session in September of such
11 school year, and a minor who becomes six years of age after the first of
12 [October] September in any school year shall be required to attend upon
13 full time instruction from the first day of session in the following
14 September; and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of
15 this section, shall be required to remain in attendance until the last
16 day of session in the school year in which the minor becomes sixteen
17 years of age.
18 § 4. Children affected by the changes to dates for attendance of
19 minors upon full day instruction provided for in sections one, two and
20 three of this act shall be given priority placement in existing pre-kin-
21 dergarten programs in the school district where the child resides.
22 § 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016; provided, however,
23 section two of this act shall take effect July 1, 2017; and, provided
24 further, section three of this act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
