Authorizes a weighted selection process prioritizing children who would be eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch and/or who are emergent multilingual learners for the allocation of certain prekindergarten seats in school districts where there are more eligible children than can be served in a given school year.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8074A
SPONSOR: Fahy TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing a weighted
selection process for the allocation of certain prekindergarten seats
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Authorizes a weighted selection process for the allocation of certain
prekindergarten seats
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 3602-e of the education law to provide that a
school district offering prekindergarten program services and utilizing
a random selection basis for enrollment when there is a greater number
of eligible children than can be served by such a prekindergarten
program may utilize a weighted selection process which first enrolls
children who are eligible for free or reduced price lunch and emergent
multilingual learners.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Many public-school districts in New York offer preschool program
services, however the utilization rates of these programs can vary based
on location. While some schools have unused slots for pre-k, many other
districts face more demand for prekindergarten slots than they can
offer, and these student's are waitlisted. Undercurrent law, school
districts may utilize a lottery system to place students in prekinder-
garten programs when demand for slots exceeds availability. One draw-
back of this approach, however, is that students who may have few acces-
sible alternatives for prekindergarten instruction,' such as those who
are English language learners or socioeconomically disadvantaged, may be
left without any prekindergarten instruction at all under a lottery-
based admissions system. This legislation allows school districts who
find themselves with fewer prekindergarten slots than demanded to prior-
itize students who would have the most trouble securing prekindergarten
services outside of the public school district.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATION:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8074--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
September 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FAHY, BURDICK, McDONALD, AUBRY, GLICK, WALSH,
LUCAS, LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Educa-
tion -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with
Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing a weighted
selection process for the allocation of certain prekindergarten seats
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph i of subdivision 7 of section 3602-e of the
2 education law, as amended by section 19 of part B of chapter 57 of the
3 laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
4 i. establishes a method for selection of eligible children to receive
5 prekindergarten program services on a random selection basis where there
6 are more eligible children than can be served in a given school year,
7 provided, however, that in a school district where there are more eligi-
8 ble children than can be served in a given school year that such school
9 district elect to first enroll children who would be eligible for free
10 or reduced price lunch and/or children who are emergent multilingual
11 learners. If a district elects to prioritize enrollment of children who
12 are eligible for free or reduced price lunch and/or children who are
13 emergent multilingual learners and there are more such eligible children
14 than can be served in a given school year, such school district shall
15 establish a method for selection among such eligible children on a
16 random basis, and provided further that a school district that operated
17 a targeted prekindergarten program in the base year may use the
18 selection process established for such program.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11757-02-4
