New York State Assembly

 
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A01377 Summary:

A01377 Actions:

A01377 Committee Votes:

Committee:EDUCATION   Chair:Nolan      
DATE:01/18/2017AYE/NAY:25/1  Action: Favorable refer to committee Ways and Means        
Nolan
Aye
Lopez
Nay
Hooper
Excused
Ra
Aye
Englebright
Aye
McDonough
Aye
Arroyo
Excused
Graf
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
McLaughlin
Aye
Paulin
Aye
Murray
Absent
Ramos
Aye
Lawrence
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Walsh
Aye
O'Donnell
Excused
Thiele
Aye
Titone
Aye
Titus
Aye
Miller
Aye
Mayer
Excused
Lifton
Aye
Kim
Aye
Rosenthal
Aye
Ryan
Aye
Mosley
Aye
Brindisi
Aye
Otis
Aye
Seawright
Aye
Jaffee
Aye

Committee:WAYS AND MEANS   Chair:Farrell      
DATE:05/02/2017AYE/NAY:29/5  Action: Favorable         
Farrell
Aye
Oaks
Nay
Lentol
Aye
Crouch
Nay
Schimminger
Aye
Barclay
Nay
Gantt
Excused
Fitzpatrick
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
Hawley
Nay
Glick
Aye
Malliotakis
Aye
Nolan
Aye
Walter
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Montesano
Aye
Perry
Aye
Curran
Nay
Colton
Aye
Ra
Aye
Cook
Aye
Cahill
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Hooper
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Ortiz
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Moya
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Rodriguez
Aye
Ramos
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
McDonald
Aye
Rozic
Aye

A01377 Floor Votes:

A01377 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A1377
 
SPONSOR: McDonald

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the city
school districts of Cohoes and Watervliet to require minors five years
of age to attend kindergarten
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
 
Authorizes the Cohoes and Watervliet city school districts to require
minors five years of age to attend kindergarten.
 
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
 
Section 1 gives authorization to the Cohoes city school district and
Watervliet city school district to make kindergarten compulsory for all
five-year-olds, except for those children whose parents choose not to
enroll them until the following September.
 
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
Kindergarten is one of the many components of early intervention that
our education system uses to get students on the right track and
prepared for the rest of their education. The City of Cohoes School
District and the City of Watervliet School District provide full day
kindergarten programs to help children receive the educational benefits
and longer term successes that early education provides.
 
Unfortunately, many children of kindergarten age are absent from school
because their attendance is not required. The Cohoes and Watervliet
School Boards passed resolutions emphasizing the need for quality early
education and the positive impact required kindergarten attendance would
have on the children in the community.
 
This measure is designed to address the kindergarten attendance issue in
the Cohoes City School District requiring five-year-old children to
benefit from the District's kindergarten initiative for long-term
academic success. Currently, Cohoes has an average absentee rate for
kindergarten students of 26% between its three elementary schools.
Although not as severe, Watervliet is facing a 5% absentee rate which is
still impacting its students.
 
A similar provision in Education Law was adopted for the Syracuse City
School District over 25 years ago and recently for the Rochester, New
York City, Buffalo, and Utica School Districts.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
2015-16 (S.6720-A/A9149-A)
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

A01377 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          1377
 
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 11, 2017
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Education
 
        AN  ACT  to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the city
          school districts of Cohoes and Watervliet to require minors five years
          of age to attend kindergarten
 
          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 2 of section 3205 of the educa-
     2  tion law, as amended by chapter 118 of the laws of 2015, is  amended  to
     3  read as follows:
     4    c.  The  board  of education of the Syracuse city school district, the
     5  board of education of the city school district of the city of New  York,
     6  the  board  of  education  of  the  city  school district of the city of
     7  Rochester, the board of education of the city  school  district  of  the
     8  city of Utica, the board of education of the city school district of the
     9  city  of  Buffalo  the board of education of the city school district of
    10  the city of Cohoes, the board of education of the city  school  district
    11  of the city of Watervliet, and the board of education of the city school
    12  district  of the city of Yonkers are hereby authorized to require minors
    13  who are five years of age on or before December first to attend  kinder-
    14  garten  instruction. However, the provisions of this paragraph shall not
    15  apply to:
    16    (i) Minors whose parents elect not to enroll their children in  school
    17  until the following September.
    18    (ii) Students enrolled in non-public schools or in home instruction.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07531-01-7