Directs the commissioner of education, in consultation with the office of fire prevention and control, to develop model curriculum related to fire science for use by public high schools and boards of cooperative educational services throughout the state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10170
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SMULLEN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to directing the commis-
sioner of education, in consultation with the office of fire
prevention and control, to develop fire science model curriculum for
use by public high schools and boards of cooperative educational
services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 819 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 819. Fire science model curriculum. 1. The commissioner, in consul-
4 tation with the office of fire prevention and control within the divi-
5 sion of homeland security and emergency services, shall, within six
6 months of the effective date of this section, develop model curriculum
7 related to fire science for use by public high schools and boards of
8 cooperative educational services.
9 2. Such model curriculum shall:
10 (a) be designed for use as a credit-bearing career and technical
11 education elective course spanning two academic years, beginning in the
12 student's junior year;
13 (b) incorporate learning standards established by the commissioner in
14 consultation with the office of fire prevention and control;
15 (c) include hands-on learning opportunities that provide students with
16 practical experience in fire science and firefighting operations needed
17 to obtain the basic exterior firefighting operations certificate and the
18 interior firefighting operations certificate, as recognized by the
19 office of fire prevention and control;
20 (d) be structured such that:
21 (i) students who successfully complete the first year of the curric-
22 ulum obtain the basic exterior firefighting operations certificate, as
23 recognized by the office of fire prevention and control; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14686-01-6
A. 10170 2
1 (ii) students who successfully complete the second year of the curric-
2 ulum obtain the interior firefighting operations certificate, as recog-
3 nized by the office of fire prevention and control; and
4 (e) require that students be at least sixteen years of age to enroll
5 in such course.
6 3. The commissioner shall make such model curriculum available to all
7 public high schools and boards of cooperative educational services
8 throughout the state.
9 4. The commissioner shall develop and make available to public high
10 schools and boards of cooperative educational services implementation
11 guidance and technical assistance materials to support the adoption of
12 the model curriculum developed pursuant to this section, including but
13 not limited to sample application materials for programs seeking
14 approval pursuant to section nineteen hundred fifty of this chapter,
15 recommended facility and equipment specifications, instructor qualifica-
16 tion guidelines, advertising materials to encourage students of public
17 high schools and board of cooperative educational services to partic-
18 ipate in prospective fire science programming, and any other guidance
19 approved by the commissioner in consultation with the office of fire
20 prevention and control.
21 5. The commissioner, in consultation with the office of fire
22 prevention and control, shall establish and maintain a program to
23 connect public high schools that wish to offer the model curriculum
24 developed pursuant to this section, separate and apart from a board of
25 cooperative educational services, with regional fire departments or
26 other approved entities capable of administering the hands-on components
27 of the curriculum and preparing students for the basic exterior fire-
28 fighting operations certificate and interior firefighting operations
29 certificate examinations. Such program shall include:
30 (a) development and maintenance of a registry of fire departments and
31 other entities willing and qualified to partner with public high schools
32 for purposes of this section;
33 (b) facilitation of partnership agreements between interested public
34 high schools and registered fire departments or other approved entities;
35 and
36 (c) provision of technical assistance and guidance to public high
37 schools and partnering entities to ensure curriculum delivery meets the
38 standards necessary for students to obtain the basic exterior firefight-
39 ing operations and interior firefighting operations certificates.
40 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede or modify
41 the requirements for boards of cooperative educational services to
42 obtain approval from the department to offer career and technical educa-
43 tion programs pursuant to section nineteen hundred fifty of this chapter
44 and the regulations of the commissioner.
45 7. The commissioner, in consultation with the office of fire
46 prevention and control, shall promulgate any rules and regulations
47 necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
48 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
49 it shall have become a law.
