Provides that school bus transportation be provided where: a parent or guardian of a child not residing in the district on the April first date submits a written request within thirty days after establishing residence in the district; a family moves to a different dwelling within the district during the school year; a school moves locations from one location to another; or a parent or guardian chooses a nonpublic school for their child after April first.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10354
IN SENATE
May 14, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sens. SUTTON, WEBER -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to school bus transporta-
tion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 3635 of the education law, as
2 amended by chapter 719 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 2. (a) A parent or guardian of a child residing in any school
5 district, or any representative authorized by such parent or guardian,
6 who desires for a child during the next school year any transportation
7 authorized or directed by this chapter shall submit a written request
8 therefor to the school trustees or board of education of such district
9 not later than the first day of April preceding the next school year[,
10 provided, however, that]. Transportation shall also be provided where:
11 (i) a parent or guardian of a child not residing in the district on such
12 date [shall submit] submits a written request within thirty days after
13 establishing residence in the district; (ii) a family moves to a differ-
14 ent dwelling within the district during the school year; (iii) a school
15 moves locations from one location to another; or (iv) a parent or guard-
16 ian chooses a public or nonpublic school for their child after April
17 first. No late request of a parent or guardian for transportation shall
18 be denied where a reasonable explanation is provided for the delay. If
19 the voters, school trustees, or board of education fail to provide the
20 transportation authorized or directed by this chapter after receiving
21 such a request, such parent, guardian or representative, or any taxpayer
22 residing in the district, may appeal to the commissioner [of education],
23 as provided in section three hundred ten of this chapter. Except as
24 hereinbefore provided, the commissioner [of education] shall not require
25 that such parent, guardian or representative present a request for such
26 transportation to any meeting of the voters, school trustees or board of
27 education in order to appeal. Upon such appeal, the commissioner [of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15303-02-6
S. 10354 2
1 education] shall make such order as is required to effect compliance
2 with the provisions of this chapter and this section.
3 (b) For the purposes of this section, a "reasonable explanation" shall
4 be defined as: (i) family housing displacement; (ii) family medical
5 emergency; (iii) sudden job loss or sudden job transfer; (iv) where a
6 student with a disability requires a different school; or (v) where a
7 family submits proof of residency after the deadline due to difficulty
8 in obtaining such proof of residency prior to April first. Such reason-
9 able explanation shall be submitted to the school district on or before
10 June first.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
12 the date on which it shall have become a law.
