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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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1491
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. FAHY -- 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 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.
LBD03514-01-5
