Add §§2801-c & 2801-d, Ed L; amd §2.10, CP L; amd §212, R & SS L
Creates the New York state school resource officer program for school districts outside of New York City; requires retired police officers be certified by the department of education to become school resource officers; allows retired police officers employed as school resource officers to carry a firearm on school grounds given an appropriate license; relates to the earnings limitations for retired police officers employed as a school resource officer.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9336
IN SENATE
March 3, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law the criminal procedure law and the
retirement and social security law, in relation to the creation of the
Comprehensive School Resource Officer Training and Implementation
Program (SRO TIP)
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 2801-c
2 to read as follows:
3 § 2801-c. New York state school resource officer program. 1. For
4 purposes of this section, the term "school resource officer" shall mean
5 a school resource officer, school safety officer, school security offi-
6 cer, or any other substantially similar position or office whose purpose
7 is to provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds.
8 2. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic
9 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu-
10 lation of one million or more may employ, in either the classified or
11 unclassified service, any school resource officer. Such school resource
12 officer shall be: (a) a retired police officer, a retired state trooper,
13 a retired deputy sheriff, or a retired federal law enforcement officer
14 and who, once a certification process is established, is certified as a
15 school resource officer under section twenty-eight hundred one-d of this
16 article; or (b) an active duty state trooper, police officer in the
17 service of a town, city or village, or deputy sheriff from a county
18 sheriff's department.
19 3. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic
20 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu-
21 lation of one million or more may contract with the state of New York,
22 or a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state troop-
23 er, police officer or deputy sheriff, to serve as a school resource
24 officer. A board of cooperative educational services or school district
25 which is not in a city school district in a city having a population of
26 one million or more shall be authorized to employ or contract for as
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00951-02-6
S. 9336 2
1 many school resource officers as such board of cooperative educational
2 services or district deems necessary.
3 4. It shall be the primary role of the school resource officer to
4 provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds through
5 community policing techniques, investigative measures, and tactical
6 preparedness. In addition to such primary role, school resource officers
7 also may serve additional roles, including but not limited to:
8 (a) Proposing and enforcing policies and administrative procedures
9 related to school safety;
10 (b) Utilizing technology in the implementation of a comprehensive
11 safety program;
12 (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other commu-
13 nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti-
14 ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities;
15 (d) Proposing and implementing strategies concerning prevention,
16 response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency situations
17 occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis-
18 tration or visitors to the school;
19 (e) Proposing and assisting in the execution of school emergency
20 drills and proposing and assisting in the creation of school safety
21 plans;
22 (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students;
23 (g) Assisting in the design, explanation and enforcement of school
24 safety and security policies and procedures; and
25 (h) Performing such other and further roles, responsibilities and
26 activities as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a
27 law enforcement officer to perform, in order to advance the security,
28 safety and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors
29 to the school district's schools, transportation vehicles and school
30 grounds.
31 5. Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during
32 the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in this
33 subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to
34 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate
35 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal
36 law.
37 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-d to
38 read as follows:
39 § 2801-d. New York state school resource officer certification
40 program. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school resource
41 officer" shall mean a school resource officer, school safety officer,
42 school security officer, or any other substantially similar position or
43 office whose purpose is to provide improved public safety and/or securi-
44 ty on school grounds.
45 2. The department shall, utilizing boards of cooperative educational
46 services, establish a school resource officer training program to certi-
47 fy retired police officers, retired deputy sheriffs, retired state
48 troopers and retired federal law enforcement officers as school resource
49 officers as well as a school resource officer recertification program to
50 recertify school resource officers who have previously completed and
51 passed the department's school resource officer certification program.
52 Such programs shall be designed by the department to include, but not be
53 limited to, counseling techniques, community policing practices, gender
54 and racial sensitivity awareness, and field and tactical training for
55 prevention and response to incidents. The department shall utilize
56 current or retired police officers, in order to train school resource
S. 9336 3
1 officers in any police related or tactical training provided for certif-
2 ication. The certifications granted from such programs shall expire one
3 year after the program was completed and passed.
4 3. The department shall separately offer the school resource officer
5 training program and the school resource officer recertification program
6 at least once per year per county.
7 § 3. Section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a
8 new subdivision 88 to read as follows:
9 88. Retired police officers, retired state troopers, retired deputy
10 sheriffs or retired federal law enforcement officers employed by boards
11 of cooperative educational services or a school district as a school
12 resource officer; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision
13 shall be deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or
14 dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license therefor has been
15 issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law.
16 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 212 of the retirement and social securi-
17 ty law, as added by section 1 of part Y of chapter 55 of the laws of
18 2013, is amended to read as follows:
19 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this
20 section, the commissioner of education may determine, pursuant to
21 section two hundred eleven of this article, that such earnings limita-
22 tions shall not apply to a retired police officer, retired state trooper
23 or retired deputy sheriff employed by boards of cooperative educational
24 services or a school district as a school resource officer; or to a
25 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff
26 who is employed as a school resource officer by a county, city, town or
27 village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district
28 to provide such services. The commissioner of education may include no
29 more than thirty thousand dollars in addition to the earning limitations
30 set forth in the table in subdivision two of this section to such
31 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff
32 who is employed as a school resource officer.
33 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend the retirement and social security law (RSSL) to
allow retired public safety officers to be reemployed as a school
resource officer with an annual salary of $65,000 or less and continue
to receive their full retirement benefit. Currently, the salary limit
for these retirees is $35,000.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Retirement
System (NYSLRS), the direct cost incurred would be the retiree's pension
benefit paid while post-retirement earnings are between $35,000 and
$65,000 each calendar year. The pension benefit expected to be paid
during that 4.5-month period is estimated to be $33,000 per person.
There would be additional costs in the form of lost employer contrib-
utions due to non-billable post-retirement earnings, which are estimated
to be $5,400 per person.
Pursuant to section 25 of the RSSL, the direct costs in the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System would be borne entirely by
the state of New York and would require an itemized appropriation suffi-
cient to pay the cost of the provision.
In the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, all
costs will be shared by the state of New York and all participating
employers and spread over future billing cycles.
The number of members and retirees who could be affected by this
legislation cannot be readily determined. For each retiree rehired
S. 9336 4
pursuant to this proposal, an annual cost of $38,400 is expected. If
large numbers of retirees are rehired into such positions, significant
annual costs would result.
This proposal exclusively benefits retirees. Therefore, the increased
costs are attributable to legacy groups, but funding for this proposal
will be collected on salary reported for current and future members of
Tier 6.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated February 4, 2026, and intended for use only
during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-34. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System
(NYSLRS), I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis
complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the
Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries
Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actu-
aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not
believe it impairs my objectivity.
