STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4683
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 24, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 establishing a task
force on safety in school transportation
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 3638
2 to read as follows:
3 § 3638. Task force on safety in school transportation. 1. There is
4 hereby created a task force with the purpose of promoting safety in
5 school transportation.
6 2. The task force should consist of eighteen members, including the
7 commissioner, ex officio, or a designee; the commissioner of transporta-
8 tion, ex officio, or a designee; the commissioner of the department of
9 motor vehicles, ex officio, or a designee; the director of the office of
10 traffic safety and mobility, ex officio, or a designee; and fourteen
11 members to be appointed by the governor. The members appointed by the
12 governor should include: one school district transportation coordinator;
13 one representative of the school administrators association; one repre-
14 sentative of the empire state supervisors and administrators associ-
15 ation; one representative of New York state united teachers; one repre-
16 sentative of the New York state school boards association; one
17 representative of the New York state association of school business
18 officials; one representative of the New York state school bus contrac-
19 tors association; one representative of the New York association for
20 pupil transportation; one representative of youth camps who is a member
21 of the state camp advisory council; three parents or guardians of
22 students including at least one parent of a student receiving special
23 education services; one public member who shall have knowledge and
24 expertise in ensuring safety in school transportation; and one public
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02194-01-7
S. 4683 2
1 member who shall be an expert on the safety equipment available in
2 school transportation vehicles.
3 3. It shall be the duty of the task force to study issues associated
4 with student safety in school transportation. The task force shall:
5 a. review existing state laws, regulations, and programs that address
6 school bus safety, and make recommendations for their improvement,
7 including any recommendations necessary to ensure that the pedestrian
8 safety record is routinely reviewed by an appropriate state office;
9 b. examine the possibility of requiring a state department or office
10 to conduct a biannual review of all aspects of school bus safety and to
11 issue recommendations for additional action or oversight, as appropri-
12 ate;
13 c. develop a plan to phase in any school bus safety measures recom-
14 mended by the task force through retrofitting and prospective vehicle
15 purchases, and identify the potential application of vehicle sensor
16 technology to improve school bus safety;
17 d. identify best practices for the designation of school bus stops;
18 e. review the current safety status of students who walk to and from
19 school and identify strategies that support safe pedestrian behavior by
20 students between their homes and schools, including as they walk to and
21 from bus stops and board and exit buses;
22 f. identify safety protocols to be followed by school bus drivers and
23 school bus aides, including safeguards to ensure that protocols are
24 followed when a substitute driver or school bus aide is assigned to a
25 school bus;
26 g. develop recommendations to curb illegal passing of school buses;
27 and
28 h. determine if there is a need for additional public education
29 programs that promote school bus safety.
30 4. All appointments to the task force shall be made within thirty days
31 of the effective date of this section. Vacancies in the membership of
32 the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original
33 appointments were made. The members of the task force shall serve with-
34 out compensation but may be reimbursed, within the limits of funds made
35 available to the task force, for necessary expenses incurred in the
36 performance of their duties.
37 5. The task force shall organize as soon as is practical upon the
38 appointment of a majority of its members. The task force shall appoint a
39 secretary who need not be a member. The task force shall select a chair
40 from among its members.
41 6. The department shall provide staff and related support services to
42 the task force. The task force shall also be entitled to call upon the
43 services of any state, county, or municipal department, board, commis-
44 sion or agency, as may be available to it for these purposes, and to
45 incur such traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem
46 necessary for the proper execution of its duties and as may be within
47 the limit of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for
48 these purposes. The task force may meet and hold hearings at such places
49 as it shall designate.
50 7. The task force shall present a report of its findings and recommen-
51 dations to the governor and to the legislature no later than twelve
52 months after its organization and shall cease to exist upon submitting
53 such report and recommendations.
54 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
