Senate Committee Advances Nine New York City Education Bills, Including Special-education reassignment and school-staffing measures

Senator John Liu, chair of the Senate Committee on New York City Education, opened the committee and moved nine bills related to New York City schools during a meeting recorded in the committee transcript. The measures ranged from requirements for reassigning special education students when schools close to changes to staffing rules for assistant principals and a pilot program to allow students to take leftover school lunches home.

The bills were introduced sequentially by committee staff and read into the record. Several measures were reported to the full Senate without recommendation; others were referred to the Finance Committee. Committee discussion was generally brief. Committee members raised a substantive concern about school leadership capacity — specifically that “too many schools” lack assistant principals — and one senator asked whether transportation contract provisions would apply to nonpublic schools as well as public schools.

Key actions taken

- S.79 (Liu): An act to amend the Education Law to require that all special-education students attending schools scheduled to be closed or to undergo a significant change be assigned to new schools prior to the implementation of the closing or change. The bill was moved, seconded, and reported to the full Senate without recommendation.

- S.82 (Liu): An act to amend the Education Law concerning the number and duties of assistant principals to be assigned to schools in the city school district of the City of New York. Committee discussion included a senator’s comment that many schools lack an assistant principal and that principals in those schools are overburdened. The bill was moved, seconded and referred to the Finance Committee.

- S.1018 (Jackson): An act to amend the Education Law related to contracts for the transportation of school children. At least one senator asked whether the contract provisions would apply only to public schools or to other New York City schools as well; committee staff replied that the statute would apply to any City transportation contract and that contract provisions address driver hiring, retention, capacity and required training. The bill was moved by Senator Persaud, seconded by Senator Tedisco, and referred to the Finance Committee.

- S.1325B (Hoylman Siegel): An act to amend the Education Law regarding submission of requests to the Committee on Special Education for services mandated by an individualized education program (IEP). The bill was moved, seconded and reported to the full Senate without recommendation.

- S.1510 (Liu): An act to allow the president of the Citywide Council on High Schools to participate in the selection of members of the Board of Education elected by community district education council presidents. The bill was moved by Senator Dzysko, seconded by Senator Persaud, and reported to the full Senate without recommendation.

- S.632 (Parker): An act to establish a New York City school lunch leftover take-home meal pilot program. A senator noted that some schools already run take-home lunch efforts; the bill was moved and seconded and referred to the Finance Committee.

- S.6138 (Parker): The New York City Caribbean Steel Pan Educational Music Program Act, enacted into Education Law in the committee bill text. The bill was moved and seconded and reported to the full Senate without recommendation.

- S.6355 (Liu): An act to amend the Education Law on qualifications to serve as members of the Citywide Council on English Language Learners and of the Citywide Council on High Schools. The bill was moved, seconded and reported to the full Senate without recommendation.

- S.6719 (Jackson): An act to amend the Education Law concerning determinations of appropriate educational programs for certain students in a school district in a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more. The bill was moved, seconded and reported to the Education Committee without recommendation.

Committee procedure and next steps

Most motions were approved by voice vote with the clerk noting “Aye” and “Without recommendation” where recorded; formal roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript. Where noted, bills were referred to the Finance Committee for further consideration; several were reported to the full Senate.

The committee adjourned after the ninth bill. The transcript records limited debate on the measures themselves; the committee’s actions were procedural steps to move the bills to the next legislative stage.