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Sachem legislative committee urges help to move security-guard training bill; board gives committee charges on charters, UPK and PLAs
Summary
Legislative committee members told the board a Senate security-guard training bill (S194) now has an assembly companion (A5079B) and is stuck in committee; trustees tasked the committee to pursue charter-school transparency, UPK funding flexibility, PLAs and related grants.
The Sachem Central School District’s legislative committee updated the board on state-level efforts to create a uniform security-guard training curriculum for school-based guards and outlined a set of charges the board asked the committee to pursue.
Jim Kiernan (speaker 5) told trustees that the Senate version of the school security-guard training bill (S194) has passed the Senate twice and that Assembly companion A5079B has been filed but sits in the Assembly Economic Development Committee. “We met on Monday with Assemblywoman Rebecca Kasay, who sits on that committee, and she promises to lobby for the bill to get to the floor,” Kiernan said, describing the committee’s priority to get the assembly companion reported out of committee.
Board members asked whether the delay appeared procedural or reflected substantive opposition; Kiernan said the Senate vote had broad support and that the assembly bill already had bipartisan cosponsors. Trustees also asked about the committee’s role after enactment; Kiernan said curriculum development would be led by state agencies (State Education Department, Department of Criminal Justice, state police) but suggested it would be prudent for local school security staff to be consulted if asked.
Separately, Paul Sapienza (speaker 7), cochair of the legislative committee, outlined the committee’s broader role and asked the board to assign priorities. The trustees directed the committee to research and report back on: charter-school approvals and transparency of their finances and oversight; increasing flexibility or access to UPK funds (including whether unused allocations could be used for renovations or vendor pay increases); and the likely district impact of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and tax abatement policies on construction bidding and capital budgeting.
What happens next: The legislative committee will follow up on the A5079B assembly companion, provide options for UPK funding flexibility and report findings on charter-school transparency and PLA proposals back to the board.
