This bill establishes a plan to distribute state funds for the 2026-27 fiscal year to specific school districts, public libraries, colleges, and non-profit organizations focused on education and the arts. It requires that the allocation of these funds be based on a detailed list of recipients and amounts approved by the Senate and the budget director, which must then be ratified by a majority vote of the Senate. The legislation also allows for the transfer of these funds between agencies like the State Education Department and the State University of New York with specific approvals. Ultimately, the bill directs money to a variety of entities, including several school districts and numerous non-profits such as the Brooklyn Public Library and various educational programming organizations.
This bill amends a previous resolution to officially distribute state funding for the 2025-26 fiscal year to specific educational and arts organizations. It directs money to the New York State Council on the Arts, the State University of New York, and the State Education Department, listing individual recipients and exact grant amounts for each. The legislation requires that these allocations be approved by the temporary president of the Senate and the director of the budget before funds are released. Additionally, it allows for the transfer of these funds between the listed agencies with the same executive approvals.
This bill lowers the compulsory school age from six to five years old for full-time instruction in New York State. It requires children who turn five on or before December 1st to start school in September of that year, while those turning five after December 1st can begin the following September. Parents may choose to delay kindergarten enrollment until the next September, and the bill maintains exceptions for high school completers and full-time workers. The change affects all school districts and parents of five-year-old children.
This bill prohibits public and nonpublic schools, including charter schools, from purchasing or using biometric identifying technology like facial recognition for most purposes. The law allows exceptions for fingerprinting prospective employees to comply with education laws, logging into digital devices for academic use, and identifying employees who have provided written consent or whose unions have consented. The bill requires the director of the state education department to prepare a detailed report analyzing privacy risks, civil rights impacts, security effectiveness, data retention, breach risks, costs, and other factors before any such technology can be authorized for school use. This report must be made public and shared with state leaders while seeking feedback from teachers, parents, safety experts, and privacy advocates through public hearings.
Provides that for the purposes of educational leave, an eligible incarcerated individual shall include an incarcerated individual who is within two years of being an eligible incarcerated individual.
Requires the administration of certain vaccines for children in accordance with regulations issued by the commissioner, utilizing generally accepted medical standards and based on recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or other similar nationally or internationally recognized scientific organizations.
Requires anti-bias training for every medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student in the state; requires the department of health to make an annual report on the implementation and effectiveness of such training.
Enacts the "public university emergency contraception education act" requiring public universities to develop, produce and distribute informational materials related to emergency contraception.
Prohibits the commissioner from promulgating any rules or regulations which prevent schools from disallowing biologically male students at birth to participate on a team organized for females where a school determines such biological male student's participation would have an adverse effect on the physical or emotional safety of female participants, or would adversely impact a female student's ability to participate successfully in interschool athletic competition.
Enacts the "freedom to read act"; requires the commissioner of education and school library systems to develop policies to ensure that school libraries and library staff are empowered to curate and develop collections that provide students with access to the widest array of developmentally appropriate materials available.
