This bill creates a pilot program to help school districts transition to electric school buses by funding essential charging infrastructure. It allocates $20 million from the state general fund and $20 million from New York's clean energy fund (NYSERDA) to provide competitive annual grants for two school districts per economic development region. Grants cover planning and building clean energy micro-grids, including engineering and land use studies, to support reliable charging systems. The program will run from April 2026 through April 2031, with rules to be established by June 2026.
Requires certain public and nonpublic schools to provide transportation or reimburse costs incurred for such transportation for certain students residing in an area containing at least three hundred students within a one-mile radius.
This bill creates a state-funded transportation subsidy to help public school students access private water safety instruction courses. It allows eligible K-12 students in public schools to use the subsidy for transportation to qualified private facilities offering water safety programs, provided there are no more than 10 such facilities within 2.5 miles (in cities over 1 million) or 5 miles (outside those cities) of their school. The subsidy is optional for schools and requires students to provide proof of enrollment in an approved program. The state education department will establish regulations covering eligible transportation types (like school buses or public transit), parent transportation eligibility, and subsidy distribution methods. The bill takes effect 90 days after enactment.
This bill (S 636) adds a sales tax exemption for school buses and their operational items, directly affecting school districts and bus operators. It removes sales tax on school buses (as defined in vehicle law), plus parts, equipment, lubricants, and fuel used to operate them. The exemption takes effect on April 1, 2026, and requires tax law updates to implement. School districts will save on these purchases starting in 2026.
This bill allows the school districts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers to provide transportation for students living half a mile or more from school if safety concerns require it. Districts must get board approval and commissioner permission to offer this service, which is limited to safety-related trips within a 15-mile radius and must be provided equally to all eligible students. Transportation costs under this program count toward state aid calculations, and districts must report on program costs, benefits, and impacts on attendance and academic performance by September 15, 2028. The law directly affects students in those four city districts who qualify based on safety and distance.
Requires a local transportation regulatory agency to review school safety plans for traffic and transportation issues prior to the issuance of a building permit for a new school facility or the expansion or renovation of an existing school facility.
Requires public schools to start no earlier than eight thirty a.m. and that no public high school within the state shall start before an elementary school starts within the same school district.
This bill creates a state-funded transportation subsidy to help public school students (K-12) access water safety instruction at private facilities. Eligible students must attend a public school where qualified private facilities offering such courses are within a specified radius (2.5 miles in cities over 1 million, 5 miles elsewhere). The subsidy covers transportation costs (e.g., school buses or public transit) for students enrolled in approved programs, with regulations to be set by the education department. It does not fund the instruction itself but removes a barrier to access for families in areas with limited local options.
This bill allows school districts to create policies enabling homeschooled students to try out for and join their district's interscholastic sports teams. It requires these students to meet the same academic, health, and behavioral standards as enrolled public school students - including annual academic checks, health exams, and age requirements - and limits participation to their district of residence. Parents must provide transportation, and districts may set additional academic eligibility rules. The policy is optional for school boards, not mandatory.
This bill allows the school districts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers to provide transportation for students living half a mile or more from school if safety concerns require it, as determined by the state education commissioner. It restricts transportation to routes between students' homes or approved childcare locations, limits coverage to 15 miles per student, and requires equal access for all students in similar circumstances. School districts must report program results, including cost-benefit analysis and impacts on attendance and academic performance, to state officials by 2028. The bill directly affects these four urban school districts and their students, creating a new state-approved transportation program for safety-related needs.
