Requires school districts to refer a newly-registering child with a disability for evaluation within forty-eight hours of the time of the first contact between the school district and the person or entity registering the student with the school district, provided a request for referral has been made.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8123
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school
districts to refer a child with a disability for evaluation when appli-
cation for registration of the child with the district is first made
PURPOSE:
To require school districts to refer a child for an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) evaluation within 48-hours of the person or
entity who cares for the child notifying the school district that they
intend to enroll such child in school. The intention of this is so the
evaluation process is not delayed by the enrollment process.
SUMMARY:
Section 1. Amends Section 4401-a of the education law by adding a new
subdivision 7.
Section 2. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Across New York State, there are deep inequities concerning access to
preschool special education. These inequities harm marginalized communi-
ties, such as families of color and immigrant families, the most. In
much of the state, current law mandates registration before starting an
evaluation for an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which requires
a referral from the school district. However, tenants and immigrant
families often struggle to acquire the onerous amount of documentation
needed to register their child. This issue is particularly prevalent in
places like Long Island, where there are copious amounts of proof of
residency needed to register a child.
Vulnerable families wishing to access pre-school education took an aver-
age of 51 days to obtain the necessary documentation to register their
child. The time between registration and special education evaluations
can take 60-90 days, which is precious time that children could be
spending receiving the equitable and specialized education that they
need. This delay means that children spend more time without special
education services that are enriching and vital for early development.
Forcing a child to attend school without the necessary accommodations
causes immense harm and distress for the child and family as well as
teachers who may not have special education training.
New York City and parts of Rochester already have a simultaneous enroll-
ment and evaluation process, mandating a 2-day maximum wait time. No
child should be forced to wait two months to attend pre-school, only to
be denied the accommodations they need to succeed for several more
months. This legislation will ensure that the rest of New York State
will provide families with access to quality pre-school education along
with vital special education services, and bring relief to vulnerable
families.
RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
TBD.
GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:
TBD.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A10382; referred to education.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, if this act
shall have become a law after June 30, 2024 it shall take effect imme-
diately and shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and
after June 30, 2024; and provided further, that the amendments to
section 4401-a of the education law made by section one of this act
shall survive the expiration and reversion of such section as provided
in subdivision d of section 27 of chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, as
amended.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8123
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring school
districts to refer a child with a disability for evaluation when
application for registration of the child with the district is first
made
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 4401-a of the education law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
3 7. With respect to a student who is registering with a school district
4 for the first time, a referral for initial evaluation as provided in
5 this section shall be made within forty-eight hours of the time of the
6 first contact between the school district and the person or entity
7 registering the student with the school district, provided a request for
8 referral has been made. A referral for evaluation shall not be delayed
9 until registration of the student has been completed.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, if
11 this act shall have become a law after June 30, 2024 it shall take
12 effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been in full force and
13 effect on and after June 30, 2024; and provided further, that the amend-
14 ments to section 4401-a of the education law made by section one of this
15 act shall survive the expiration and reversion of such section as
16 provided in subdivision d of section 27 of chapter 378 of the laws of
17 2007, as amended.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11240-01-3
