BILL NUMBER: S9418
SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to exempting school
district providers of special services or programs for preschool
students with disabilities from having to obtain program approval from
the commissioner of education
 
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To streamline the process for school districts to provide preschool
special education services by exempting school district providers from
the requirement to obtain program approval from the commissioner of
education while maintaining applicable regulatory and fiscal standards.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 of section 4410 of the
education law to exempt school district providers of preschool special
education programs and services from the requirement to apply for
program approval from the commissioner of education. This section
provides that school districts will instead be deemed approved to
provide such services and programs and will also be exempt from the
program reapproval process. School districts must continue to comply
with all applicable regulatory requirements governing approved preschool
programs and must notify the State Education Department of the services
and programs they intend to provide.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under state and federal law, school districts are responsible for ensur-
ing that preschool students with disabilities receive a free and appro-
priate public education in the least restrictive environment. Despite
this responsibility, current law requires school districts to apply to
the State Education Department for approval before they may provide
preschool special education services or programs under section 4410 of
the education law.
This approval requirement creates an additional administrative step for
school districts that are already subject to extensive oversight and
accountability requirements. School districts do not face a similar
approval process when providing special education services to students
in grades kindergarten through twelve.
This legislation eliminates the separate approval requirement by deeming
school districts approved to provide preschool special education
programs and services. This aligns the process for preschool special
education with the existing framework for K-12 special education. School
districts will continue to be subject to all applicable programmatic and
fiscal standards in the commissioner's regulations and must notify the
State Education Department of the services and programs they intend to
provide
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.