A 4516: Requires school districts to establish a language assistance program for limited English proficient parents of students; requires record keeping and annual reporting; permits districts to jointly establish such programs.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4516 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ALVAREZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring public school districts to provide language assistance to limited English proficient parents of students The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 57 to read as follows: 3 57. a. All school districts shall establish a language assistance 4 program where limited English proficient parents would have effective 5 access to communicate with teachers and school personnel. This compre- 6 hensive program shall include, but is not limited to: 7 (1) Providing that all frequently used forms and other written materi- 8 als that are sent home to limited English proficient parents are in 9 their primary language; 10 (2) Providing language assistance to limited English proficient 11 parents in their primary language who call or come into school with 12 concerns related to their child's schooling; 13 (3) Providing language assistance services to limited English profi- 14 cient parents in their primary language to facilitate parent attendance 15 at school-sponsored programs designed for communication with parents 16 including, but not limited to, parent-teacher conferences, workshops and 17 school fairs. 18 b. A notice of the availability of the language assistance programs 19 for limited English proficient parents established pursuant to paragraph 20 a of this subdivision shall be mailed to the homes of such limited 21 English proficient parents in a notice written in their primary 22 language. 23 c. Each school district shall keep a record documenting its language 24 assistance program and shall submit a summary report annually to the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02241-01-5 
 A. 4516 2 1 commissioner. Such record and report shall include, but not be limited 2 to: 3 (1) The number of limited English proficient parents who receive such 4 assistance; 5 (2) The number of limited English proficient households where one 6 parent is English language proficient; 7 (3) The number of complaints filed by limited English proficient 8 parents; and 9 (4) The number of bilingual personnel used to assist in the language 10 assistance and translation services. 11 d. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may 12 be necessary and proper to implement the provisions of this subdivision, 13 including but not limited to, the methodology to be used by each school 14 district to determine or assess the primary languages, the number of 15 limited English proficient parents, the percentage of limited English 16 proficient parents to students and the native language of such limited 17 English proficient parents, and a complaint procedure for any parent who 18 alleges a school's non-compliance with the provisions of this subdivi- 19 sion. 20 e. For purposes of this subdivision: 21 (1) "Primary language" means one of the five most common languages in 22 a school district, other than English, spoken and used to communicate, 23 by limited English proficient parents. 24 (2) "Limited English proficient parents" means parents or parent of a 25 minor child who attends public school and such parents or parent is 26 unable to communicate effectively in English with teachers and school 27 personnel at the school attended by such parent's child. 28 f. Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit a school district from 29 entering into a cooperative agreement with other school districts to 30 jointly establish such a language assistance program. 31 g. This subdivision shall only apply to school districts where non- 32 English speaking residents or limited English proficient parents consti- 33 tute more than five percent of the residents of such school district, as 34 determined by data from the two most recent federal decennial censuses. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 36 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 37 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 38 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 39 completed on or before such effective date.