S 1018: Relates to employment contracts between school bus workers and the department of education in a city with at least one million inhabitants.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1018 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on New York City Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to contracts for the transportation of school children The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the educa- 2 tion law, as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 a. (1) All contracts for the transportation of school children, all 5 contracts to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district 6 that are used for the transportation of school children, all contracts 7 for mobile instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain 8 and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a private food service 9 management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner, 10 who may disapprove a proposed contract if, in [his] such commissioner's 11 opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. 12 Except as provided in paragraph e of this subdivision, all such 13 contracts involving an annual expenditure in excess of the amount speci- 14 fied for purchase contracts in the bidding requirements of the general 15 municipal law shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which 16 responsibility shall be determined by the board of education or the 17 trustee of a district, with power hereby vested in the commissioner to 18 reject any or all bids if, in [his] such commissioner's opinion, the 19 best interests of the district will be promoted thereby and, upon such 20 rejection of all bids, the commissioner shall order the board of educa- 21 tion or trustee of the district to seek, obtain and consider new 22 proposals. All proposals for such transportation, maintenance, mobile 23 instructional units, or cafeteria and restaurant service shall be in 24 such form as the commissioner may prescribe. Advertisement for bids EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02964-01-5 
 S. 1018 2 1 shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers designated by the board 2 of education or trustee of the district having general circulation with- 3 in the district for such purpose. Such advertisement shall contain a 4 statement of the time when and place where all bids received pursuant to 5 such advertisement will be publicly opened and read either by the school 6 authorities or by a person or persons designated by them. All bids 7 received shall be publicly opened and read at the time and place so 8 specified. At least five days shall elapse between the first publication 9 of such advertisement and the date so specified for the opening and 10 reading of bids. The requirement for competitive bidding shall not apply 11 to an award of a contract for the transportation of pupils or a contract 12 for mobile instructional units, if such award is based on an evaluation 13 of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to para- 14 graph e of this subdivision. The requirement for competitive bidding 15 shall not apply to annual, biennial, or triennial extensions of a 16 contract nor shall the requirement for competitive bidding apply to 17 quadrennial or quinquennial year extensions of a contract involving 18 transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses or mobile instruc- 19 tional units secured either through competitive bidding or through eval- 20 uation of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to 21 paragraph e of this subdivision, when such extensions [(1)] (i) are made 22 by the board of education or the trustee of a district, under rules and 23 regulations prescribed by the commissioner, and, [(2)] (ii) do not 24 extend the original contract period beyond five years from the date 25 cafeteria and restaurant service commenced thereunder and in the case of 26 contracts for the transportation of pupils, for the maintenance of 27 school buses or for mobile instructional units, that such contracts may 28 be extended, except that power is hereby vested in the commissioner, in 29 addition to [his] such commissioner's existing statutory authority to 30 approve or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, [(i)] (A) 31 to reject any extension of a contract beyond the initial term thereof if 32 [he] such commissioner finds that amount to be paid by the district to 33 the contractor in any year of such proposed extension fails to reflect 34 any decrease in the regional consumer price index for the N.Y., 35 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum- 36 ers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve month period; and [(ii)] (B) to 37 reject any extension of a contract after ten years from the date trans- 38 portation or maintenance service commenced thereunder, or mobile 39 instructional units were first provided, if in [his] such commissioner's 40 opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. 41 Upon such rejection of any proposed extension, the commissioner may 42 order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain 43 and consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The board 44 of education or the trustee of a school district electing to extend a 45 contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount 46 to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an amount not to 47 exceed the regional consumer price index increase for the N.Y., 48 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum- 49 ers (CPI-U), during the preceding twelve month period, provided it has 50 been satisfactorily established by the contractor that there has been at 51 least an equivalent increase in the amount of [his] such contractor's 52 cost of operation, during the period of the contract. 53 (2) (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, section 54 one hundred three of the general municipal law, or any other provision 55 of law to the contrary, the board of education of a school district 56 located in a city with at least one million inhabitants shall include in 
 S. 1018 3 1 contracts for the transportation of school children in kindergarten 2 through grade twelve, whether awarded through competitive bidding or 3 through evaluation of proposals in response to a request for proposals 4 pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision, provisions for the 5 retention or preference in hiring of school bus workers and for the 6 preservation of wages, health, welfare, and retirement benefits and 7 seniority for school bus workers who are hired pursuant to such 8 provisions for retention or preference in hiring, in connection with 9 such contracts. 10 (ii) For the purposes of this subparagraph: 11 (A) "contracts for the transportation of school children" shall mean 12 contracts for the transportation of pupils awarded by such city school 13 district under which transportation services are performed by school bus 14 workers; and 15 (B) "school bus worker" shall mean an operator, mechanic, dispatcher 16 or attendant who: 17 i. was employed as of June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-three, or at 18 any time thereafter, by: 19 (I) a contractor that was a party to a contract with the board of 20 education of a school district located in a city with at least one 21 million inhabitants for the transportation of school children in kinder- 22 garten through grade twelve, in connection with such contract; or 23 (II) a subcontractor of a contractor that was a party to a contract 24 with the board of education of a school district located in a city with 25 at least one million inhabitants for the transportation of school chil- 26 dren in kindergarten through grade twelve, in connection with such 27 contract; and 28 ii. has been furloughed or become unemployed as a result of a loss of 29 such contract, or a part of such contract, by such contractor or such 30 subcontractor, or as the result of a reduction in service directed by 31 such board of education during the term of such contract. 32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.