S 482: Relates to creating a school resource officer program to permit the employment of retired law enforcement officers and provide grants to school districts and non-public schools for such purpose.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 482 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. OBERACKER, ASHBY, BORRELLO, HELMING, PALUMBO, RHOADS, WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the retirement and social security law, in relation to a school resource officer program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2801-c. New York state school resource officer program. 1. For 4 purposes of this section, the term "school resource officer" shall mean 5 a school resource officer, school safety officer, school security offi- 6 cer, or any other substantially similar position or office, that is 7 designed to provide improved public safety and/or security on school 8 grounds. Such school resource officer may be a retired police officer, a 9 retired state trooper, a retired deputy sheriff, a state trooper, a 10 police officer in the active duty service of a town, city or village, or 11 a deputy sheriff from a county sheriff's department. 12 2. Any public or nonpublic school may employ, in either the classified 13 or unclassified service, any school resource officer for the purpose of 14 providing improved public safety and/or security on school grounds. Any 15 such public or nonpublic school may also contract with the state of New 16 York, or a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state 17 trooper, police officer or deputy sheriff, to serve as a school resource 18 officer, for the purpose of providing improved public safety and/or 19 security on school grounds. A school district shall be authorized to 20 employ or contract for as many school resource officers as such district 21 deems necessary. 22 3. It shall be the primary role of the school resource officer to 23 provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds. In EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01844-01-5 
 S. 482 2 1 addition to this primary role, school resource officers also may serve 2 additional roles, including but not limited to: 3 (a) Proposing and enforcing policies and administrative procedures 4 related to school safety; 5 (b) Utilizing technology with the implementation of a comprehensive 6 safety program; 7 (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other commu- 8 nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti- 9 ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities; 10 (d) Proposing and implementing strategies concerning prevention, 11 response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency situations 12 occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis- 13 tration or visitors to the school; 14 (e) Proposing and assisting in the execution of school emergency 15 drills and proposing and assisting in the creation of school safety 16 plans; 17 (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students; 18 (g) Assisting in the design, explanation and enforcement of school 19 safety and security policies and procedures; and 20 (h) Performing such other and further roles, responsibilities and 21 activities as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a 22 law enforcement officer to perform, in order to advance the security, 23 safety and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors 24 to the school district's schools, transportation vehicles and school 25 grounds. 26 4. Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during 27 the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in this 28 subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to 29 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate 30 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal 31 law. 32 § 2. Section 3641 of the education law is amended by adding a new 33 subdivision 18 to read as follows: 34 18. School resource officer grants. a. In the two thousand twenty- 35 five--two thousand twenty-six school year and thereafter, within the 36 amount appropriated for services and expenses related to the expense of 37 school resource officers, the commissioner shall provide grants pursuant 38 to this subdivision to: (1) public school districts other than a city 39 school district in a city with a population of one million or more 40 inhabitants, (2) charter schools, and (3) non-public schools. 41 b. Grants under this subdivision shall be equal to the greater of 42 fifty thousand dollars or the product of (1) twenty thousand dollars, 43 and (2) the greater of (A) the total number of instructional school 44 buildings owned, leased or in use for instructional purposes by such 45 public school district, charter school, or non-public school, or (B) the 46 quotient of the enrollment of such public school district pursuant to 47 paragraph n of subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred two of this 48 article divided by two hundred fifty, and (3) the aid ratio pursuant to 49 subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this article, 50 provided that for a charter school or non-public school, the aid ratio 51 shall be the aid ratio for the public school district where the charter 52 school or the non-public school is located. 53 c. The commissioner shall be authorized to adopt regulations to imple- 54 ment the provisions of this subdivision. 55 d. In the event the appropriation for purposes of this subdivision in 56 any year is insufficient to pay all claims received pursuant to this 
 S. 482 3 1 subdivision, the commissioner shall pay such claims on a prorated basis 2 among all districts filing such claims until the appropriation is 3 exhausted. 4 § 3. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 211 5 of the retirement and social security law, as amended by chapter 640 of 6 the laws of 2008, is amended and a new subparagraph 3-a is added to read 7 as follows: 8 (2) that [he or she] such retired person will earn more than one thou- 9 sand dollars in one year, including compensation earned in such position 10 under other provisions of this article that there are not readily avail- 11 able for recruitment persons qualified to perform the duties of such 12 position; [and (4);] 13 (3-a) that their employment title and respective duties will be 14 restricted to school resource officer as such term is defined in section 15 twenty-eight hundred one-c of the education law; 16 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.