S 6783: Promotes the inclusion of children living in temporary housing in prekindergarten programs; requires school districts to prioritize homeless children on any pre-K waitlists and provides for the reimbursement to school districts of hiring additional staff to accommodate the enrollment of a homeless child.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6783 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 24, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to promoting the inclu- sion of children living in temporary housing in prekindergarten programs The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3602-e of the education law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 21 to read as follows: 3 21. Each school district implementing a prekindergarten program shall 4 promote the inclusion of homeless children, as defined in section thir- 5 ty-two hundred nine of this chapter. 6 a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where 7 the class size for a prekindergarten class has reached its maximum 8 capacity, as determined by regulations of the commissioner, the school 9 district in which a homeless child is currently temporarily housed in a 10 motel, hotel, shelter or other temporary housing arrangement shall 11 prioritize such child's placement on any waitlist for enrollment in a 12 prekindergarten program. 13 b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where 14 the class size for a prekindergarten class necessitates the hiring of 15 additional staff, as determined by regulations of the commissioner, to 16 accommodate the enrollment of a homeless child, the school district 17 shall be reimbursed by the department for the direct cost of hiring such 18 additional staff, not otherwise reimbursed under other federal programs, 19 calculated pursuant to regulations of the commissioner. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 21 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment 22 and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementa- 23 tion of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or 24 before such date. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03324-01-5