S 8526: Directs the commissioner of education to develop and maintain a publicly accessible statewide attendance and absenteeism dashboard to be posted publicly on the state education department's website.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8526 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE October 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. FAHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a state- wide student attendance and absenteeism dashboard 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 3213-a 2 to read as follows: 3 § 3213-a. Statewide student attendance and absenteeism dashboard. 1. 4 Establishment. The commissioner shall, in consultation with school 5 districts, boards of cooperative educational services, and other stake- 6 holders, develop and maintain a publicly accessible statewide attendance 7 and absenteeism dashboard to be posted publicly on the department's 8 website. 9 2. Content. The dashboard established pursuant to subdivision one of 10 this section shall, at a minimum, display the following information: 11 (a) statewide, district-level, and school-level attendance and chronic 12 absenteeism rates, disaggregated by grade level; 13 (b) disaggregated data by student subgroups, including race and 14 ethnicity, disability status, English language learner status, consist- 15 ent with federal and state reporting requirements; 16 (c) comparisons with prior school years; and 17 (d) data visualizations designed to be clear and accessible to fami- 18 lies, educators, policymakers, and the public. 19 3. Timeliness. (a) The department shall collect attendance data from 20 each school district on at least a weekly basis and shall update the 21 dashboard no less frequently than once per week. 22 (b) The commissioner may promulgate regulations establishing the meth- 23 od and format of data submission to ensure accuracy, uniformity, and 24 timeliness. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13862-01-5 
 S. 8526 2 1 4. Data quality and privacy. (a) Data shall be displayed in a manner 2 that protects student privacy and complies with the family educational 3 rights and privacy act and all other applicable laws. 4 (b) The department shall provide technical assistance and guidance to 5 districts to ensure data quality and consistency. 6 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 7 law.