S 9336: Creates the New York state school resource officer program for school districts outside of New York City; requires retired police officers be certified by the department of education to become school resource officers; allows retired police officers employed as school resource officers to carry a firearm on school grounds given an appropriate license; relates to the earnings limitations for retired police officers employed as a school resource officer.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9336  IN SENATE March 3, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law the criminal procedure law and the retirement and social security law, in relation to the creation of the Comprehensive School Resource Officer Training and Implementation Program (SRO TIP) 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 whose purpose 7 is to provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds. 8 2. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 9 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- 10 lation of one million or more may employ, in either the classified or 11 unclassified service, any school resource officer. Such school resource 12 officer shall be: (a) a retired police officer, a retired state trooper, 13 a retired deputy sheriff, or a retired federal law enforcement officer 14 and who, once a certification process is established, is certified as a 15 school resource officer under section twenty-eight hundred one-d of this 16 article; or (b) an active duty state trooper, police officer in the 17 service of a town, city or village, or deputy sheriff from a county 18 sheriff's department. 19 3. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 20 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- 21 lation of one million or more may contract with the state of New York, 22 or a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state troop- 23 er, police officer or deputy sheriff, to serve as a school resource 24 officer. A board of cooperative educational services or school district 25 which is not in a city school district in a city having a population of 26 one million or more shall be authorized to employ or contract for as EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00951-02-6 
 S. 9336 2 1 many school resource officers as such board of cooperative educational 2 services or district deems necessary. 3 4. It shall be the primary role of the school resource officer to 4 provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds through 5 community policing techniques, investigative measures, and tactical 6 preparedness. In addition to such primary role, school resource officers 7 also may serve additional roles, including but not limited to: 8 (a) Proposing and enforcing policies and administrative procedures 9 related to school safety; 10 (b) Utilizing technology in the implementation of a comprehensive 11 safety program; 12 (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other commu- 13 nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti- 14 ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities; 15 (d) Proposing and implementing strategies concerning prevention, 16 response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency situations 17 occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis- 18 tration or visitors to the school; 19 (e) Proposing and assisting in the execution of school emergency 20 drills and proposing and assisting in the creation of school safety 21 plans; 22 (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students; 23 (g) Assisting in the design, explanation and enforcement of school 24 safety and security policies and procedures; and 25 (h) Performing such other and further roles, responsibilities and 26 activities as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a 27 law enforcement officer to perform, in order to advance the security, 28 safety and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors 29 to the school district's schools, transportation vehicles and school 30 grounds. 31 5. Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during 32 the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in this 33 subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to 34 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate 35 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal 36 law. 37 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-d to 38 read as follows: 39 § 2801-d. New York state school resource officer certification 40 program. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school resource 41 officer" shall mean a school resource officer, school safety officer, 42 school security officer, or any other substantially similar position or 43 office whose purpose is to provide improved public safety and/or securi- 44 ty on school grounds. 45 2. The department shall, utilizing boards of cooperative educational 46 services, establish a school resource officer training program to certi- 47 fy retired police officers, retired deputy sheriffs, retired state 48 troopers and retired federal law enforcement officers as school resource 49 officers as well as a school resource officer recertification program to 50 recertify school resource officers who have previously completed and 51 passed the department's school resource officer certification program. 52 Such programs shall be designed by the department to include, but not be 53 limited to, counseling techniques, community policing practices, gender 54 and racial sensitivity awareness, and field and tactical training for 55 prevention and response to incidents. The department shall utilize 56 current or retired police officers, in order to train school resource 
 S. 9336 3 1 officers in any police related or tactical training provided for certif- 2 ication. The certifications granted from such programs shall expire one 3 year after the program was completed and passed. 4 3. The department shall separately offer the school resource officer 5 training program and the school resource officer recertification program 6 at least once per year per county. 7 § 3. Section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a 8 new subdivision 88 to read as follows: 9 88. Retired police officers, retired state troopers, retired deputy 10 sheriffs or retired federal law enforcement officers employed by boards 11 of cooperative educational services or a school district as a school 12 resource officer; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision 13 shall be deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or 14 dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license therefor has been 15 issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law. 16 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 212 of the retirement and social securi- 17 ty law, as added by section 1 of part Y of chapter 55 of the laws of 18 2013, is amended to read as follows: 19 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this 20 section, the commissioner of education may determine, pursuant to 21 section two hundred eleven of this article, that such earnings limita- 22 tions shall not apply to a retired police officer, retired state trooper 23 or retired deputy sheriff employed by boards of cooperative educational 24 services or a school district as a school resource officer; or to a 25 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff 26 who is employed as a school resource officer by a county, city, town or 27 village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district 28 to provide such services. The commissioner of education may include no 29 more than thirty thousand dollars in addition to the earning limitations 30 set forth in the table in subdivision two of this section to such 31 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff 32 who is employed as a school resource officer. 33 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend the retirement and social security law (RSSL) to allow retired public safety officers to be reemployed as a school resource officer with an annual salary of $65,000 or less and continue to receive their full retirement benefit. Currently, the salary limit for these retirees is $35,000. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), the direct cost incurred would be the retiree's pension benefit paid while post-retirement earnings are between $35,000 and $65,000 each calendar year. The pension benefit expected to be paid during that 4.5-month period is estimated to be $33,000 per person. There would be additional costs in the form of lost employer contrib- utions due to non-billable post-retirement earnings, which are estimated to be $5,400 per person. Pursuant to section 25 of the RSSL, the direct costs in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System would be borne entirely by the state of New York and would require an itemized appropriation suffi- cient to pay the cost of the provision. In the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, all costs will be shared by the state of New York and all participating employers and spread over future billing cycles. The number of members and retirees who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. For each retiree rehired 
 S. 9336 4 pursuant to this proposal, an annual cost of $38,400 is expected. If large numbers of retirees are rehired into such positions, significant annual costs would result. This proposal exclusively benefits retirees. Therefore, the increased costs are attributable to legacy groups, but funding for this proposal will be collected on salary reported for current and future members of Tier 6. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1, 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit change(s). This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes- sional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated February 4, 2026, and intended for use only during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-34. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actu- aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it impairs my objectivity.