Bill > S01371

This bill establishes the "Education Equity Act" to provide language assistance services for parents and guardians of public school students whose primary language is not English. The bill requires school districts to create annual language assistance plans that assess language needs, determine the primary language spoken by parents or guardians upon student enrollment, and provide interpretation and translation services in "covered languages" (defined as the most commonly spoken languages other than English in a given school district, with the number of languages varying based on the district's population size). School districts must ensure telephone interpretation services are available during business hours, translate key documents like report cards and permission slips, and display notices about language assistance services in multiple languages. The bill mandates that school districts create mechanisms for document translation, prepare informational materials about language assistance rights, and submit annual reports to local education boards detailing their language support efforts. The legislation also includes provisions allowing for volunteer interpretation, permits school districts to exceed the minimum requirements, and does not require translation of unintelligible or non-educational documents. The act will take effect 180 days after becoming law and applies to school districts across New York State, with slightly different requirements for districts in larger cities.

Education

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1371