Bill > S08139

This bill modifies the New York education law to update how school districts calculate their "extraordinary needs count" for funding purposes, specifically by adding a new component to count homeless children and children in foster care. The bill defines a new term "count of homeless children and children or youth in foster care" as the sum of students identified as homeless or in foster care during the most recently completed school year, multiplied by 32 percent. This means that when calculating the total funding allocation for school districts with eight or more teachers, the number of homeless and foster care students will now be included alongside existing factors like English language learner counts and poverty counts. The bill also adjusts the English language learner weight, increasing it from 0.50 to 0.53 starting in the 2025-2026 school year. The changes will take effect on July 1, 2025, and are intended to provide additional financial support to school districts with students who may require extra educational resources and assistance.

Education

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8139