Establishes a grant program for public K-12 schools which are eligible for support provided under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, for the purposes of installing laundry equipment for facilities for use by students and parents or guardians of students.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4069
SPONSOR: Cunningham TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a grant
program for the installation of laundry equipment and facilities in
certain schools
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation would establish a competitive grant program for certain
Title I K-12 public schools to assist with purchasing and installing
laundry appliances and equipment where such facilities would assist
students residing in emergency housing and their families, or would
ameliorate frequent absenteeism due to a lack of clean clothes.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a compet-
itive grant program wherein certain Title I k12 public schools for
purposes of installing laundry equipment for students, parents and guar-
dians with preference going to those schools providing education to
homeless students and or students experiencing frequent absenteeism due
to lack of clean clothing.
Section 4 provides for an effective date of July 1St of the year follow-
ing becoming law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Lack of clean clothing due to unstable housing and economic disadvantage
is gaining recognition as a factor in school absenteeism rates. This
little known cause is often not reported as such to school attendance
officers due to the shame associated with living in poverty.
Lack of clean clothing can lead to absenteeism for a number of reasons.
Students may avoid attending school because they have been bullied for
wearing soiled or stained clothing. Other students may be sent home with
a notice or letter of concern from the school. A student's clothing may
be unclean due to a lack of laundry facilities at or near the student's
home, or because the student is unstably housed or living in an emergen-
cy shelter. The same barriers exist for economically disadvantaged
students that are required to wear uniforms to maintain compliance with
a school dress code.
A number of K-12 schools across the country have installed school-based
laundry facilities wherein students and their parents or guardians can
wash the family's clothing. Providing this service to students and fami-
lies has positively impacted student absenteeism rates. See: Attendance
Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Chronic Absenteeism in the COVID
Era (2020). Georgetown University, FutureED and Attendance Works.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New legislation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Dependent upon appropriation.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4069
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a grant
program for the installation of laundry equipment and facilities in
certain schools
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 3641-c
2 to read as follows:
3 § 3641-c. Grants for laundry equipment or facilities. The commissioner
4 shall establish a program of competitively awarded grants within the
5 amount appropriated for such purpose, to public K-12 schools, as defined
6 by the commissioner, which are eligible for support provided under Title
7 I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, for the
8 purposes of installing laundry equipment for facilities for use by
9 students and parents or guardians of students. When awarding such
10 grants, preference shall be given to schools with significant percent-
11 ages of students who reside in emergency housing and/or who experience
12 frequent absenteeism due to a lack of clean clothing.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
14 the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03629-01-3
