Int. No. 403-A
By Council Members Reynoso, Dickens, Koo, Rose, Rodriguez, Menchaca, Mendez, Constantinides, Kallos, Gentile, Chin, Cohen, Levin, Deutsch, Gibson, Torres, Eugene, Espinal, Barron, Williams, Levine, Maisel, Treyger, Dromm, Lander, Van Bramer, Crowley and Mealy
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of education to report information regarding guidance counselors and social workers in schools.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new Chapter 3 to title 21-A to read as follows:
Chapter 3. Reporting on Guidance Counselors and Social Workers
§ 21-952 Annual reporting on guidance counselors and social workers. a. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Guidance counselor" means any personnel, licensed and certified by New York state as a school counselor, hired to provide individual or group counseling assistance to students in the elementary, middle, or high school grades, within the city school district of the city of New York.
2. "Social worker" means any personnel, licensed and certified by New York state as a school social worker, hired to provide individual or group counseling assistance to students in the elementary, middle, or high school grades, within the city school district of the city of New York.
3. "Individualized education program (IEP)" means a written statement, developed, reviewed and revised in accordance with section 200.4 of title 8 of the compilation of codes, rules, and regulations of the state of New York, provided to meet the unique educational needs of a student with a disability.
b. Not later than February 15, 2015, and annually thereafter, the department shall submit to the council and post on the department's website a report of information regarding guidance counselors and social workers for the current school year. Such report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the number of full and part-time guidance counselors and social workers in each school, (ii) the guidance counselor and social worker to student ratio in each school, (iii) whether the guidance counselor or social worker is providing counseling assistance to more than one school, (iv) the number of guidance counselors and social workers who provide counseling services as mandated by an IEP as of December 15 of the current school year, (v) the number of staff in each school who received professional development or training in postsecondary planning as of the prior school year, and (vi) the number of licensed and certified bilingual guidance counselors and social workers in each school. Such report shall also include the number of guidance counselors and social workers in the absent teacher reserve pool for grades seven through twelve, and information regarding any guidance memorandums issued by the department regarding college preparedness. Such report shall include demographic information for students in each school, including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, English language learner status, special education status, and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch pursuant to guidelines promulgated by the United States department of agriculture.
c. No information that is otherwise required to be reported pursuant to this section shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state or local law relating to the privacy of student information or that would interfere with law enforcement investigations or otherwise conflict with the interests of law enforcement.
§ 2. This local law shall take effect immediately after its enactment into law.
AES/AV
10/14/14, 10:00pm
LS 1044