New York, NY – Today, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D, WF-Fresh Meadows), Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), and Assemblyman Michael Blake (D-Bronx) announced a package of legislation to combat challenges faced by the growing number of New York City’s homeless students. The announcement follows the release of the City’s Independent Budget Office’s (IBO) report on student homelessness and the obstacles simultaneously stemming from navigating the public education system and temporary housing.

“With New York State’s ongoing investments to expand full day pre-K, the law should clarify that protections for students who are homeless apply to pre-K students as well. The State should do everything in our power to ensure all students have easy access to quality education regardless of their housing situation,” said Assemblywoman Rozic.

The lawmakers each authored legislation that would strengthen protections for pre-kindergarten students attending the City’s public schools. Rozic’s bill (A8709) would clarify that protections under state law for students who are homeless apply to pre-K students, such as the right to remain in their original schools for the rest of the school year if their parents choose.

To extend the same protections to pre-K students with disabilities, Assemblyman Hevesi has introduced a bill (A8639) that would allow a child’s original school district to retain responsibility for preschool special education evaluation and placement. For children on pre-K waitlists, Assemblyman Blake has introduced legislation (A9237) that would prioritize their placement and provide reimbursements to school districts for the cost of hiring additional staff when doing so is necessary to enrollment.

“I look forward to working with Assemblywoman Rozic and Assemblyman Blake to ensure some of New York’s youngest homeless and disabled students receive the protections they deserve while accessing our public education system,” said Assemblyman Hevesi.

“Building an education system that carries our young people from the cradle to the career has been a central part of my work in the New York State Assembly, and as we work towards this goal, it becomes clear that we cannot limit our focus to what happens during the school day. If parents of a student lose their home and they have to transition into a shelter, the challenges of balancing life and school become much more difficult each and every day. We need to start educating our young people as early as possible, which is why the legislation I sponsored will work to get students off the waiting list and into schools, while providing the schools with the necessary resources they need so they do not have to sacrifice school quality while trying to serve their students,” said Assemblyman Blake.

The IBO’s report, called “Not Reaching the Door: Homeless Students Face Many Hurdles on the Way to School,” found that during the 2014-15 school year, only approximately half of homeless families were placed in the same borough as their youngest child’s school. Further, their findings estimate the number of temporarily housed youth has increased by 25% since the 2010-11 school year. This kind of increase in housing instability creates a number of barriers, including lapses in children’s education, with one of the most significant impacts being chronic absenteeism.

When comparing attendance rates for the 2013-14 school year, the IBO found that temporarily housed students had attendance rates 5% points lower than permanently housed students. Chronic absenteeism rates are the highest among students living in shelters, with 34% absent compared to the estimated 27% among students in permanent housing.

Recent efforts to extend protections to pre-K students who are homeless are included in the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, signed into law by President Obama last December. The law went into effect this month and changes the definition of “school of origin” to include protections for homeless preschool students.