§ 3213 — Supervisors of attendance; attendance teachers; attendance officers; appointment, compensation, powers and duties

New York § 3213

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law EDN: Education
• Title 4: Teachers and Pupils
• Part 1: Compulsory Education
• Art. 65: Compulsory Education and School Census

Text

§ 3213. Supervisors of attendance; attendance teachers; attendance\nofficers; appointment, compensation, powers and duties. 1. Appointment,\nremoval, compensation and supervision. a. To the end that children shall\nnot suffer through unnecessary failure to attend school for any cause\nwhatsoever, it shall be the duty of each attendance teacher and each\nattendance supervisor to secure for every child his right to educational\nopportunities which will enable him to develop his fullest\npotentialities for education, physical, social and spiritual growth as\nan individual and to provide for the school adjustment of any\nnonattendant child in cooperation with school authorities, special\nschool services and community and social agencies.\n The school authorities of each city school district, union free school\ndistrict, central school district, central high school district, or\ncommon school district whose limits include in whole or in part an\nincorporated village, shall appoint and may remove one or more\nsupervisors of attendance or attendance teachers of such district. A\nsupervisor of attendance shall be appointed in accordance with the civil\nservice law and rules, unless he or she is a licensed attendance teacher\nor a teacher licensed to teach in New York state, with such further\nqualifications as the board of regents shall establish. On and after\nJuly first, nineteen hundred fifty-five no full-time supervisor of\nattendance shall be appointed unless he or she holds a license as\nattendance teacher. Such supervisors of attendance and those holding\nfull-time positions who are similarly licensed teachers or who hold\nattendance teacher licenses shall be assigned to the step in the salary\nschedule of the school district commensurate with the salary being paid\nsuch supervisors or teachers. Such persons shall be paid thereafter in\naccordance with such schedule. If the amount of salary received on said\nJuly first, nineteen hundred fifty-five is less than the minimum step of\nthe salary schedule, such supervisor or teacher shall be paid until June\nthirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-six at the rate of the first step and\nin accordance with the schedule thereafter.\n No supervisor of attendance or attendance teacher shall be appointed\nwho is not twenty-one years of age and in proper physical condition.\n In the establishment of an eligible list advanced education related to\nattendance service shall be taken into consideration in the grading of\nthe candidates. Experience in teaching, in social service and welfare\nwork, and in business or in the professional field shall likewise be\ntaken into consideration.\n Paragraph a of subdivision one of this section shall apply to a city\nin which attendance supervisors are appointed from an eligible list now\nprepared by a board of examiners.\n Supervisors of attendance in a city having a board of examiners shall\nbe licensed as attendance teachers only when they comply with the\nregulations for such license as established by the commissioner of\neducation and any additional requirements which may be established by\nthe board of examiners.\n The board of education shall fix the compensation of part-time\nsupervisors of attendance and prescribe their duties not inconsistent\nwith part one of this article and make rules and regulations for the\nperformance thereof. The superintendent of schools or district\nsuperintendent of schools shall supervise the enforcement of part one of\nthis article within such city or school district.\n b. The town board of each town, with the approval, in writing, of the\ndistrict superintendent, shall appoint, on or before August first of\neach year, one or more attendance officers and shall fix their\ncompensation. During the school year it shall also fill promptly any\nvacancy after notification thereof by the district superintendent. The\ndistrict superintendent shall promptly notify the town board of his\napproval or disapproval of an appointment. If within one month a town\nboard shall not comply with the foregoing provisions, the district\nsuperintendent, subject to appeal to the commissioner of education,\nshall exercise the powers and duties of the town board with respect\nthereto. An attendance officer appointed for a town shall have\njurisdiction over all school districts of the town which are not\notherwise provided for by this section. He shall be removable at the\npleasure of the district superintendent. His compensation and his\nnecessary expenses in attending conferences called by the district\nsuperintendent shall be a town charge.\n c. In case a school district shall include territory lying within the\nboundaries of more than one town, the attendance officer appointed by\nthe town in which the schoolhouse is located shall have jurisdiction\nover the entire school district.\n 2. Powers and duties. a. Arrest of truants. A supervisor of\nattendance, attendance teacher or attendance officer, as the case may\nbe, may arrest without warrant any minor who is unlawfully absent from\nattendance upon instruction. He shall forthwith place the minor so\narrested in attendance upon required instruction and shall notify the\nparent or guardian of the minor, and he may then begin proceedings for\nhis commitment as a school delinquent or arraign him before a court\nhaving jurisdiction. Where a minor resides in one school district and\nattends school in another school district, the supervisor of attendance,\nattendance teacher or attendance officer of the district where the minor\nresides and the supervisor of attendance, attendance teacher or\nattendance officer of the district where said minor attends school shall\nhave concurrent jurisdiction with reference to said minor and to the\nperson or persons in parental relation to him.\n b. Right of entry.\n (1) A supervisor of attendance, attendance teacher or attendance\nofficer, as the case may be, in the performance of his duties, may enter\nduring business hours any factory, mercantile or other establishment, or\nother place in which a minor is believed to be employed within the city\nor school district in which he is appointed, and shall be entitled to\nexamine on demand the employment certificates or work permits of minors\ntherein employed, for whose lawful employment such certificates or\npermits are required by the provisions of part one of this article.\n (2) He may also enter any public place during the hours in which the\npublic have access thereto, to ascertain if any minor is therein who is\nrequired to attend upon instruction by the provisions of part one of\nthis article, or engaged in a street trade contrary to the provisions of\npart one of this article, or to collect information required for the\nschool census.\n c. Notification upon absence. It shall be the duty of every school\ndistrict to inform persons in parental relation to elementary school\npupils of such person's right to be notified when such pupil is deemed\nabsent from attendance at his designated school. Persons in parental\nrelation to elementary school pupils shall, if such notification is\ndesired, forward a request in writing to the principal of the pupil's\ndesignated school. Such request shall contain the telephone number of\nperson or persons in parental relation to the pupil or other information\nto facilitate communication with such persons by the most expedient\nmeans available. No civil or criminal liability shall arise or attach to\nany school district or employee thereof for any act or omission to act\nas a result of, or in connection with, the duties or activities\nauthorized or directed by this paragraph.\n d. Notification when deemed absent. A supervisor of attendance,\nattendance teacher, attendance officer, or other person authorized by\nthe school district, as the case may be, shall, where a request for\nnotification has been made pursuant to paragraph c of this subdivision,\nnotify a person in parental relation to any elementary school pupil by\nthe means designated in such request when such pupil is deemed absent\nfrom required attendance at his designated school without prior\nnotification and consent to such absence by the person in parental\nrelation. No civil or criminal liability shall arise or attach to any\nschool district or employee thereof for any act or omission to act as a\nresult of, or in connection with, the duties or activities authorized or\ndirected by this paragraph.\n e. To the extent that supervisors of attendance, attendance teachers\nand attendance officers act pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision\none of this section for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of\npart one of this article, they shall be deemed to have acted within the\nscope of their employment. Such personnel shall continue to have all the\npowers, duties and responsibilities conferred on them by law prior to\nthe date on which the provisions of this paragraph become effective.\n