§ 806 — Courses of instruction in highway safety and traffic regulation; school safety patrols

§ 806. Courses of instruction in highway safety and traffic\nregulation; school safety patrols. 1. The regents of The University of\nthe State of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in highway\nsafety and traffic regulation which shall include bicycle safety, to be\nmaintained and followed in all the schools of the state. The boards of\neducation and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the\nstate shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the\nteachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such\nschools shall attend upon such instruction.\n Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in\nprivate schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools shall\nattend upon such courses. If such courses are not so established and\nmaintained in a private school, attendance upon instruction in such\nschool shall not be deemed substantially equivalent to instruction given\nto pupils of like grade in the public schools in the city or district in\nwhich such pupils reside.\n 2. The regents shall determine the subjects to be included in such\ncourses of instruction in highway safety and traffic regulation\nincluding bicycle safety, and the period of instruction in each of the\ngrades in such subjects. They shall adopt rules providing for\nattendance upon such instruction and for such other matters as are\nrequired for carrying into effect the teaching of the courses of\ninstruction prescribed by this section. The commissioner of education\nshall be responsible for the enforcement of such section and shall cause\nto be inspected and supervise the instruction to be given in such\nsubjects. The commissioner may, in his discretion, cause all or a\nportion of the public school money to be apportioned to a district or\ncity to be withheld for failure of the school authorities of such\ndistrict or city to provide instruction in such courses and to compel\nattendance upon such instruction, as herein prescribed, and for a\nnoncompliance with the rules of the regents adopted as herein provided.\n 3. Any board of education or school district board is empowered to\norganize in the school over which it has control a school safety patrol\nand, with the written consent of the parents, to appoint pupils as\nmembers thereof for the purpose of influencing and encouraging the safe\nuse of highways and highway crossings and bicycles by the pupils of the\nschool. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or\npermit the use of any safety patrol member for the purpose of directing\nvehicular traffic nor shall any safety patrol member be stationed in\nthat portion of the highway intended for the use of vehicular traffic.\nSuch patrol shall function only under the direction and control of the\nprincipal or teacher in charge of such school. No liability shall attach\neither to the school district or any individual, trustee, board member,\nsuperintendent, principal, teacher or other school authority by virtue\nof the organization, maintenance or operation of a school safety patrol\norganized, maintained and operated under authority of this section.\n