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(a) All exits must have clear and legible illuminated exit signs. All exit signs and emergency lighting must be maintained in working condition.
(b) Programs must have approved fire extinguishers in good working order and have them inspected as required by the Fire Department.
(c) Fire drills must be conducted monthly and logged. Such logs must be kept on-site and made available to the Department and the Fire Department upon request.
(d) Heating apparatuses must be equipped with adequate protective guards. Space heaters are prohibited.
(e) Premises must be free of electrical, chemical, mechanical and all other types of hazards.
(f) Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with audible alarms must be provided in accordance with applicable law or as required by the Department or the Fire Department and maintained in working condition.
(Added City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
(a) Applicability. This section applies to all rooms and areas in a school facility that are occupied by children, or to which such children have access.
(b) Peeling lead-based paint prohibited.
(1) There shall be no peeling lead-based paint or peeling paint of unknown lead content on any surface.
(2) Peeling lead-based paint or peeling paint of unknown lead content shall be immediately abated or remediated upon discovery, in accordance with 24 RCNY Health Code § 173.14.
(3) When there has been an order to abate or remediate lead-based paint hazards issued by the Department, the owner of the building in which the program is located must use only the methods specified in such order.
(A) After such order has been served by the Department, the owner or person in charge of a school must post the notices required by 24 RCNY Health Code § 173.14(e)(1)(A) at or near the entrance of the facility.
(B) The owner or person in charge of a school must comply with the requirements of the order within 21 days after service of the order. Where compliance with the time period requirements of this subdivision would cause undue hardship and the owner or person in charge of a school demonstrates a good faith effort to timely comply, such as by showing that it has taken steps to remediate, including by retaining a contractor to conduct the remediation, and demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department that it is maintaining adequate controls to protect children from a lead-based paint hazard, the Department may, at its discretion, extend the time period for compliance.
(4) Children must not be in nor have access to any room or area undergoing abatement, remediation or other work which disturbs lead-based paint or paint of unknown lead content until after completion of final clean-up and clearance dust testing.
(5) The work practices of 24 RCNY Health Code § 173.14 shall not apply to repair and maintenance work which disturbs surfaces of less than two (2) square feet of peeling lead-based paint per room or ten (10) percent of the total surface area of peeling paint on a type of component with a small surface area, such as a window sill or door frame.
(c) Equipment and furnishings. Equipment and furnishings shall be painted with lead-free paint.
(e) Annual survey. At least once each year, the owner or person in charge of a school must conduct a survey of the condition of surfaces in classrooms or other areas used by children that are covered with lead-based paint or paint of unknown lead content. Survey results must be recorded on a form provided or approved by the Department. The survey form must include, but need not be limited to, the following: the date of the survey; a description of, and the location of, each surface surveyed and remediation status, if applicable.
(1) Within 30 days of completion of such survey, the annual survey results must be submitted to the Department. Copies of such survey results may be submitted to the Department by mail, fax or electronically.
(2) Within 30 days of submitting to the Department, the school must notify the parent or guardian of each child attending the program of the results of the annual survey. Such notice may be provided electronically if the permittee routinely communicates with parents or guardians electronically and may refer to detailed results on a website if such results are maintained there. The school must maintain documentation indicating the date on which such notice was provided. A copy of the notice and proof of the date when such notification was made must be made available to the Department immediately upon request. If such records are maintained electronically, Department staff must be allowed to access such records while on-site.
(f) Definitions. All terms used in this section shall have the same meanings as the terms defined in 24 RCNY Health Code § 173.14.
(Amended City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
(a) Drinking water. Drinking water from faucets and fountains must be tested for lead content by persons in charge of a school upon the effective date of this provision or by persons in charge of a new school program within 60 days of filing the notice required by 24 RCNY Health Code § 43.05 and every five years thereafter using a method approved by the Department. Copies of test results must be sent to the Department by mail, email or fax on receipt and the persons in charge of a school must investigate and take remedial action if lead levels at or above 15 parts per billion (ppb) are detected. Remedial action must be described in a corrective action plan to be submitted to the Department with reports of elevated test results. Until remedial action is completed, the persons in charge of a school must provide and use bottled potable water from a source approved by the Department or the State Department of Health.
(b) Window guards. Department approved window guards or other window opening limiting devices must be installed on all windows in all rooms, hallways, and stairwells, except windows giving access to fire escapes used as a secondary means of egress, if children under six years of age have access to such areas.
(c) All items of large furniture and all electronic appliances capable of being tipped over due to design, height, weight, stability or other features must be secured to the floors or walls of such facility, using angle-braces, anchors or other anchoring devices. Any item of furniture or electronic device which cannot be so anchored must be removed from the facility.
(Added City Record 9/20/2016, eff. 10/20/2016; amended City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
When the strict application of any provision of this article presents practical difficulties, or unusual or unreasonable hardships, the Commissioner in a specific instance may modify the application of such provision consistent with the general purpose and intent of these articles and upon such conditions as in the Commissioner's opinion are necessary to protect the health of the children. The denial by the Commissioner of a request for modification may be appealed to the Board in the manner provided by 24 RCNY Health Code § 5.21.
(Amended City Record 6/12/2018, eff. 7/12/2018)
School-based programs will allow credentialed Department staff to visit the programs while in operation and inspect the documents that are required by this Article to be kept on the premises and provided upon request. Such inspections will occur at least once per year.
(Added City Record 6/12/2018, eff. 7/12/2018)
(a) Imminent or public health hazards.
(1) If the Department determines that a program is being operated in a manner that may give rise to an imminent or public health hazard as defined in 24 RCNY Health Code § 43.01, or is maintaining one or more conditions that constitute an imminent or public health hazard, or that its operation otherwise presents an unreasonable risk of endangering the health or safety of children or other persons, the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee may order such program to close and to discontinue operations if the program is unable to correct the hazard, without further proceedings, by service of an order upon the school, or person(s) or entity managing or in control of such program.
(2) An order issued pursuant to this subdivision will provide the school, or person(s) or entity in control, an opportunity to object or contest the order in order to determine whether the public health hazard does not exist or has been corrected and if the hearing provided by subdivision (b) of this section is required.
(b) When a program subject to this Article is ordered closed, the Department will schedule a hearing at the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) Trials Division within 15 business days of closure. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the program to show cause why its continued operation is not a public health or imminent health hazard and why it should be allowed to reopen.
(c) The Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee may require any school that consistently fails to correct or repeats violations to prepare a corrective action plan in which factors contributing to violations are analyzed and a plan is created to address and correct violations to prevent their recurrence.
(d) Additional operating terms and conditions authorized. The Department may authorize the reopening of a program that has been ordered closed upon its determination that continuing operation will not present any unreasonable risk to any person and may impose such additional conditions upon reopening and continuing operation that it deems appropriate.
(e) Service of orders. Service of any order issued pursuant to this Article may be made upon any person to whom the order is addressed, to the person in charge of a school, to a person or entity that owns or operates the school, or upon any other person of suitable age and discretion who is asserting ownership, management or control of such program. Service of any order may be made in any manner provided in 24 RCNY Health Code § 3.05(b), or successor provision, and may be delivered to an owner or operator's home, or business address of the school listed in the notice submitted to the Department, or at the place where the program is being operated.
(f) Posting orders to close; notifying parents. Upon issuing an order to close a program for any reason, the Department will post a copy of the closing order at the entrance to the premises subject to such order and will notify and provide a copy of the closing order to the parents or other persons who arrive at the program to pick up children attending the program.
(g) Operation in violation of order prohibited. No person can remove an order posted pursuant to this section, or open to the public or operate a program in violation of an order issued pursuant to this section.
(h) Department authority not limited by this section. Nothing in this Article can be construed to limit the authority of the Department to take any authorized action it deems appropriate in the protection of children or staff participating in a program subject to this Article, including issuance of summonses seeking monetary penalties for violations cited by the Department, or commencing actions concerning the ongoing ability to operate such a program.
(Added City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
This Article must be liberally construed for the protection of the health of children attending programs regulated by this Article. If any provision of this Article is adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this Article.
(Added City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
When used in this article and in 24 RCNY Health Code Articles 49 and 51:
(a) School means a public or private elementary or junior high school where more than six children are received for instruction, but does not include a day care service attached to an elementary or junior high school. The term school shall include a kindergarten conducted as part of an elementary school by the Board of Education.
(b) Children's institution means a congregate institution, group residence, group home or other place where, for compensation or otherwise, seven or more children under 21 years of age are received for day and night care apart from their parents or guardians. The term children's institution shall not, however, include a children's overnight camp as defined by 24 RCNY Health Code § 48.03(b), a boarding school as governed by 24 RCNY Health Code § 49.11, or a children's hospital.
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