Water Safety Information
Education Law § 926, entitled “Water Safety Information,” became effective on July 1, 2026, as an initiative to enhance water safety knowledge across the state. The statute requires all New York State school districts1 to prominently post on their websites and distribute State-developed information regarding drowning prevention, water safety, and safe and healthy swimming to parents/guardians of enrolled students.
The law creates an information-posting and distribution requirement, not a programmatic mandate. It does not require school districts to provide swimming instruction, evaluate student swimming competency, or make available or coordinate parental access to swimming lessons for students.
The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, is tasked with developing the materials that school districts must distribute and post on their websites. We are advised that the Department of Health is currently working with the State Education Department to ensure the requirements of Education Law § 926 are met so that parents/guardians and students receive and understand the important drowning prevention and safe swimming advice required by this law.
The Department of Health’s existing publicly available water-safety resources, pending issuance of the official materials, are provided as hyperlinks below.
The Department of Health has already developed the following publications:
- “Safe Swimming,” available at: https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/3112.pdf.
- “Drowning Prevention and Water Safety for Children and Teens,” available at: https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/injury_prevention/drowning_prevention.htm
- “Safe and Healthy Swimming,” available at: https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/swimming/