§ 806. Courses of instruction in highway safety and traffic regulation; school safety patrols. 1. The regents of The University of the State of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in highway safety and traffic regulation which shall include bicycle safety, to be maintained and followed in all the schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools shall attend upon such instruction.

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Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in private schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools shall attend upon such courses. If such courses are not so established and maintained in a private school, attendance upon instruction in such school shall not be deemed substantially equivalent to instruction given to pupils of like grade in the public schools in the city or district in which such pupils reside.

2. The regents shall determine the subjects to be included in such courses of instruction in highway safety and traffic regulation including bicycle safety, and the period of instruction in each of the grades in such subjects. They shall adopt rules providing for attendance upon such instruction and for such other matters as are required for carrying into effect the teaching of the courses of instruction prescribed by this section. The commissioner of education shall be responsible for the enforcement of such section and shall cause to be inspected and supervise the instruction to be given in such subjects. The commissioner may, in his discretion, cause all or a portion of the public school money to be apportioned to a district or city to be withheld for failure of the school authorities of such district or city to provide instruction in such courses and to compel attendance upon such instruction, as herein prescribed, and for a noncompliance with the rules of the regents adopted as herein provided.

3. Any board of education or school district board is empowered to organize in the school over which it has control a school safety patrol and, with the written consent of the parents, to appoint pupils as members thereof for the purpose of influencing and encouraging the safe use of highways and highway crossings and bicycles by the pupils of the school. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or permit the use of any safety patrol member for the purpose of directing vehicular traffic nor shall any safety patrol member be stationed in that portion of the highway intended for the use of vehicular traffic. Such patrol shall function only under the direction and control of the principal or teacher in charge of such school. No liability shall attach either to the school district or any individual, trustee, board member, superintendent, principal, teacher or other school authority by virtue of the organization, maintenance or operation of a school safety patrol organized, maintained and operated under authority of this section.