State Sen. Jeffrey Klein says a state law designed to keep sex offenders away from schools doesn't include universal pre-K and kindergarten facilities.

Kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs that exist physically outside of actual school buildings do not receive protection under the law barring convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet.

"What we found was astonishing," Klein says. "These ticking time bombs can attack our kids at any time, and the law unfortunately isn't there to protect them."

Members of the Independent Democratic Conference, which Klein heads, say they looked at 1,800 standalone pre-K and kindergarten centers in the city and found 93 registered sex offenders living within the 1,000-foot boundary.

Legislation that would place restrictions on the most violent sex offenders from living near kindergartens and pre-kindergartens has passed in the state Senate, and Klein is urging the Assembly to approve it too.