Bill Text: NY A04284 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes two or more school districts in certain counties to enter into a contract to establish and operate a regional high school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-06 - held for consideration in education [A04284 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A04284-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4284 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 2, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GOODELL -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the estab- lishment of regional high school districts in certain counties The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 39-A 2 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 39-A 4 REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS 5 Section 1920. Regional high school; establishment. 6 1921. Operation by board of cooperative educational services. 7 1922. Additional state aid. 8 § 1920. Regional high school; establishment. A regional high school 9 may be formed by a contract entered into by two or more school 10 districts, which are city school districts in cities having a population 11 of less than one hundred twenty-five thousand inhabitants, central 12 school districts, union free school districts and/or common school 13 districts, provided that all such school districts are wholly contained 14 within the same board of cooperative educational services supervisory 15 district, and is wholly contained within any county having between one 16 hundred thirty-four thousand nine hundred three and one hundred thirty- 17 four thousand nine hundred seven inhabitants according to the two thou- 18 sand ten decennial federal census. Except as otherwise provided in this 19 article, the provisions of this chapter as to the courses of study, the 20 qualifications and employment of teachers and other staff, and the main- 21 tenance, conduct and supervision of public schools in central school 22 districts shall apply to a regional high school. Any contract for a 23 regional high school shall be subject to approval by the commissioner 24 and shall not be subject to approval by the electors of the school EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09177-01-7A. 4284 2 1 districts electing to form the regional high school, and the regional 2 high school and the contract shall meet the following requirements: 3 1. the contract shall be for a period of not less than two school 4 years and, with the approval of the commissioner, may be renewed by 5 mutual agreement of the boards of education; 6 2. the regional high school shall commence operations on the first of 7 July, and shall not cease operations before the thirtieth of June in any 8 school year; 9 3. the contract shall state whether the regional high school will be 10 operated by one of the participating school districts, hereinafter 11 referred to in this article as the "hosting school district," or by the 12 board of cooperative educational services pursuant to a contract author- 13 ized by section nineteen hundred twenty-one of this article; 14 4. the contract shall specify the manner in which the students of each 15 participating school district shall be transported to the regional high 16 school, and the cost of such transportation shall be a charge against 17 each such participating school district and be funded in the same manner 18 as transportation provided pursuant to section thirty-six hundred thir- 19 ty-five of this chapter; 20 5. such regional high school shall operate its own extra-curricular 21 activities and inter-scholastic athletics, and the students attending 22 such regional high school shall be eligible to participate in such 23 activities and athletics and shall not be eligible to participate in 24 such activities and athletics of their participating school district; 25 6. if the regional high school is operated by a hosting school 26 district, the regional high school and the contract shall meet the 27 following requirements: 28 a. the contract shall designate the site of the regional high school, 29 which shall be within the boundaries of one of the participating school 30 districts. The hosting school district shall have responsibility for the 31 operation, supervision and maintenance of the regional high school, as 32 shall be designated in the contract, 33 b. the contract shall specify that the students of each participating 34 school district shall remain as students of their respective participat- 35 ing school districts, and they shall be treated and counted as such for 36 purposes of all state aid calculations pursuant to this chapter, 37 c. the regional high school shall operate its own extra-curricular 38 activities and interscholastic athletics and the students attending such 39 regional high school shall be eligible to participate in such activities 40 and athletics and shall not be eligible to participate in such activ- 41 ities and athletics of their participating school district, 42 d. the contract shall provide that all school principals, assistant 43 principals, other supervisory personnel, teachers and other staff 44 members of the participating school districts, except the superintendent 45 of schools, whose services in the participating school districts are no 46 longer needed because of the creation of a regional high school or the 47 transference of students to an existing regional high school, shall be 48 granted employment rights in the host school district in accordance with 49 the provisions of this subdivision, and in the same manner as is 50 provided in sections three thousand fourteen-a and three thousand four- 51 teen-b of this chapter, 52 e. in any case in which a participating school district sends 53 students to a regional high school operated by a hosting school 54 district, each school principal, assistant principal, supervisory 55 employee, teacher and all other employees previously employed in the 56 education of such students by such participating school district priorA. 4284 3 1 to the time that such component district sends its students to the 2 regional high school shall be considered employees of the hosting school 3 district, with the same tenure status held in such component district, 4 and in the same manner as is provided in sections three thousand four- 5 teen-a and three thousand fourteen-b of this chapter. For purposes of 6 this section, when a participating school district takes back students 7 that it sent to another district on a tuition basis and sends such 8 students to a regional high school operated pursuant to this article, 9 the hosting school district of the regional high school shall be deemed 10 to be the sending district for purposes of the rights and protections 11 provided in section three thousand fourteen-c of this chapter, 12 f. if the number of supervisory, teaching and other positions needed 13 to provide the educational services required by a regional high school 14 is less than the number of school principals, assistant principals, 15 supervisory employees, teachers and other employees eligible to be 16 considered employees of the hosting school district of such regional 17 high school as provided by paragraph e of this subdivision, the services 18 of the school principals, assistant principals, supervisory employees, 19 teachers and other employees having the least seniority in the partic- 20 ipating school districts within the tenure area of the position shall be 21 discontinued. Such school principals, assistant principals, supervisory 22 employees, teachers and other employees shall be placed on a preferred 23 eligible list of candidates for appointment to a vacancy that may there- 24 after occur in an office or position under the jurisdiction of the 25 participating school district, the "receiving district" as defined in 26 section three thousand fourteen-c of this chapter, from which a partic- 27 ipating school district has taken back students, and the hosting school 28 district of the regional high school similar to the one such school 29 principal, assistant principal, supervisory employee, teacher or other 30 employee filled in such component district. The school principals, 31 assistant principals, supervisory employees, teachers and other employ- 32 ees on such preferred lists shall be reinstated or appointed to such 33 vacancies in such corresponding or similar positions under the jurisdic- 34 tion of the participating school district or the hosting school district 35 of the regional high school in the order of their length of service in 36 such participating school district, within seven years from the date of 37 the placement of the employee on said list, and 38 g. for any such school principal, assistant principal, supervisory 39 employee, teacher or other employee as described in paragraphs d and e 40 of this subdivision, for salary, sick leave and any other purposes, the 41 length of service credited in such participating school district shall 42 be credited as employment time with the hosting school district; 43 7. the contract shall specify that the regional high school shall be 44 solely responsible for the implementation and completion of all academic 45 achievement standards for the students of participating school 46 districts; and 47 8. this section shall in no way be construed to limit the rights of 48 any of such school principals, assistant principals, supervisory employ- 49 ees, teachers or other employees described in this section granted by 50 any other provision of law. 51 § 1921. Operation by board of cooperative educational services. 52 Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the boards 53 of education which are parties to an agreement to operate a regional 54 high school, with the approval of the commissioner, may contract with 55 the board of cooperative educational services of the supervisory 56 district in which they are located for the management and operation ofA. 4284 4 1 the regional high school. Such contract shall be for a period of not 2 less than two school years and, with the approval of the commissioner, 3 may be renewed by mutual agreement of the boards of education and the 4 board of cooperative educational services. Every such contract shall 5 provide for the commencement of operations of the regional high school 6 on the first of July, and shall only cease operations on the thirtieth 7 of June of any school year. 8 1. Upon entry into such contract, the board of cooperative educational 9 services shall take over all of the educational programs of the regional 10 high school and any and all responsibility for compliance with academic 11 achievement standards, and any employees of the regional high school or 12 of the participating school districts, as the case may be, shall become 13 employees of the board of cooperative educational services and the 14 provisions of section three thousand fourteen-a of this chapter shall 15 apply. Such employees shall be employees of the board of cooperative 16 educational services and shall not be deemed employees of the regional 17 high school or the participating school districts for any purpose. Upon 18 termination of the contract, the regional high school or the participat- 19 ing school districts, as the case may be, shall take over the educa- 20 tional programs and the employees shall become employees of the hosting 21 school district of the regional high school, and the provisions of 22 section three thousand fourteen-b of this chapter shall apply. 23 2. Notwithstanding any provisions of section nineteen hundred fifty of 24 this title or any other law to the contrary, the program and administra- 25 tive expenses attributable to the programs of the regional high school 26 shall be a charge upon the school districts participating in the 27 regional high school, and the board of cooperative educational services 28 shall portion such expenses to the school districts participating in the 29 regional high school in the manner prescribed in the contract between 30 the participating school districts and the board of cooperative educa- 31 tional services. The board of cooperative educational services shall not 32 charge any portion of the program or administrative expenses incurred 33 pursuant to this subdivision to its other component school districts. 34 Such administrative and program expenses shall not be eligible for aid 35 pursuant to subdivision five of section nineteen hundred fifty of this 36 title, but shall be eligible for aid pursuant to section thirty-six 37 hundred two of this chapter to the same extent as the expenses of any 38 other high school education program. Nothing in this subdivision shall 39 be construed to prevent the participating school districts from 40 contracting with the board of cooperative educational services for aida- 41 ble shared services in the same manner and under the same conditions as 42 any other component school district, and the cost of such aidable shared 43 services shall be eligible for aid pursuant to subdivision five of 44 section nineteen hundred fifty of this title. 45 3. During the term of a contract pursuant to this section, all schools 46 and other facilities of the participating school districts of the 47 regional high school which are used by the board of cooperative educa- 48 tional services in the operation of the regional high school shall be 49 deemed leased to the board of cooperative educational services at no 50 cost. Such schools and other facilities shall remain the property of the 51 participating school districts and any capital expenses and building 52 maintenance costs incurred with respect to such facilities shall be a 53 charge upon the participating school districts in accordance with the 54 terms of the contract. Such capital expenses and maintenance costs shall 55 not be eligible for aid pursuant to subdivision five of section nineteen 56 hundred fifty of this title but shall be eligible for aid pursuant toA. 4284 5 1 section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter to the same extent as 2 such expenses of any other school district. 3 4. Students receiving instruction from the regional high school shall 4 not be deemed to be enrolled in the board of cooperative educational 5 services, except to the extent that they are participating in a shared 6 service in their enrollment and attendance which shall be included in 7 the enrollment and attendance counts of the participating school 8 districts for the purposes of state aid. High school diplomas shall be 9 issued by the participating school districts and the board of education 10 of each participating school district shall remain responsible for the 11 performance of its students in the regional high school under the state 12 accountability system as if the students of each participating district 13 where in attendance at a high school operated by the participating 14 district. 15 § 1922. Additional state aid. Notwithstanding any other provision of 16 law to the contrary, the boards of education which are parties to an 17 agreement to operate a regional high school and which do in fact operate 18 a regional high school shall be eligible for additional state aid pursu- 19 ant to subdivision fourteen of section thirty-six hundred two of this 20 chapter in the same manner and to the same extent as a school district 21 which qualifies for such aid pursuant to paragraph j of subdivision 22 fourteen of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter. 23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
