Bill Text: NY A06442 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Mandates the trustees of common school districts and the board of education of every union free school district to establish a code of ethics to be applied to the prohibition of the use of school resources for personal gain.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to education [A06442 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A06442-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6442

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     April 10, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. FITZPATRICK, J. M. GIGLIO, TAGUE -- Multi-Spon-
          sored by -- M. of A. MANKTELOW  --  read  once  and  referred  to  the
          Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandating the trustees
          of  common  school districts and the board of education of every union
          free school district to establish a code of ethics to  be  applied  to
          the prohibition of the use of school resources for personal gain

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 1604 of the education law is amended  by  adding  a
     2  new subdivision 45 to read as follows:
     3    45.  On  or  before  July  thirty-first, two thousand twenty-four, and
     4  annually thereafter, the governing body of each school district and each
     5  board of cooperative educational services shall  review  and  approve  a
     6  code  of  ethics that shall include standards for officers and employees
     7  prohibiting the use of property or resources of the  district  or  board
     8  for  personal gain.   A copy of such code shall be filed with the office
     9  of the state comptroller and the department within thirty  days  of  its
    10  annual  approval pursuant to this subdivision, and any subsequent amend-
    11  ments to such code shall be so filed within thirty days of  adoption  of
    12  such amendment.
    13    §  2.  Section  1709  of  the education law is amended by adding a new
    14  subdivision 36 to read as follows:
    15    36. On or before July  thirty-first,  two  thousand  twenty-four,  and
    16  annually thereafter, the governing body of each school district and each
    17  board  of  cooperative  educational  services shall review and approve a
    18  code of ethics that shall include standards for officers  and  employees
    19  prohibiting  the  use  of property or resources of the district or board
    20  for personal gain.  A copy of such code shall be filed with  the  office
    21  of  the  state  comptroller and the department within thirty days of its
    22  annual approval pursuant to this subdivision, and any subsequent  amend-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08537-01-3
        A. 6442                             2

     1  ments  to  such code shall be so filed within thirty days of adoption of
     2  such amendment.
     3    §  3.  Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 2102-a of the education
     4  law, as amended by chapter 388 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
     5  as follows:
     6    a.  Every trustee or voting member of a board of education of a school
     7  district or a board of  cooperative  educational  services,  elected  or
     8  appointed  for  a  term  beginning  on or after July first, two thousand
     9  five, shall, within the first year of his or her term, complete a  mini-
    10  mum  of six hours of training on the financial oversight, accountability
    11  and fiduciary responsibilities of a school board member.  Such  training
    12  shall  also  include examination of the school district's code of ethics
    13  as established in subdivision forty-five of section sixteen hundred four
    14  of this title.
    15    § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 2116-a of the education
    16  law, as amended by section 4 of part A-1 of chapter 58 of  the  laws  of
    17  2006, is amended to read as follows:
    18    (a)  The  school  authorities  of  each  school district, except those
    19  employing fewer than eight  teachers,  but  including  the  city  school
    20  districts of the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, shall obtain an annual
    21  audit of its records by an independent certified public accountant or an
    22  independent  public accountant. The report of such annual audit shall be
    23  presented to the trustees or board of education by such accountant.  The
    24  board  of education of the city school district of the city of New York,
    25  districts of such city shall obtain an annual audit by  the  comptroller
    26  of  the city of New York, or by an independent certified public account-
    27  ant or an independent public accountant. Such city school district audit
    28  shall include, but not be limited  to,  transactions  processed  at  the
    29  level  of the central administrative office, the district, and the indi-
    30  vidual school.  Such audit shall also include examination of all  trans-
    31  actions  to  ensure compliance with the school district's code of ethics
    32  as established in subdivision forty-five of section sixteen hundred four
    33  of this title. The community districts  of  such  city  school  district
    34  shall  obtain  an  annual  audit  by the bureau of audit of the board of
    35  education of the city school district of the city of New York or  by  an
    36  independent   certified  public  accountant  or  an  independent  public
    37  accountant. A copy of the audit report in form prescribed by the commis-
    38  sioner and certified by the accountant, or, in the city school  district
    39  of  the  city  of  New  York  or the community districts therein, by the
    40  accountant, or the comptroller or bureau of audit, as the case  may  be,
    41  shall  be  furnished  to the commissioner on or before October fifteenth
    42  following the end of the fiscal year audited, except  that  such  report
    43  shall  be  furnished  to  the  commissioner  on  or before January first
    44  following the end of  the  fiscal  year  audited  for  the  city  school
    45  districts  of  the  cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, and
    46  New York and for the community school districts of the city of New York.
    47    § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
    48  the  date  on  which  it  shall have become a law and shall apply to the
    49  following school year. Effective immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
    50  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
    51  of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to be made and
    52  completed on or before such effective date.