Bill Text: NY A10431 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides for the dissolution of union free school district number eight of the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia; makes technical corrections relating thereto; provides for the payment of the debts and obligations and the handling of records of such union free school district.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-01 - reported referred to rules [A10431 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A10431-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10431--A IN ASSEMBLY May 19, 2022 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Ashby, McDo- nald) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to providing for the apportionment of funds to certain special act school districts, in relation to eliminating reference to union free school district number eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; to provide for the payment of the debts and obligations and the handling of records of the union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan, Columbia County; and to repeal chapter 486 of the laws of 1964, relating to establishing union free school district number eight of the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Chapter 486 of the laws of 1964 relating to establishing 2 union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the 3 county of Columbia is REPEALED. 4 § 2. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 5 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 6 as amended by section 6 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended 7 to read as follows: 8 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 9 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 10 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 11 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 12 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 13 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 14 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 15 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 16 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; [union free school district number17eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county;] union free school 18 districts numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh, 19 Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13075-02-2A. 10431--A 2 1 of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school 2 district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester 3 county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the 4 town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 5 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 6 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the 7 Hopevale union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and 8 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 9 county. 10 § 3. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 11 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 12 as amended by section 7 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 15 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 16 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 17 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 18 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 19 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 20 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 21 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 22 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; [union free school district number23eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county;] union free school 24 districts numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh, 25 Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four 26 of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school 27 district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester 28 county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the 29 town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 30 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 31 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; and 32 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 33 county. 34 § 4. Any funds remaining in the possession of the union free school 35 district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia, 36 after all of its debts and obligations have been paid, shall be paid 37 over to each social services district and school district having resi- 38 dent children served by the union free school district number eight in 39 the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school 40 year in the same proportion as the number of students placed by each 41 such social services district or school district and served by the union 42 free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of 43 Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year bears to the total number of 44 students served by the union free school district number eight in the 45 town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year. 46 Though the union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan 47 in the county of Columbia be dissolved, the board of cooperative educa- 48 tional services of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum- 49 bia, Greene Counties (Questar III BOCES) shall be authorized to act on 50 behalf of the school district pursuant to section five of this act. 51 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 52 during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa- 53 tion of the union free school district number eight of the town of 54 Canaan, Columbia County, Questar III BOCES shall be authorized to take 55 any actions on behalf of the school district that are reasonable and 56 necessary to complete the closedown and dissolution of the district thatA. 10431--A 3 1 the board of education would have, including but not limited to, the 2 power to enter into contracts, pay outstanding debts for reimbursable 3 costs incurred for closedown of the school district under this section 4 and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of 5 the education law, provided however that the Questar III BOCES shall not 6 pay for outstanding debts using its own funds and shall not be liable 7 for any outstanding debt or claims incurred by the union free school 8 district number eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia County. The Ques- 9 tar III BOCES may sell school district property, if any, with approval 10 of the commissioner, and bill for and receive any reimbursement due and 11 owing for tuition pursuant to article 81 of the education law or any 12 other provision of law for services rendered to students on or before 13 the school district ceased operation on June 30, 2020 and reimbursement 14 for closedown costs determined pursuant to this section and subparagraph 15 (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education 16 law. The closedown rate shall reimburse Questar III BOCES for the actu- 17 al documented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its duties 18 under the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j 19 of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to closedown the 20 school district. The Questar III BOCES shall review the business records 21 of the school district, including any claims, invoices and bills submit- 22 ted to the school district during any period in which there was no duly 23 constituted board of education and shall audit any expenses or claims, 24 based on invoices, bills or other documentation, that were not included 25 in an audited financial statement or financial reports submitted to the 26 department by the school district, to determine if such expenses or 27 claims are duplicative of claims previously submitted for reimbursement 28 and, if not, whether they are supported by documentation that would 29 substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school 30 district or is otherwise an outstanding debt of the school district. 31 Such audit may be conducted by the claims auditor of the BOCES or, with 32 the approval of the commissioner, by an independent auditor retained by 33 the BOCES. The BOCES shall report to the department any audited claims 34 that were not included in an audited financial statement or financial 35 report, together with the documentation supporting such claims. 36 Reimbursement for costs incurred for closedown of the school district 37 shall include only: (i) any allowable costs approved by the commissioner 38 that were included in the audited financial statement and financial 39 reports submitted by the school district in conformity with the finan- 40 cial reporting requirements; (ii) additional allowable costs incurred in 41 the 2019-2020 school year or subsequently during the closedown period 42 that are approved by the commissioner in accordance with the reimbursa- 43 ble cost manual in effect for the 2019-2020 school year and relate to 44 claims that were audited by the Questar III BOCES pursuant to this 45 section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 46 4405 of the education law and are based on supporting documentation that 47 would substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school 48 district and not duplicative of claims previously reimbursed; and (iii) 49 the actual documented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its 50 duties under the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of 51 paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to 52 closedown the school district, as approved by the commissioner based on 53 documentation that such costs were necessary to carry out such duties, 54 shall be included in a closedown rate payable by each school district or 55 social services district responsible for tuition for students attending 56 the special act school district in the 2019-2020 school year. Notwith-A. 10431--A 4 1 standing any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 2 such closedown rate may be payable in three installments which shall be 3 as equal as practicable, over three consecutive years after the close- 4 down rate is established; provided that any reimbursement costs remain- 5 ing due to Questar III BOCES for carrying out its administrative duties 6 under this act and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of 7 section 4405 of the education law may be paid in the first installment. 8 In such capacity, such board of cooperative educational services and its 9 officers and employees shall be entitled to defense and indemnification 10 by the state pursuant to section 18 of the public officers law. Services 11 provided by the Questar III BOCES under this act and subparagraph (i) of 12 paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law shall 13 not result in any additional costs being imposed on component school 14 districts, except those costs imposed on a component school district 15 pursuant to a closedown rate calculated under this section. 16 § 6. The records of union free school district number eight of the 17 town of Canaan in the county of Columbia, shall be forwarded to the 18 district superintendent of schools for the board of cooperative educa- 19 tional services for the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum- 20 bia, Greene Counties for preservation. Notwithstanding any other 21 provision of law to the contrary, such records shall be deemed to be 22 records of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Columbia, Greene 23 Counties for purposes of the management and disposition of such records 24 and any local government management grants issued pursuant to section 25 57.35 of the arts and cultural affairs law. 26 § 7. The territory comprising the union free school district number 27 eight of the town of Canaan, county of Columbia, shall revert to and 28 become part of the New Lebanon central school district in the county of 29 Columbia. 30 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 31 the amendments to section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, made by 32 section three of this act, shall take effect on the same date and in the 33 same manner as section 5 of chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, as amended, 34 takes effect.
