S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 5057--A 2013-2014 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E May 7, 2013 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT authorizing the East Ramapo central school district to receive certain apportionments on an accelerated basis THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. In order to avoid endangering the fiscal stability of the 2 East Ramapo central school district, certain apportionments payable to 3 the East Ramapo central school district shall be paid on an accelerated 4 schedule as follows: 5 a. (1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for aid payable in 6 the school years 2013--2014 through 2042--2043 upon application to the 7 commissioner of education submitted not sooner than the second Monday in 8 June of the school year in which such aid is payable and not later than 9 the Friday following the third Monday in June of the school year in 10 which such aid is payable, or ten days after the effective date of this 11 act, whichever shall be later, the East Ramapo central school district 12 shall be eligible to receive an apportionment pursuant to this act in an 13 amount equal to the product of $3,500,000 and the quotient of the posi- 14 tive difference of thirty minus the number of school years elapsed since 15 the 2013--2014 school year divided by thirty. Such application shall 16 include a detailed plan demonstrating how such apportionment shall be 17 used by the East Ramapo central school district in accordance with para- 18 graph 2 of this subdivision. 19 (2) Funds apportioned pursuant to this subdivision shall be used for 20 services and expenses of the East Ramapo central school district and 21 shall be applied exclusively to support of: instructional services, 22 including teacher salaries; guidance services, including guidance coun- 23 selor salaries; health services, including nurse salaries; security EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10477-06-3 S. 5057--A 2 1 services, including security guard salaries; board of cooperative educa- 2 tion services expenses; co-curricular activities, including instruc- 3 tional salaries and contractual services; intra-mural activities, 4 including instructional salaries; and interscholastic athletics, includ- 5 ing instructional salaries, contractual expenses, security and transpor- 6 tation. 7 b. The claim for an apportionment to be paid to the East Ramapo 8 central school district pursuant to subdivision a of this section shall 9 be submitted to the commissioner of education on a form prescribed for 10 such purpose, and shall be payable upon determination by such commis- 11 sioner that the form has been submitted as prescribed and that the 12 school district has complied with the reporting requirements of this 13 act, including submission by such district of a detailed plan demon- 14 strating how such apportionment shall be used in accordance with para- 15 graph 2 of subdivision a of this section. For each school year in which 16 application is made pursuant to subdivision a of this section, such 17 approved amount shall be payable on or before June thirtieth of such 18 school year upon the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on 19 vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of education in the 20 manner prescribed by law from moneys in the state lottery fund appropri- 21 ated for general support of public schools and from the general fund to 22 the extent that the amount paid to the East Ramapo central school 23 district pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision a of this section 24 exceeds the amount of the lottery apportionment, if any, due such school 25 district pursuant to subparagraph 2 of paragraph a of subdivision 1 of 26 section 3609-a of the education law on or before September first of such 27 school year. 28 c. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3609-a of the education 29 law, an amount equal to the amount paid to the East Ramapo central 30 school district during the base year pursuant to subdivisions a and b of 31 this section shall first be deducted from payments due during the 32 current school year pursuant to subparagraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of para- 33 graph a of subdivision 1 of section 3609-a of the education law in the 34 following order: the lottery apportionment payable pursuant to subpara- 35 graph 2 of such paragraph followed by the fixed fall payments payable 36 pursuant to subparagraph 4 of such paragraph, and any remainder to be 37 deducted from the individualized payments due to the district pursuant 38 to paragraph b of such subdivision shall be deducted on a chronological 39 basis starting with the earliest payment due the district. 40 d. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the sum of payments 41 made to the East Ramapo central school district during the base year 42 pursuant to subdivisions a and b of this section plus payments made to 43 such school district during the current year pursuant to section 3609-a 44 of the education law shall be deemed to truly represent all aids paid to 45 such school district during the current school year pursuant to such 46 section 3609-a of the education law for the purposes of computing any 47 adjustments to such aids that may occur in a subsequent school year. 48 e. (1) On or before the first day of each month beginning in July 2014 49 and ending in June 2043, the chief fiscal officer and the superintendent 50 of schools of the East Ramapo central school district shall prepare and 51 submit to the board of education of the school distract a report of the 52 fiscal condition of the school district, including but not limited to 53 the most current available data on fund balances on funds maintained by 54 the school district and the district's use of the apportionments 55 provided pursuant to subdivisions a and b of this section. S. 5057--A 3 1 (2) Such monthly report shall be in a format prescribed by the commis- 2 sioner of education. The board of education shall either reject and 3 return the report to the chief fiscal officer and the superintendent of 4 schools for appropriate revisions and resubmittal or shall approve the 5 report and submit copies to the commissioner of education and the state 6 comptroller of such approved report as submitted or resubmitted. 7 (3) In the 2013--2014 through 2042--2043 school years, the chief 8 fiscal officer of the East Ramapo central school district shall monitor 9 all budgets and for each budget, shall prepare a quarterly report of 10 summarized budget data depicting overall trends of actual revenues and 11 budget expenditures for the entire budget as well as individual line 12 items. Such report shall compare revenue estimates and appropriations as 13 set forth in such budget with the actual revenues and expenditures made 14 to date. All quarterly reports shall be accompanied by a recommendation 15 from the superintendent of schools or chief fiscal officer to the board 16 of education setting forth any remedial actions necessary to resolve any 17 unfavorable budget variance including the overestimation of revenue and 18 underestimation of appropriations. The chief fiscal officer shall also 19 prepare, as part of such report, a quarterly trial balance of general 20 ledger accounts in accordance with generally accepted accounting princi- 21 ples as prescribed by the state comptroller. All reports shall be 22 completed within sixty days after the end of each quarter and shall be 23 submitted to the chief fiscal officer and the board of education of the 24 East Ramapo central school district, the state division of the budget, 25 the office of the state comptroller, the commissioner of education, the 26 chair of the assembly ways and means committee and the chair of the 27 senate finance committee. 28 S 2. a. Before the expenditure of funds received pursuant to the 29 apportionment under section one of this act, the superintendent of such 30 district shall appoint a temporary district-based advisory team to 31 develop a comprehensive expenditure plan for such funds. The district- 32 based advisory team shall consist of the superintendent of schools of 33 the East Ramapo central school district or his or her designee, a member 34 of the school board of such district, a teacher employed in a public 35 school selected by the bargaining unit representing teachers in such 36 district, an administrator employed in a public school selected by the 37 bargaining unit representing administrators in such district, and a 38 parent of a student attending a public school within such district 39 selected by the East Ramapo parent teachers association council. 40 b. The district-based advisory team shall collaboratively develop 41 educational goals to be achieved through expenditure of funds provided 42 pursuant to section one of this act. Such goals shall conform with 43 requirements pertaining to students with disabilities pursuant to appli- 44 cable federal and state laws, including but not limited to ensuring 45 students receive education in the least restricted environment. Follow- 46 ing adoption of the educational goals, the district-based advisory team 47 shall develop a comprehensive expenditure plan aligned with such goals. 48 c. The district-based advisory team shall, in conjunction with the 49 board of education, hold at least one public forum within the district 50 for the purpose of reporting on the contents of the comprehensive 51 expenditure plan developed pursuant to subdivision b of this section. 52 The superintendent of schools of the East Ramapo central school district 53 shall ensure that notice for the public forum or forums is posted in a 54 manner to maximize the participation of parents, students and school 55 personnel. S. 5057--A 4 1 d. Following the forum or forums held pursuant to subdivision c of 2 this section, but prior to voting on the proposed comprehensive expendi- 3 ture plan, the superintendent of schools of the East Ramapo central 4 school district shall publicly report to the board of education of such 5 district an assessment of all public comments concerning the proposed 6 comprehensive expenditure plan. Such assessment shall include: (1) a 7 summary and analysis of the issues raised and significant alternatives 8 suggested; (2) a statement of the reasons why significant alternatives 9 were not incorporated into the proposed expenditure plan; and (3) a 10 description of any changes made to the proposed expenditure plan as a 11 result of public comments received. 12 e. Following receipt of the assessment by the superintendent of 13 schools of the East Ramapo central school district, the board of educa- 14 tion shall adopt a comprehensive expenditure plan only after the 15 district-based advisory team has certified that such plan is sufficient- 16 ly aligned with the educational goals developed pursuant to subdivision 17 b of this section. 18 S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.