Bill Text: NY S07338 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
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: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-05-23 - referred to higher education [S07338 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S07338-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7338 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE August 20, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JORDAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules 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relating to establishing 2 union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the 3 county of Columbia is REPEALED. 4 § 2.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, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13075-01-1S. 7338 2 1 Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four 2 of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school 3 district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester 4 county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the 5 town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 6 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 7 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the 8 Hopevale union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and 9 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 10 county. 11 § 3. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 12 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 13 as amended by section 7 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended 14 to read as follows: 15 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 16 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 17 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 18 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 19 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 20 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 21 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 22 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 23 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; [union free school district number24eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county;] union free school 25 districts numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh, 26 Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four 27 of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school 28 district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester 29 county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the 30 town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 31 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 32 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; and 33 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 34 county. 35 § 4. Any funds remaining in the possession of the union free school 36 district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia, 37 after all of its debts and obligations have been paid, shall be paid 38 over to each social services district and school district having resi- 39 dent children served by the union free school district number eight in 40 the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school 41 year in the same proportion as the number of students placed by each 42 such social services district or school district and served by the union 43 free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of 44 Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year bears to the total number of 45 students served by the union free school district number eight in the 46 town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year. 47 Though the union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan 48 in the county of Columbia be dissolved, the board of cooperative educa- 49 tional services of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum- 50 bia, Greene Counties (Questar III BOCES) shall be authorized to act on 51 behalf of the school district pursuant to section five of this act. 52 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 53 during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa- 54 tion of the union free school district number eight of the town of 55 Canaan, Columbia County, Questar III BOCES shall be authorized to take 56 any actions on behalf of the school district that are reasonable andS. 7338 3 1 necessary to complete the closedown and dissolution of the district that 2 the board of education would have, including but not limited to, the 3 power to enter into contracts, pay outstanding debts for reimbursable 4 costs incurred for closedown of the school district under this section 5 and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of 6 the education law, provided however that the Questar III BOCES shall not 7 pay for outstanding debts using its own funds and shall not be liable 8 for any outstanding debt or claims incurred by the union free school 9 district number eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia County. The Ques- 10 tar III BOCES may sell school district property, if any, with approval 11 of the commissioner, and bill for and receive any reimbursement due and 12 owing for tuition pursuant to article 81 of the education law or any 13 other provision of law for services rendered to students on or before 14 the school district ceased operation on June 30, 2020 and reimbursement 15 for close down costs determined pursuant to this section and subpara- 16 graph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the educa- 17 tion law. The Questar III BOCES shall be reimbursed the actual docu- 18 mented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its duties under 19 the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of 20 subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to close down the 21 school district. The Questar III BOCES shall review the business records 22 of the school district, including any claims, invoices and bills submit- 23 ted to the school district during any period in which there was no duly 24 constituted board of education and shall audit any expenses or claims, 25 based on invoices, bills or other documentation, that were not included 26 in an audited financial statement or financial reports submitted to the 27 department by the school district, to determine if such expenses or 28 claims are duplicative of claims previously submitted for reimbursement 29 and, if not, whether they are supported by documentation that would 30 substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school 31 district or is otherwise an outstanding debt of the school district. 32 Such audit may be conducted by the claims auditor of the BOCES or, with 33 the approval of the commissioner, by an independent auditor retained by 34 the BOCES. The BOCES shall report to the department any audited claims 35 that were not included in an audited financial statement or financial 36 report, together with the documentation supporting such claims. 37 Reimbursement for costs incurred for closedown of the school district 38 shall include only: (i) any allowable costs approved by the commissioner 39 that were included in the audited financial statement and financial 40 reports submitted by the school district in conformity with the finan- 41 cial reporting requirements; (ii) additional allowable costs incurred in 42 the 2019-2020 school year or subsequently during the closedown period 43 that are approved by the commissioner in accordance with the reimbursa- 44 ble cost manual in effect for the 2019-2020 school year and relate to 45 claims that were audited by the Questar III BOCES pursuant to this 46 section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 47 4405 of the education law and are based on supporting documentation that 48 would substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school 49 district and not duplicative of claims previously reimbursed; and (iii) 50 the actual documented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its 51 duties under the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of 52 paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to 53 close down the school district, as approved by the commissioner based on 54 documentation that such costs were necessary to carry out such duties, 55 shall be included in a closedown rate payable by each school district or 56 social services district responsible for tuition for students attendingS. 7338 4 1 the special act school district in the 2019-2020 school year. Notwith- 2 standing any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 3 such closedown rate may be payable in three installments which shall be 4 as equal as practicable, over three consecutive years after the close- 5 down rate is established; provided that any reimbursement costs remain- 6 ing due to Questar III BOCES for carrying out its administrative duties 7 under this act and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of 8 section 4405 of the education law may be paid in the first installment. 9 In such capacity, such board of cooperative educational services and its 10 officers and employees shall be entitled to defense and indemnification 11 by the state pursuant to section 18 of the public officers law. Services 12 provided by the Questar III BOCES under this act and subparagraph (i) of 13 paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law shall 14 not result in any additional costs being imposed on component school 15 districts, except those costs imposed on a component school district 16 pursuant to a closedown rate calculated under this section. 17 § 6. The records of union free school district number eight of the 18 town of Canaan in the county of Columbia, shall be forwarded to the 19 district superintendent of schools for the board of cooperative educa- 20 tional services for the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum- 21 bia, Greene Counties for preservation. Notwithstanding any other 22 provision of law to the contrary, such records shall be deemed to be 23 records of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Columbia, Greene 24 Counties for purposes of the management and disposition of such records 25 and any local government management grants issued pursuant to section 26 57.35 of the arts and cultural affairs law. 27 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 28 the amendments to section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, made by 29 section three of this act, shall take effect on the same date and in the 30 same manner as section 5 of chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, as amended, 31 takes effect.
