Bill Text: NY S08522 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to metered in funding for rental assistance for all New York city charter students.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-13 - PRINT NUMBER 8522A [S08522 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08522-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8522

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 8, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on New York City Education

        AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to rental assistance for
          all New York city charter school students

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

     1    Section  1.  Paragraph  (e)  of  subdivision  3 of section 2853 of the
     2  education law, as added by section 5 of part BB of  chapter  56  of  the
     3  laws  of  2014, subparagraphs 5 and 6 as amended by section 11 of part A
     4  of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016,  clause  (B)  of  subparagraph  5  as
     5  amended  by  section 5 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
     6  amended to read as follows:
     7    (e) In a city school district in a city having  a  population  of  one
     8  million  or  more  inhabitants,  charter  schools  that  [first commence
     9  instruction or that require additional space  due  to  an  expansion  of
    10  grade  level, pursuant to this article, approved by their charter entity
    11  for the two thousand fourteen--two thousand fifteen school year or ther-
    12  eafter and] request co-location in a public  school  building  shall  be
    13  provided  access to facilities pursuant to this paragraph for such char-
    14  ter schools [that first commence instruction or that require  additional
    15  space  due  to  an  expansion  of grade level, pursuant to this article,
    16  approved by their charter entity for those grades newly provided].
    17    (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, within
    18  the later of (i) five months after a charter  school's  written  request
    19  for  co-location and (ii) thirty days after the charter school's charter
    20  is approved by its  charter  entity,  the  city  school  district  shall
    21  either: (A) offer at no cost to the charter school a co-location site in
    22  a  public school building approved by the board of education as provided
    23  by law, or (B) offer the charter school space in a  privately  owned  or
    24  other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district
    25  and  at  no  cost  to  the charter school. The space must be reasonable,
    26  appropriate and comparable and in the community school  district  to  be
    27  served by the charter school and otherwise in reasonable proximity.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14402-01-4
        S. 8522                             2

     1    (2) No later than thirty days after approval by the board of education
     2  or expiration of the offer period prescribed in subparagraph one of this
     3  paragraph,  the  charter  school  shall  either  accept  the city school
     4  district's offer or appeal in accordance with subparagraph three of this
     5  paragraph. If no appeal is taken, the city's offer or refusal to make an
     6  offer  shall  be final and non-reviewable. The charter school may appeal
     7  as early as issuance of an educational impact statement for the proposed
     8  co-location.
     9    (3) The charter school shall have the option  of  appealing  the  city
    10  school  district's  offer or failure to offer a co-location site through
    11  binding arbitration in accordance with subparagraph [seven] six of  this
    12  paragraph,  an  expedited appeal to the commissioner pursuant to section
    13  three hundred ten of this chapter and the procedures prescribed in para-
    14  graph (a-5) of this subdivision, or a  special  proceeding  pursuant  to
    15  article  seventy-eight  of the civil practice law and rules. In any such
    16  appeal, the standard of review  shall  be  the  standard  prescribed  in
    17  section seventy-eight hundred three of the civil practice law and rules.
    18    (4)  If  the  appeal  results  in a determination in favor of the city
    19  school district, the city's offer shall be final and the charter  school
    20  may either accept such offer and move into the space offered by the city
    21  school  district  at  the  city  school district's expense, or locate in
    22  another site at the charter school's expense.
    23    (5) [For a new charter school whose  charter  is  granted  or  for  an
    24  existing charter school whose expansion of grade level, pursuant to this
    25  article,  is approved by their charter entity, if] If the appeal results
    26  in a determination in favor of  the  charter  school,  the  city  school
    27  district  shall  pay  the  charter school an amount [attributable to the
    28  grade level expansion or the formation of the new charter  school]  that
    29  is equal to the lesser of:
    30    (A)  the  actual  rental  cost  of an alternative privately owned site
    31  selected by the charter school or
    32    (B) thirty percent of  the  product  of  the  charter  school's  basic
    33  tuition  for  the  current school year and [(i) for a new charter school
    34  that first commences instruction on or after July  first,  two  thousand
    35  fourteen,]  the charter school's current year enrollment[; or (ii) for a
    36  charter school which expands its grade level, pursuant to this  article,
    37  the  positive  difference  of  the  charter  school's  enrollment in the
    38  current school year minus the charter school's enrollment in the  school
    39  year prior to the first year of the expansion].
    40    (6)  An  arbitration  in an appeal pursuant to this paragraph shall be
    41  conducted by a  single  arbitrator  selected  in  accordance  with  this
    42  subparagraph  from  a  list of arbitrators from the American arbitration
    43  association's panel of labor  arbitrators,  with  relevant  biographical
    44  information,  submitted by such association to the commissioner pursuant
    45  to paragraph a of subdivision three of section three  thousand  twenty-a
    46  of  this  chapter.  Upon request by the charter school, the commissioner
    47  shall forthwith send a copy of such list  and  biographical  information
    48  simultaneously  to  the  charter  school  and  city school district. The
    49  parties shall, by mutual agreement, select an arbitrator from  the  list
    50  within fifteen days from receipt of the list, and if the parties fail to
    51  agree  on  an  arbitrator  within such fifteen day period or fail within
    52  such fifteen day period to notify the commissioner  that  an  arbitrator
    53  has been selected, the commissioner shall appoint an arbitrator from the
    54  list  to  serve as the arbitrator. The arbitration shall be conducted in
    55  accordance with the American arbitration association's rules  for  labor
    56  arbitration,  except  that  the  arbitrator  shall conduct a pre-hearing
        S. 8522                             3

     1  conference within ten to fifteen days of agreeing to serve and the arbi-
     2  tration shall be completed and  a  decision  rendered  within  the  time
     3  frames  prescribed for hearings pursuant to section three thousand twen-
     4  ty-a  of  this  chapter.  The arbitrator's fee shall not exceed the rate
     5  established by the  commissioner  for  hearings  conducted  pursuant  to
     6  section  three  thousand  twenty-a of this chapter, and the cost of such
     7  fee, the arbitrator's necessary travel and  other  reasonable  expenses,
     8  and  all other hearing expenses shall be borne equally by the parties to
     9  the arbitration.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.