Amd 1707, 2504 & 2502, rpld 1707 sub 2, 1904, Ed L
 
Relates to the date of school district annual organizational meetings; allows boards of education to meet on any date on or before the Monday after July 20th for their annual organizational meeting.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6829
SPONSOR: McDonald
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the date of school
district annual organizational meetings; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA. OF BILL:
To allow boards of education to meet on any date on or before the Monday
after July 20th for their annual organizational meeting.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 1707 of the education law to
provide that union free school districts may choose any date on or
before the Monday after July 20th for their annual organizational meet-
ing.
Section 2 repeals subdivision 2 of section 1707 of the education law.
Section 3 repeals section. 1904 of the education law.
Section 4 amends subdivision 1 of section 2504 of the education law to
provide that city school districts may choose any date on or before the
Monday after July 20th for their annual organizational meeting.
'Section 5 repeals subdivision 2 of section 2504 of the education law.
Section 6 amends paragraph o of subdivision 9 of section 2502 of the
education law to reflect the updated timeline in subdivision 1 of
section 2504.
Section 7 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
School districts hold annual organizational meetings, in which they
choose their president and vice-president, and often appoint officers
such as internal auditors, school attorneys, records access officers,
and records management officers, as well as designate depositories for
district funds. Given the importance of these decisions, it is important
for school board members to be present at these meetings.
Since the mid-twentieth century, school boards have been required to
hold their organizational meetings on specific dates and times through-
out the month of July, with variations between district types and a
specific date only for central school districts in Nassau County. In
1997, certain boards were allowed to meet under certain conditions with-
in a restricted timespan, and in 2019 the same limited ability was
extended to school boards of city school districts.
This inflexibility as to the date of the organizational meeting unneces-
sarily restricts the autonomy of school boards, while providing no bene-
fit to students, districts, or the public at large. On the contrary, if
boards were afforded more flexibility as to the date of their organiza-
tional meetings, more board members would be able to attend them, which
is crucial given the importance of the meeting to school boards' oper-
ations for the rest of the year.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6829
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the date of school
district annual organizational meetings; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1707 of the education law, as
2 amended by section 6 of part A of chapter 436 of the laws of 1997, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 [1.] The annual organizational meeting of the board of education of
5 every union free school district shall be held [on the first Tuesday] in
6 July on or before the Monday after the twentieth day in July of each
7 year[, unless said day shall be a legal holiday, in which event it shall
8 fall on the first Wednesday in July].
9 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 1707 of the education law is REPEALED.
10 § 3. Section 1904 of the education law is REPEALED.
11 § 4. Section 2504 of the education law, as added by chapter 762 of the
12 laws of 1950, and subdivision 2 as added and subdivision 3 as renumbered
13 by chapter 526 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
14 § 2504. Meetings of board of education. 1. The annual meeting of the
15 board of education shall be held [during the first week] in July on or
16 before the Monday after the twentieth day in July, at four o'clock in
17 the afternoon or such other hour as the board may determine, at which
18 meeting the board shall select a president for the ensuing year. At such
19 meeting the board may also select a vice-president who shall be author-
20 ized to act for the president in case of the president's absence or
21 inability to act during such year.
22 2. [The board of education may, however, by resolution, determine that
23 the annual meeting be held at any time during the first fifteen days in
24 the month of July, at a time to be decided by the board.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10710-01-3
A. 6829 2
1 3.] Such board shall also fix the day and hour for holding regular
2 board meetings which shall be at least as often as once each month and
3 shall also prescribe a method for calling special meetings of such
4 board.
5 § 5. Paragraph o of subdivision 9-a of section 2502 of the education
6 law, as amended by chapter 526 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read
7 as follows:
8 o. The members so elected to the board of education shall convene on
9 the [first business day in July of each year, unless another] date [is]
10 chosen pursuant to section twenty-five hundred four of this [chapter]
11 article, at the time of the commencement of their term of office and
12 select from their members a president who shall serve for a term of one
13 year.
14 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.