Rpld Chap 559 of 1972; amd S1, Chap 566 of 1967; amd SS4405 & 4403, Ed L
Provides for the dissolution of union free school district number 13 in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester county; and relates to eliminating reference to such union free school district.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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9334--A
IN ASSEMBLY
February 16, 2012
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on 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 such union free
school district number 13; to amend the education law, in relation to
special act school districts and to repeal chapter 559 of the laws of
1972, relating to establishing union free school district number 13 in
the town of Greenburgh in the county of Westchester, relating to the
dissolution of such union free school district
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Chapter 559 of the laws of 1972, relating to establishing
2 union free school district number 13 in the town of Greenburgh in the
3 county of Westchester, is REPEALED.
4 § 2. Any funds remaining in the possession of the union free school
5 district number 13, town of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, after all
6 of its debts and obligations have been paid, shall be paid over to each
7 social services district and school district having resident children
8 served by the union free school district number thirteen, town of Green-
9 burgh in the county of Westchester, in the 2010-2011 school year in the
10 same proportion as the number of students placed by each such social
11 services district or school district and served by the union free school
12 district number thirteen, town of Greenburgh in the county of Westches-
13 ter, in the 2010-2011 school year bears to the total number of students
14 served by the union free school district number thirteen, town of Green-
15 burgh in the county of Westchester, in the 2010-2011 school year.
16 Though such union free school district number 13 be dissolved, section
17 1518 of the education law shall be deemed to apply, and it shall contin-
18 ue to exist in law for the purpose of providing for and paying all its
19 just debts; provided that the board of cooperative educational services
20 of the sole supervisory district of the county of Westchester (Southern
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14634-04-2
A. 9334--A 2
1 Westchester BOCES) shall be authorized to act on behalf of the school
2 district pursuant to section three of this act.
3 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
4 during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa-
5 tion of union free school district number 13, town of Greenburgh, county
6 of Westchester, Southern Westchester BOCES shall be authorized to take
7 any actions on behalf of the school district that are reasonably neces-
8 sary to complete the close-down and dissolution of the district that the
9 board of education would have, including but not limited to, the power
10 to enter contracts, pay debts and bill for and receive any reimbursement
11 due and owing for tuition pursuant to article 81 of the education law or
12 any other provision of law for services rendered to students on or
13 before the school district ceased operation on July 1, 2011. Any other
14 reasonable costs incurred for closedown of the school district, as
15 approved by the commissioner of education pursuant to subparagraph (ii)
16 of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law,
17 shall be included in a closedown rate payable by each school district or
18 social services district responsible for tuition for students attending
19 the special act school district in the 2010-2011 school year. Notwith-
20 standing any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
21 such closedown rate may be payable in three installments which shall be
22 as equal as practicable, over three consecutive years after the close-
23 down rate is established. In such capacity, such board of cooperative
24 educational services and its officers and employees shall be entitled to
25 defense and indemnification by the state pursuant to section 18 of the
26 public officers law.
27 § 4. The records of union free school district number 13, town of
28 Greenburgh, county of Westchester, shall be forwarded to the district
29 superintendent of schools of the Southern Westchester BOCES for preser-
30 vation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, such
31 records shall be deemed to be records of the Southern Westchester BOCES
32 for purposes of the management and disposition of such records and local
33 government records management grants pursuant to section 57.35 of the
34 arts and cultural affairs law.
35 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to
36 the contrary, each social services district and school district having
37 resident children served by the union free school district number 13,
38 town of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, in the 2010-2011 school year
39 shall pay the costs of health insurance for all former employees of
40 union free school district number 13, town of Greenburgh, county of
41 Westchester for whom such school district agreed by contract to pay the
42 costs of health insurance in retirement in the same proportion as the
43 number of students placed by each such social services district or
44 school district and served by union free school district number 13, town
45 of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, in the 2010-2011 school year bears
46 to the total number of students served by the union free school district
47 number 13, town of Greenburgh in the county of Westchester, in the
48 2010-2011 school year. The Southern Westchester BOCES shall administer
49 the payment and billing for the health insurance premiums to and from
50 civil service and/or the health insurance carriers, the employees, and
51 each social services district and school district that is responsible
52 for such payments to ensure that the former employees' health insurance
53 remains in effect, to the extent required under the employees' contract
54 with the union free school district number 13, town of Greenburgh, coun-
55 ty of Westchester. Such annual amount shall be paid in a manner
56 prescribed by the commissioner.
A. 9334--A 3
1 § 6. The territory comprising the union free school district number
2 13, town of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, shall revert to and
3 become part of the Irvington union free school district in the county of
4 Westchester.
5 § 7. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid-
6 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts,
7 as amended by chapter 478 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as
8 follows:
9 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b
10 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such
11 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or
12 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is
13 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu-
14 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be
15 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and
16 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the
17 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; union free school district number eight
18 of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; union free school districts
19 numbers ten, eleven[,] and twelve [and thirteen] of the town of Green-
20 burgh, Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and
21 four of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free
22 school district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, West-
23 chester county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district
24 of the town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school
25 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school
26 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the
27 Hopevale union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and
28 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk
29 county.
30 § 8. Subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law is amended by
31 adding a new paragraph j to read as follows:
32 j. (i) If the board of education of a special act school district
33 listed in chapter five hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred
34 sixty-seven, as amended, seeks to close a special act school district,
35 the board of education of the special act school district shall provide
36 written notice to the commissioner of education with a plan for closure
37 of the school at least ninety days prior to the closing date. Such plan
38 shall include provision for the safe and orderly transfer of each
39 student with a disability who was publicly placed in the program and a
40 detailed and itemized list of estimated expenses necessary to close down
41 the school and a detailed and itemized list of any estimated revenues to
42 be received.
43 (ii) During the close-down period and until all necessary financial
44 obligations of the school district have been met pursuant to this para-
45 graph, the commissioner shall require the board of education of the
46 school district to periodically submit, as required by the commissioner,
47 financial reports and financial statements, detailing any tuition,
48 and/or close-down costs and any revenues generated. In applying the
49 reimbursement methodology to any remaining tuition costs and any other
50 reasonable and appropriate expenses needed to close-down the special act
51 school district, the commissioner shall reject any close-down costs that
52 are unnecessary or unreasonable to close-down the school, whether or not
53 the board of education submits a close-down plan.
54 § 9. Section 4403 of the education law is amended by adding a new
55 subdivision 21 to read as follows:
A. 9334--A 4
1 21. To require special act school districts listed in chapter five
2 hundred sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven, as
3 amended, to provide, on an annual basis or more frequently, as needed,
4 enrollment reports, including current and projected enrollments,
5 proposed budgets and any financial statements the commissioner deems
6 appropriate, to monitor the fiscal stability of special act school
7 districts.
8 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.
