Mandates the trustees of common school districts and the board of education of every union free school district to establish a code of ethics to be applied to the prohibition of the use of school resources for personal gain.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2832
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to mandating the trustees
of common school districts and the board of education of every union
free school district to establish a code of ethics to be applied to
the prohibition of the use of school resources for personal gain
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1604 of the education law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 43 to read as follows:
3 43. On or before July thirty-first, two thousand eleven, and annually
4 thereafter, the governing body of each school district and each board of
5 cooperative educational services shall review and approve a code of
6 ethics that shall include standards for officers and employees prohibit-
7 ing the use of property or resources of the district or board for
8 personal gain. A copy of such code shall be filed with the office of
9 the state comptroller and the department within thirty days of its annu-
10 al approval pursuant to this subdivision, and any subsequent amendments
11 to such code shall be so filed within thirty days of adoption of such
12 amendment.
13 § 2. Section 1709 of the education law is amended by adding a new
14 subdivision 36 to read as follows:
15 36. On or before July thirty-first, two thousand eleven, and annually
16 thereafter, the governing body of each school district and each board of
17 cooperative educational services shall review and approve a code of
18 ethics that shall include standards for officers and employees prohibit-
19 ing the use of property or resources of the district or board for
20 personal gain. A copy of such code shall be filed with the office of
21 the state comptroller and the department within thirty days of its annu-
22 al approval pursuant to this subdivision, and any subsequent amendments
23 to such code shall be so filed within thirty days of adoption of such
24 amendment.
25 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 2102-a of the education law, as added by
26 chapter 263 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03208-01-9
A. 2832 2
1 1. Every trustee or voting member of a board of education of a school
2 district or a board of cooperative educational services, elected or
3 appointed for a term beginning on or after July first, two thousand
4 five, shall, within the first year of his or her term, complete a mini-
5 mum of six hours of training on the financial oversight, accountability
6 and fiduciary responsibilities of a school board member. Upon demon-
7 stration of compliance, no trustee or member of a board of education or
8 a board of cooperative educational services shall be required to repeat
9 this training requirement. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to
10 require a member of a central high school district board or a member of
11 a board of cooperative educational services to complete such requirement
12 if such member has already completed such requirement as a member of a
13 board of a component school district. Such training shall also include
14 examination of the school district's code of ethics as established in
15 subdivision forty-three of section sixteen hundred four of this title.
16 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 2116-a of the education
17 law, as amended by section 4 of part A-1 of chapter 58 of the laws of
18 2006, is amended to read as follows:
19 (a) The school authorities of each school district, except those
20 employing fewer than eight teachers, but including the city school
21 districts of the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, shall obtain an annual
22 audit of its records by an independent certified public accountant or an
23 independent public accountant. The report of such annual audit shall be
24 presented to the trustees or board of education by such accountant. The
25 board of education of the city school district of the city of New York,
26 districts of such city shall obtain an annual audit by the comptroller
27 of the city of New York, or by an independent certified public account-
28 ant or an independent public accountant. Such city school district audit
29 shall include, but not be limited to, transactions processed at the
30 level of the central administrative office, the district, and the indi-
31 vidual school. Such audit shall also include examination of all trans-
32 actions to ensure compliance with the school district's code of ethics
33 as established in subdivision forty-three of section sixteen hundred
34 four of this title. The community districts of such city school district
35 shall obtain an annual audit by the bureau of audit of the board of
36 education of the city school district of the city of New York or by an
37 independent certified public accountant or an independent public
38 accountant. A copy of the audit report in form prescribed by the commis-
39 sioner and certified by the accountant, or, in the city school district
40 of the city of New York or the community districts therein, by the
41 accountant, or the comptroller or bureau of audit, as the case may be,
42 shall be furnished to the commissioner on or before October fifteenth
43 following the end of the fiscal year audited, except that such report
44 shall be furnished to the commissioner on or before January first
45 following the end of the fiscal year audited for the city school
46 districts of the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, and
47 New York and for the community school districts of the city of New York.
48 § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
49 the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to the
50 following school year. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
51 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
52 of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made
53 and completed on or before such effective date.
