Creates the parental choice private school voucher program; provides that three hundred students entering kindergarten or ninth grade shall be selected to receive vouchers to attend either a public school outside of the Buffalo school district or any nonpublic school that provides education to elementary and/or secondary students; establishes criteria for student to be deemed eligible.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7950
IN SENATE
October 20, 2014
___________
Introduced by Sen. GRISANTI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the parental
choice private school program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 57 to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 57
4 PARENTAL CHOICE PRIVATE SCHOOL PROGRAM
5 Section 2870. Definitions.
6 2871. Parental choice private school voucher program.
7 2872. Participating schools.
8 2873. Participating school accountability standards.
9 2874. Responsibilities of the department.
10 2875. Responsibilities of the school district.
11 § 2870. Definitions. For purposes of this article, the following terms
12 shall have the following meanings:
13 1. "Program" means the parental choice private school voucher program
14 created by this article.
15 2. "Eligible student" means a student who:
16 (a) is a member of a household whose total annual income does not
17 exceed an amount equal to 1.75 times the poverty level determined in
18 accordance with criteria established by the director of the federal
19 office of management and budget;
20 (b) is entering kindergarten or ninth grade;
21 (c) lives in the Buffalo school district; and
22 (d) resides in the state while receiving a voucher under this article.
23 3. "Parent" means a guardian, custodian or other person with the
24 authority to act on behalf of the child.
25 4. "Resident school district" means the Buffalo school district.
26 5. "Participating school" means either a public school outside of the
27 resident school district or any non-public school that provides educa-
28 tion to elementary and/or secondary students and has notified the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15846-01-4
S. 7950 2
1 department of its intention to participate in the program and comply
2 with the program's requirements.
3 § 2871. Parental choice private school voucher program. 1. There shall
4 be established a parental choice private school voucher program for the
5 city of Buffalo. Three hundred eligible students shall be selected to
6 receive vouchers to attend a participating school of their choice.
7 Eligible students may attend a participating school until they have
8 concluded the final grade offered at such participating school or their
9 twenty-first birthday, whichever occurs first.
10 2. (a) The Buffalo school district shall pay an amount equal to the
11 participating school's operating and debt service cost per pupil that is
12 related to educational programming, as determined by the department, or
13 ten thousand dollars, whichever is less.
14 (b) (i) The Buffalo school district shall pay twenty-five percent of
15 the total amount as determined by the department under paragraph (a) of
16 this subdivision in September, twenty-five percent in November, twenty-
17 five percent in February and twenty-five percent in May.
18 (ii) The superintendent may include the entire amount determined under
19 paragraph (a) of this subdivision in one of the installments or appor-
20 tion the entire amount among one or more of the installments.
21 (iii) Payment shall be made directly to the participating school.
22 (iv) Vouchers received pursuant to this section shall be used for
23 educational purposes only and shall not be refunded or shared with a
24 parent or student in any manner.
25 3. The voucher received pursuant to this article is the entitlement of
26 the eligible student under the supervision of the student's parent and
27 not that of any school.
28 4. (a) An eligible student attending a participating school through a
29 voucher pursuant to this section whose family income increases may
30 continue to attend the participating school under this section if the
31 pupil is a member of a family that has a total family income that does
32 not exceed an amount equal to 2.2 times the poverty level determined in
33 accordance with criteria established by the director of the federal
34 office of management and budget.
35 (b) For purposes of receiving a voucher pursuant to this section,
36 siblings of students receiving a voucher and attending a participating
37 school under this section, who are also applying to receive a voucher,
38 are subject to the higher income limit as set forth in paragraph (a) of
39 this subdivision. If the sibling's sister or brother attending a partic-
40 ipating school under this section ceases to attend a participating
41 school under this section, the lower income limit applies to the
42 sibling.
43 5. Eligible students shall be counted in the enrollment figures for
44 the Buffalo school district for the purposes of calculating state aid to
45 such school district. The funds needed for a voucher shall be subtracted
46 from the state school aid payable to the student's resident school
47 district. Any aid the school district would have received for the
48 student, in excess of the funds needed for a voucher, shall be retained
49 by the state.
50 § 2872. Participating schools. 1. (a) Public schools outside of the
51 resident school district or any non-public school that provides educa-
52 tion to elementary and/or secondary students shall notify the depart-
53 ment, in a manner and form prescribed by the department, of its intent
54 to participate in the program under this article.
55 (b) Such school shall pay a nonrefundable fee, as set by the depart-
56 ment, by February first of the previous school year which shall cover
S. 7950 3
1 the costs of employing one full time auditor to evaluate the financial
2 information submitted by the participating schools under subdivision two
3 of section twenty-eight hundred seventy-one of this article.
4 (c) The notice shall specify the number of pupils participating in the
5 program under this section for which the school has space.
6 (d) In addition to any information the department deems necessary to
7 authorize participation in the program by a school, such school shall,
8 by August first before the first school term of participation in the
9 program, submit a copy of the school's current certificate of occupancy
10 issued by the city. If the school moves to a new location, the school
11 shall submit a copy of the new certificate of occupancy issued by the
12 city to the department before the attendance of pupils at the new
13 location. A temporary certificate of occupancy does not meet the
14 requirement of this paragraph.
15 2. Schools shall provide evidence of financial viability, as
16 prescribed by the department by rule or regulation.
17 3. Schools shall also provide proof that the school's administrator
18 has participated in a fiscal management training program approved by the
19 department.
20 4. Schools shall submit a schedule annually to the department showing
21 how much the school spends to educate one student. Such information
22 shall be used by the department to determine how much the school shall
23 be paid under paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section twenty-eight
24 hundred seventy-one of this article. It shall be in the department's
25 discretion to determine said amount.
26 5. (a) The eligible student or the eligible student's parent or guard-
27 ian shall submit an application, on a form provided by the department,
28 to the participating school that the eligible student wishes to attend.
29 Such student shall take any admissions testing required by the school.
30 Within sixty days after receiving the application and the student taking
31 the school's admissions testing, the participating school shall notify
32 the applicant, in writing, whether the application has been accepted. If
33 the participating school rejects an application, the notice shall
34 include the reason. A participating school may reject an applicant only
35 if it has reached its maximum general capacity or seating capacity or if
36 the eligible student fails to pass the admissions testing administered
37 by the school. The commissioner shall ensure that the participating
38 school determines which pupils to accept on a random basis, except that
39 the participating school may give preference in accepting applications
40 to siblings of pupils accepted on a random basis.
41 (b) If an eligible student is denied admission to a participating
42 school because it has too few available spaces, the eligible student may
43 transfer his or her voucher to a participating school that has available
44 space.
45 § 2873. Participating school accountability standards. 1. To ensure
46 that students are treated fairly and kept safe, all participating
47 schools shall:
48 (a) comply with all health and safety laws or codes that apply to
49 non-public schools;
50 (b) hold a valid occupancy permit if required by their municipality;
51 (c) certify that they will not discriminate in admissions on the basis
52 of race, color, national origin, religion or disability; and
53 (d) comply with all state laws that apply to non-public schools
54 regarding criminal background checks for employees and exclude from
55 employment any people not permitted by state law to work in a nonpublic
56 school.
S. 7950 4
1 2. To ensure that public funds are spent appropriately, all partic-
2 ipating schools shall annually by September first following a school
3 year in which a participating school participated in the program:
4 (a) demonstrate their financial accountability by:
5 (i) submitting a financial information report for the school that
6 complies with uniform financial accounting standards established by the
7 department and conducted by a certified public accountant; and
8 (ii) having the auditor certify that the report is free of material
9 misstatements and fairly represents the costs per pupil under subdivi-
10 sion two of section twenty-eight hundred seventy-one of this article.
11 The auditor's report shall be limited in scope to those records that are
12 necessary for the department to make payments to participating schools
13 on behalf of eligible students receiving vouchers pursuant to this arti-
14 cle.
15 (b) demonstrate sound fiscal practices, as prescribed by the depart-
16 ment.
17 3. (a) Each participating school shall meet at least one of the
18 following standards:
19 (i) At least seventy percent of the eligible students in the program
20 advance one grade level each year.
21 (ii) The participating school's average attendance rate for the eligi-
22 ble students in the program is at least ninety percent.
23 (iii) At least eighty percent of the eligible students in the program
24 demonstrate significant academic progress.
25 (b) Each participating school shall report the results of the stand-
26 ards required pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision to the
27 department, no later than July for the preceding school year.
28 § 2874. Responsibilities of the department. 1. The department shall
29 ensure that eligible students and their parents are informed annually of
30 which schools will be participating in the Buffalo parental choice
31 private school voucher program. Special attention shall be paid to
32 ensuring that lower income families are made aware of the program and
33 their options.
34 2. The department shall create a standard application that students
35 interested in the parental choice private school voucher program can use
36 to submit to the department to establish their eligibility in the
37 program.
38 3. The department shall create a standard application that students
39 interested in the parental choice private school voucher program can use
40 to submit to participating schools to establish their eligibility and
41 apply for admissions.
42 4. The department shall ensure that the applications are readily
43 available to interested families through various sources, including the
44 Internet.
45 5. The department may bar a school from participation in the parental
46 choice private school voucher program if the department establishes that
47 the participating school has:
48 (a) intentionally and substantially misrepresented information
49 required under subdivisions two, three or four of section twenty-eight
50 hundred seventy-two or section twenty-eight hundred seventy-three of
51 this article; or
52 (b) routinely failed to comply with at least three of the accountabil-
53 ity standards established in section twenty-eight hundred seventy-three
54 of this article; or
S. 7950 5
1 (c) failed to comply with subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (b) of subdi-
2 vision two of section twenty-eight hundred seventy-one of this article;
3 or
4 (d) failed to refund to the state any voucher overpayments in a timely
5 manner.
6 6. If the department decides to bar a participating school from the
7 program, it shall notify eligible students and their parents of this
8 decision as quickly as possible.
9 7. The department shall adopt rules and procedures as necessary for
10 the administration of the parental choice private school voucher
11 program, including but not limited to:
12 (a) the eligibility and participation of schools, including timelines
13 that will maximize student and public and non-public school partic-
14 ipation;
15 (b) the calculation and distribution of vouchers to eligible students;
16 and
17 (c) the application and approval procedures for vouchers for eligible
18 students and participating schools.
19 § 2875. Responsibilities of the school district. 1. The Buffalo school
20 district shall provide the participating school that has admitted an
21 eligible student under this program with a complete copy of the
22 student's school records while complying with the Family Educational
23 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 USC Section 1232 g).
24 2. The Buffalo school district shall provide transportation for the
25 eligible student to and from the participating school under the same
26 conditions as the Buffalo school district is required to provide trans-
27 portation for other resident students to non-public schools as per
28 current law. The Buffalo school district may qualify for state transpor-
29 tation aid for each student so transported, as allowed under state law.
30 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to
31 the 2015-2016 school year and thereafter. The commissioner of education
32 is authorized to promulgate any and all rules and regulations and take
33 any other measures necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
