Bill Text: NY A01213 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Dissolves the West Park union free school district, in the town of Esopus in the county of Ulster; provides for the payment of the debts and obligations of such school district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to education [A01213 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A01213-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1213 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 7, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to provide for the payment of the debts and obligations of the West Park union free school district in the town of Esopus in the county of Ulster; to amend chapter 566 of the laws of 1967 relating to providing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, in relation to eliminating references to the West Park union free school district; and to repeal chapter 744 of the laws of 1973 relating to establishing and constituting as a separate union free school district certain territory in the town of Esopus in the county of Ulster, in relation thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Chapter 744 of the laws of 1973 relating to establishing 2 and constituting as a separate union free school district certain terri- 3 tory in the town of Esopus in the county of Ulster is REPEALED. 4 § 2. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 5 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 6 as amended by section 6 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended 7 to read as follows: 8 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 9 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 10 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 11 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 12 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 13 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 14 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 15 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 16 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; union free school district number eight 17 of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; union free school districts 18 numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh, Westchester EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01327-01-1A. 1213 2 1 county; union free school districts numbers three and four of the town 2 of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school district number 3 six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; and 4 Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the town of 5 Randolph, Cattaraugus county; [West Park union free school district6number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county;] common school district 7 number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the Hopevale 8 union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and union free 9 school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk county. 10 § 3. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 11 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 12 as amended by section 7 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 15 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 16 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 17 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 18 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 19 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 20 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 21 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 22 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; union free school district number eight 23 of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; union free school districts 24 numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh, Westchester 25 county; union free school districts numbers three and four of the town 26 of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school district number 27 six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; and 28 Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the town of 29 Randolph, Cattaraugus county; [West Park union free school district30number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county;] common school district 31 number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; and union free 32 school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk county. 33 § 4. Any funds remaining in the possession of the West Park union free 34 school district number two, after all of its debts and obligations have 35 been paid, shall be paid over to each social services district and 36 school district having resident children served by the West Park union 37 free school district number two in the 2010-2011 school year in the same 38 proportion as the number of students placed by each such social services 39 district or school district and served by the West Park union free 40 school district number two in the 2010-2011 school year bears to the 41 total number of students served by the West Park union free school 42 district number two in the 2010-2011 school year. Though the West Park 43 union free school district number two be dissolved, section 1518 of the 44 education law shall be deemed to apply, and it shall continue to exist 45 in law for the purpose of providing for and paying all its just debts; 46 provided that the board of cooperative educational services of the sole 47 supervisory district of the county of Ulster (Ulster BOCES) shall be 48 authorized to act on behalf of the school district pursuant to section 49 four of this act. 50 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 51 during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa- 52 tion of the West Park union free school district number two, Ulster 53 BOCES shall be authorized to take any actions on behalf of the school 54 district that are reasonably necessary to complete the closedown and 55 dissolution of the district that the board of education would have, 56 including but not limited to, the power to enter contracts, payA. 1213 3 1 outstanding debts for reimbursable costs incurred for closedown of the 2 school district under this section, provided however that the Ulster 3 BOCES shall not pay for outstanding debts using its own funds and shall 4 not be liable for any outstanding debt incurred by the West Park union 5 free school district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county, sell 6 school district property if any, with approval of the commissioner, and 7 to bill for and receive any reimbursement due and owing for tuition 8 pursuant to article 81 of the education law or any other provision of 9 law for services rendered to students on or before the school district 10 ceased operation on February 28, 2011 and reimbursement for closedown 11 costs determined pursuant to this section. The Ulster BOCES shall review 12 the business records of the school district, including any claims, 13 invoices and bills submitted to the school district during any period in 14 which there was no duly constituted board of education and shall audit 15 any expenses or claims, based on invoices, bills or other documentation, 16 that were not included in an audited financial statement or financial 17 reports submitted to the department by the school district, to determine 18 if such expenses or claims are duplicative of claims previously submit- 19 ted for reimbursement and, if not, whether they are supported by 20 documentation that would substantiate a claim that the expense was 21 incurred by the school district or is otherwise an outstanding debt of 22 the school district. Such audit may be conducted by the claims auditor 23 of the BOCES or, with the approval of the commissioner, by an independ- 24 ent auditor retained by the BOCES. The BOCES shall report to the depart- 25 ment any audited claims that were not included in an audited financial 26 statement or financial report, together with the documentation support- 27 ing such claims. Reimbursement for costs incurred for closedown of the 28 school district, shall include only: (i) any allowable costs approved by 29 the commissioner that were included in the audited financial statement 30 and financial reports submitted by the school district in conformity 31 with the financial reporting requirements; (ii) additional allowable 32 costs, incurred in the 2010-2011 school year or subsequently during the 33 closedown period, that are approved by the commissioner in accordance 34 with the reimbursable cost manual in effect for the 2010-2011 school 35 year and relate to claims that were audited by the Ulster BOCES pursuant 36 to this section and are based on supporting documentation that would 37 substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school 38 district and not duplicative of claims previously reimbursed; and (iii) 39 the actual documented cost to the Ulster BOCES of carrying out its 40 duties under the provisions of this section to close down the school 41 district, as approved by the commissioner based on documentation that 42 such costs were necessary to carry out such duties, shall be included in 43 a closedown rate payable by each school district or social services 44 district responsible for tuition for students attending the special act 45 school district in the 2010-2011 school year. Notwithstanding any other 46 provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, such closedown 47 rate may be payable in three installments which shall be as equal as 48 practicable, over three consecutive years after the closedown rate is 49 established; provided that any reimbursement costs due to Ulster BOCES 50 for carrying out its administrative duties under this act may be paid in 51 the first installment. In such capacity, such board of cooperative 52 educational services and its officers and employees shall be entitled to 53 defense and indemnification by the state pursuant to section 18 of the 54 public officers law. Services provided by the Ulster BOCES under this 55 act shall not result in any additional costs being imposed on componentA. 1213 4 1 school districts, except those costs imposed on a component school 2 district pursuant to a closedown rate calculated under this section. 3 § 6. The records of the West Park union free school district number 4 two, shall be forwarded to the district superintendent of schools of the 5 Ulster BOCES for preservation. Notwithstanding any other provision of 6 law to the contrary, such records shall be deemed to be records of the 7 Ulster BOCES for purposes of the management and disposition of such 8 records and local government records management grants pursuant to 9 section 57.35 of the arts and cultural affairs law. 10 § 7. The territory comprising the West Park union free school district 11 number two, town of Esopus, county of Ulster, shall revert to and become 12 a part of the Highland Central school district in the county of Ulster. 13 § 8. That certain Agency Lease dated August 12, 1998 between Mission- 14 ary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a New York not-for-profit corporation 15 and the West Park union free school district number two is hereby termi- 16 nated. 17 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that section 18 three of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 19 manner as section 5 of chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, as amended, 20 takes effect.
