Bill Text: NY A02832 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: 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
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-06 - referred to education [A02832 Detail]
Download: New_York-2009-A02832-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 2832 2009-2010 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y 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 S 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 S 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 S 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 S 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.