Bill Text: NY S05224 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Provides for the election of members of the board of education of the Buffalo city school district in November rather than in May; creates a timetable for the electoral proceedings therefor; extends the terms of current members of such board to the last day of December rather than June; provides for future terms to run from January through December; and staggers terms.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2019-11-25 - SIGNED CHAP.561 [S05224 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05224-Amended.html
Bill Title: Provides for the election of members of the board of education of the Buffalo city school district in November rather than in May; creates a timetable for the electoral proceedings therefor; extends the terms of current members of such board to the last day of December rather than June; provides for future terms to run from January through December; and staggers terms.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2019-11-25 - SIGNED CHAP.561 [S05224 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05224-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5224--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing for the election of members of the board of education of the Buffalo city school district in November; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph d of subdivision 10 of section 2 2553 of the education law is REPEALED. 3 § 2. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph d and paragraphs g, j, m, n, o 4 and p of subdivision 10 of section 2553 of the education law, as added 5 by chapter 242 of the laws of 1974, paragraph g as amended by chapter 6 431 of the laws of 2012 and paragraph p as amended by chapter 95 of the 7 laws of 1979, are amended to read as follows: 8 (1) Such election for such office shall be governed by the provisions 9 of the election law in the same manner as candidates for office general- 10 ly to be elected by the voters of the city of Buffalo [except, as the11case may be, as to the date of the election; and, further provided,12however, that]. Notwithstanding section 6-142 of the election law, each 13 such candidate for election as a member of the board of education from a 14 city school subdistrict shall be required to file a petition containing 15 signatures of at least five hundred registered voters of such city 16 school subdistrict in which he is a candidate and each candidate for 17 election to the board of education by the voters at large shall be 18 required to file a petition containing the signatures of at least one 19 thousand registered voters of the city of Buffalo. 20 (2) No petition shall contain any political party or independent body 21 name or label. Each petition shall contain the name of only one candi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04781-03-9S. 5224--A 2 1 date and such petition shall be filed with [the clerk of] the board of 2 elections of the county of Erie not earlier than [the fifth Tuesday] 3 twenty-four weeks before, and not later than [the fourth Tuesday] twen- 4 ty-three weeks preceding the date on which an election shall be held. A 5 certificate of acceptance or declination of any individual so nominated 6 shall be filed not later than the third day after the [fourth] twenty- 7 third Tuesday preceding the election. 8 g. Each sheet of such a petition shall be signed in ink and shall be 9 substantially in the following form: 10 I, the undersigned, do hereby state that I am a duly qualified voter 11 of the city of Buffalo, that my place of residence is truly stated oppo- 12 site my signature hereto, and I do hereby nominate the following named 13 person as a candidate for nomination (for the public office of member of 14 the board of education of the city of Buffalo at large..............day 15 of...................., 20.....,) (for the city school subdis- 16 trict.............day of........, 20.....) 17 I do hereby appoint........................(here insert the names and 18 addresses of at least three persons, all of whom shall be registered 19 voters within the city of Buffalo), as a committee to fill vacancies in 20 accordance with the provisions of the election law. 21 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand the day and year 22 placed opposite my signature. 23 Date Name of Signer Present Residence 24 .............. .................. .................... 25 .............. .................. .................... 26 .............. .................. .................... 27 The petition shall be authenticated by witnesses. Such statement shall 28 be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit, and if 29 false shall subject the witness to the same penalties as if he or she 30 had been duly sworn. The form of such statement shall be substantially 31 as follows: 32 STATEMENT OF WITNESS 33 I,...................., (name of witness), state: I am a duly quali- 34 fied voter of the state of New York, and now reside in the city, town or 35 village of..............., in such state, at 36 .......................(fill in street and house number and post office) 37 therein. I know each of the voters whose names are subscribed to this 38 petition sheet containing (fill in number).............signatures and 39 each of them subscribed the same in my presence and upon so subscribing 40 declared to me that the foregoing statement, made and subscribed by him, 41 was true. 42 ..................... 43 Signature of witness 44 Date........... 45 j. Objections to petitions for the nomination of members of such board 46 of education, procedures and remedies applicable to such objections 47 shall be [the same as those applicable to independent nominating48petitions under the election law, except as it may be modified by theS. 5224--A 3 1provisions of paragraph (d) and paragraph (n) of this subdivision] made 2 pursuant to section 6-154 of the election law. 3 m. If a candidate, after a petition in his behalf shall have been duly 4 filed with [the clerk of] the board of elections, and prior to the date 5 of the election, shall decline to accept the nomination, die, remove 6 from the school district, accept [or be a candidate for] another [elec-7tive] office, or become otherwise disqualified for such city school 8 district office, [a further petition may be filed with such clerk, nomi-9nating another candidate in his place and stead. Such further petition10shall in all respects comply with the provisions of paragraphs d, f and11h of this subdivision, except that it may be filed at any time up to and12including the fifteenth day preceding the date of the election pursuant13to the provisions of this subdivision and the time within which to14accept or object to such further petition shall be computed from the15date of filing or said fifteenth day, whichever is earlier] such vacancy 16 shall be filled by the committee on vacancies pursuant to the election 17 law. 18 n. [The] For members elected in November, two thousand twenty the term 19 of office for each member of such board from a city school subdistrict 20 shall be two years, and for each member elected at large shall be four 21 years and upon the expiration of such terms, the term of office of each 22 member of such board from a city school subdistrict shall be three 23 years, and the term of office of each such member of the board elected 24 at large shall be for five years. Of the candidates to be elected for 25 membership on the board of education of the city school district of the 26 city of Buffalo by the voters at large the three candidates receiving 27 the largest number of votes cast in the city, shall be declared elected 28 as at-large members of such board of education. In each city school 29 subdistrict the candidates seeking the election as the member of such 30 board of education for such city school subdistrict receiving a plurali- 31 ty of votes in such city school subdistrict shall be declared elected to 32 that position. 33 Whenever a vacancy shall occur or exist in the office of member of the 34 board of education except by reason of expiration of term or increase in 35 the number of members of such board, such vacancy shall be filled by a 36 majority vote of the remaining members of the board of education within 37 thirty days of the date when such vacancy shall have occurred. If the 38 remaining members of the board of education shall fail to fill such 39 vacancy within such thirty day period, then the mayor of the city of 40 Buffalo shall within thirty days thereafter fill such vacancy subject to 41 the confirmation of such appointment by the common council of the city 42 of Buffalo. No one shall be appointed to fill a vacancy of a subdistrict 43 member of the board of education unless he fulfills all of the quali- 44 fications in this subdivision to enable him to be a candidate for the 45 office of a member of the board of education from the subdistrict 46 involved. 47 o. The members so elected to the board of education shall convene on 48 the first business day in [July] January of each year, at the time of 49 the commencement of their term of office and select from their members a 50 president who shall serve for a term of one year or such other term, not 51 exceeding the term of his office, as may be fixed by the rules and regu- 52 lations of the board. 53 p. The election of members of the board of education of the school 54 district of the city of Buffalo shall take place on [May seventh, nine-55teen hundred seventy-four] November third, two thousand twenty and on 56 the first Tuesday after the first Monday in [May] November thereafter inS. 5224--A 4 1 each year in which an incumbent's term expires. Such election shall be 2 conducted by the board of elections of the county of Erie in the same 3 manner as other elections are conducted by it. [Polls shall be open for4voting for the hours prescribed by section 8-100 of the election law for5primary elections.] The results of such elections, after canvassing, 6 shall be certified and reported by the board of elections to the board 7 of education of such city. The clerk or other appropriate officer of 8 the board of education shall within twenty-four hours after receipt of 9 such certification by the board of elections serve a written notice 10 either personally or by mail upon each person declared to be elected as 11 a member of the board of education informing him of his election and the 12 length of his term. 13 § 3. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the term of 14 every member of the board of education of the city school district of 15 Buffalo, which term is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2020, is hereby 16 extended from June thirtieth of the year in which it is scheduled to 17 expire to December thirty-first of such year. Terms of such members 18 elected after this act becomes law shall begin on the first day of Janu- 19 ary and end on the last day of December of the appropriate year. 20 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
