BILL NUMBER:  S4966

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the prohibition of
out-of-state school contracts

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
This legislation seeks to clarify the power and duty of the board of
cooperative educational services to enter into contracts with
out-of-state school districts to provide services to said districts,
while specifying that no approved service that shall be provided to an
out-of-state district shall be approved as an aidable shared service.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
Section one amends paragraphs (d) and (h) of subdivision four of
section 1950 of the education law by adding a new sentence to the end
of subparagraph two of paragraph (d), which states that the
commissioner of education shall not approve any services provided to
an out-of-state school district as an aidable shared service, and by
adding a new subparagraph eight to paragraph (h), which gives the
board of cooperative educational services the ability to enter into
contracts with out-of-state school districts in order to provide
services to said districts.

Section two provides the effective date.

              

 JUSTIFICATION :
The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), a public
organization established over forty years ago by the New York State
Legislature, is unique to New York. It was created for the primary
purpose of providing school districts with a program of shared
services that would be prohibitively expensive if those services were
funded by each individual school district. Thousands of students in
special education and career and technical education have benefited
from BOCES programs. Teachers and school administrators have benefited
from BOCES support services including computer technology, curriculum
and instruction, health and safety, transportation, human resources,
payroll and record keeping, test analyses and athletics.

Bordering states have found that BOCES programs are well suited to the
needs of their students and staff, are cost effective, and are
geographically more convenient to their districts than their in-state
programs. Since the law is silent as to whether BOCES can provide its
shared service programs to out-of-state school districts, for many
years BOCES had been providing them services. Due to a recent
interpretation of the law by the State Education Department (SED),
BOCES programs were told to stop the practice. This bill clarifies
that BOCES may provide shared services programs to these districts
with the approval of the District Superintendent and the Commissioner
of Education.

By allowing BOCES to provide shared services to out-of-state school
districts, significant benefits will result. BOCES operates on an
economy of scale basis, i.e., the greater the number of users, the
less expensive it is for each. BOCES also operates on the common
business demand/supply model whereby services are provided only if the
demand is sufficient to provide a program at a reasonable cost. If
demand drops, then BOCES must eliminate the program even if the
program is tailored to the unique needs of a student or school
district, or if BOCES is the only provider within a reasonable
distance from the school district.  Authorizing BOCES to serve
out-of-state school districts will benefit all interested
stakeholders. Classes will remain full at a lower cost to the school
districts, students will have more options to choose from in all
program areas, curriculum and instruction programs and technical
support programs may be expanded, fewer programs will be dropped for
lack of enrollment and, most importantly, New York school districts
will be able to decrease their own costs for shared services.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.