NY State Senate Bill 2009-S6025

Senate Bill S6025

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Relates to streamlining planning and reporting requirements for school districts and boards of cooperative educational services

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to education
Jun 19, 2009	referred to rules

2009-S6025 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9035
Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§1950 & 3602, Ed L

2009-S6025 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to streamlining planning and reporting requirements for school districts and boards of cooperative educational services.

2009-S6025 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6025

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the streamlining of
planning and reporting requirements for school districts and boards of
cooperative educational services


 PURPOSE :

This bill would streamline planning and reporting requirements placed
on school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services
(BOCES) by reducing duplicative and burdensome separate reporting
systems.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill names the act as "the School Paperwork
Elimination and Reduction Act of 2009."

Section 2 of the bill would amend Education Law § 1950(4)(b)(5) to
eliminate an outdated requirement for BOCES to separate its program,
capital and administrative costs for the 1994-1995 school year budget.

Section 3 of the bill would amend Education Law § 1950 (4)(c) to

continue the requirement that BOCES prepare long range program plans.
including special education and career education plans, but removes
the required submission to the State Department of Education. Instead
the bill would require the plan to be on file and available for public
inspection and review by the Commissioner. This section would
eliminate the requirement that BOCES submit sections of the plan
pertaining to special education and career education programs every
two years provided that such plans may be incorporated into a BOCES
district-wide comprehensive plan.

Section 4 of the bill would amend Education Law § 1950 (4)(kk)
concerning the BOCES report card. The amendment would delete reference
to including in the report card specific information included in the
Regents annual report to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to
Education Law § 215-a.  The Commissioner would continue to have the
responsibility to provide certain information needed to ensure the
accountability of BOCES pursuant to Education Law § 215-b.

Section 5 of the bill would amend Education Law § 3602 (11) (f) to
require school districts and BOCES to eliminate the requirement to
submit a plan of service and evaluation for approval of the
Commissioner, in order to receive aid for Employment Preparation
programs. The amendment would continue to require submission of an
annual application for the payment of aid, to be approved by the
Commissioner.

Section 6 of the bill would amend Education Law § 3602(8)(b) to fully
eliminate the requirement that school districts submit to the
Commissioner plans of service for three categorical aid programs and
to replace such requirement with a requirement that the district plans
of service be kept on file and available for public inspection.

Section 7 of the bill would provide that the bill would take effect
immediately.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

To reduce the paperwork burden on school districts and BOCES, this
bill would eliminate or streamline various specific reporting
requirements currently imposed by statute. Particularly, the bill
would eliminate or streamline a series of reporting requirements
currently imposed on BOCES. BOCES reporting requirements often require
data from component districts that is a burden on school districts to
compile and on BOCES to coordinate and report so streamlining them
would have a dual benefit.

The bill would: (1) eliminate the requirement that BOCES submit their
long range plans, including special education and career education
plans, to the Commissioner; (2) make it permissive, rather than
mandatory, for the Commissioner to conduct a survey of the need for
reorganization of a BOCES when there is a vacancy in the position of
district superintendent of schools; (3) delete reference to including
in the report card specific information included in the Regents annual
report to the Governor and Legislature; and (4) eliminate certain
obsolete provisions relating to BOCES planning and reporting.

The bill would provide direct relief to school districts by
eliminating required plans of service for Employment Preparation
Education programs and eliminating the requirement that school
districts submit plans of service to the Commissioner for certain
categorical programs, but still require that they be on file and be
available for public inspection.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

The bill will create no additional cost to the state or school
districts. It will produce savings in staff time, printing and mailing
at the state and local levels for preparing and reviewing separate
and, in many instances, duplicative information requirements. The
exact amount of the savings is difficult to estimate as the time
required to comply varies widely among school districts.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
The bill would take effect immediately; however, the Commissioner will
be required to promulgate any rules or regulations needed to implement
the provisions of this act on or before July 1, 2010.

2009-S6025 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6025

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 19, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. OPPENHEIMER -- (at request of the Governor) -- 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 the streamlining of
  planning and reporting requirements for school districts and boards of
  cooperative educational services

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
"the school paperwork elimination and reduction act of 2009".
  S 2. Subparagraph 5 of paragraph b of subdivision 4 of section 1950 of
the education law, as amended by chapter 602 of the  laws  of  1994,  is
amended to read as follows:
  (5)  The  trustees  or  board  of  education  of each component school
district of the board of cooperative educational services shall adopt  a
public  resolution  which  shall  approve  or  disapprove such tentative
administrative budget at a regular or special meeting to be held  within
the  component  district  on the date designated pursuant to subdivision
two-a of this section as the date for election of members of  the  board
of  cooperative  educational  services,  or  in the case of the board of
education of a central high school district on the regular business  day
next following such designated date.
  If the resolutions adopted by the trustees or boards of education of a
majority  of  the component school districts of the board of cooperative
educational services actually voting approve the  tentative  administra-
tive budget, the board of cooperative educational services may adopt the
tentative  administrative  budget without modification. If a majority of
the component school districts actually voting fail to adopt resolutions
approving such tentative administrative budget,  or  if  the  number  of
component  school  districts  approving  the budget equals the number of
school districts disapproving  the  budget,  the  board  of  cooperative

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD12118-01-9

S. 6025                             2

educational  services  shall prepare and adopt a contingency administra-
tive budget which shall not exceed  the  amount  of  the  administrative
budget of the board of cooperative educational services for the previous
school  year except to accommodate expenditure increases attributable to
supplemental retirement allowances  payable  pursuant  to  section  five
hundred  thirty-two  of  this  chapter  and section seventy-eight of the
retirement and social security law. [For purposes of  development  of  a
budget  for  the  nineteen hundred ninety-four--ninety-five school year,
each board  of  cooperative  educational  services  shall  separate  its
program, capital and administrative costs for the nineteen hundred nine-
ty-three--ninety-four  school  year  in  the  manner  prescribed  by the
commissioner, and shall submit  the  resulting  separate  administrative
budget  to  the  commissioner for approval. Upon approval of the commis-
sioner, such separate administrative budget shall be deemed the adminis-
trative budget of the board of cooperative educational services for  the
nineteen hundred ninety-three--ninety-four school year.]
  S  3.  Paragraph  c  of subdivision 4 of section 1950 of the education
law, as amended by chapter 301 of the laws of 1996, is amended  to  read
as follows:
  c.  Make or cause to be made surveys to determine the need for cooper-
ative educational services in the supervisory district and  present  the
findings  of  their  surveys  to local school authorities. Each board of
cooperative educational services shall prepare long range program plans,
INCLUDING SPECIAL EDUCATION AND CAREER EDUCATION PROGRAM PLANS, to  meet
the  projected  need  for  such  cooperative educational services in the
supervisory district for the next five years as may be specified by  the
commissioner,  and  shall  [submit]  KEEP ON FILE AND MAKE AVAILABLE FOR
PUBLIC INSPECTION AND REVIEW BY THE COMMISSIONER such plans  and  there-
after  annual revisions of such plans [to the commissioner] on or before
the first day of December of each year, [except that  special  education
and  career  education program plans, in a form specified by the commis-
sioner, shall be submitted every two years, no later than the date spec-
ified by the commissioner, and  revised  annually]  PROVIDED  THAT  SUCH
PLANS  MAY  BE  INCORPORATED  INTO  A  BOARD  OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL
SERVICES DISTRICT-WIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
  S 4. Paragraph kk of subdivision 4 of section 1950  of  the  education
law,  as  added  by  section  13 of part A of chapter 436 of the laws of
1997, is amended to read as follows:
  kk. For the nineteen hundred  ninety-seven--ninety-eight  school  year
and  thereafter,  the  board of cooperative educational services (BOCES)
shall prepare a BOCES  report  card,  pursuant  to  regulations  of  the
commissioner, and shall make it publicly available by transmitting it to
local  newspapers  of general circulation, appending it to copies of the
proposed administrative budget made publicly available  as  required  by
law,  making  it  available  for distribution at the annual meeting, and
otherwise disseminating it as required by the commissioner. Such  report
card  shall include measures of the academic performance of the board of
cooperative educational services, on a school by school  or  program  by
program basis, and measures of the fiscal performance of the supervisory
district,  as prescribed by the commissioner. Pursuant to regulations of
the commissioner, the report card shall also compare these  measures  to
statewide  averages  for all boards of cooperative educational services.
Such report card shall include[, at a minimum, any  information  of  the
board  of  cooperative  educational services regarding pupil performance
and expenditure per pupil required to be included in the  annual  report
by  the  regents to the governor and the legislature pursuant to section

S. 6025                             3

two hundred fifteen-a of this  chapter;  and]  any  [other]  information
required by the commissioner.
  S  5.  Paragraph  f of subdivision 11 of section 3602 of the education
law, as added by chapter 82 of the laws of 1995 and such subdivision  as
renumbered by section 15 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, is
amended to read as follows:
  f. Approved [plan of service and program evaluation] APPLICATION.  All
school districts and BOCES desiring to operate an aidable program pursu-
ant to this subdivision shall complete [a comprehensive plan of service]
AN  application, including a budget by program component[, together with
an evaluation of the effectiveness of program components offered  during
the most recent July first through March thirtieth, if any]. Such [eval-
uation  and  plan]  APPLICATION  shall  be  in  a form prescribed by the
commissioner and shall be submitted  not  later  than  [forty-five  days
after  the  provisions  of this paragraph shall have become law, and not
later than] May fifteenth [in subsequent]  OF EACH school [years]  YEAR.
Within  forty-five  days  of  such deadline, and upon evaluation of such
applications, the commissioner shall notify school districts  and  BOCES
of  those  portions  of  such [plan of service] APPLICATION that will be
aidable in the school year  ahead  after  making  a  determination  that
approval  of  such [programs] APPLICATION will assure maximum effective-
ness, geographic availability and lack of duplication of such  programs,
support  for  educational  initiatives,  and  compliance  with  required
program and fiscal reporting  requirements.  No  aid  shall  be  payable
pursuant  to  this  subdivision  unless  the  [program]  APPLICATION  is
approved by the commissioner.
  S 6. Paragraph b of subdivision 8 of section  3602  of  the  education
law,  as  amended  by  section 16 of part B of chapter 57 of the laws of
2007, is amended to read as follows:
  b. District plans of service. Any school district receiving  an  addi-
tional  apportionment  pursuant  to  subdivision ten of this section for
pupils in career education programs or a payment in lieu of such  appor-
tionment  or having a public excess cost aid setaside pursuant to subdi-
vision four of this section shall keep on file and  make  available  for
public  inspection  and review by the commissioner an acceptable plan of
service describing the student outcomes expected from implementation  of
the  proposed  plan,  provided that such plan may be incorporated into a
school district's district-wide comprehensive plan. The plan of  service
[submitted  by]  OF a school district receiving an additional apportion-
ment pursuant to this section for pupils with  disabilities  shall  also
describe  how  such  district  intends  to ensure that all instructional
materials to be used in the schools of such district will be made avail-
able in a usable alternative format for each student with  a  disability
and for each student who is a qualified individual with a disability, at
the same time as such instructional materials are available to non-disa-
bled  students, provided that such plan may incorporate by reference the
alternative format plans developed pursuant to subdivision twenty-nine-a
of section sixteen hundred four, subdivision four-a of section seventeen
hundred nine, subdivision seven-a of section twenty-five  hundred  three
or subdivision seven-a of section twenty-five hundred fifty-four of this
chapter.  Such  plans shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner,
and except as heretofore provided, shall have the content prescribed  by
the  commissioner.  The  commissioner  may,  from  time to time, require
amendments of such plans as deemed to be necessary  and  appropriate  to
further the educational welfare of the pupils involved.

S. 6025                             4

  S  7.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
the commissioner of education shall promulgate any rules or  regulations
necessary  to  implement the provisions of this act on or before July 1,
2010.

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