S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7338
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
August 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. JORDAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to providing
for the apportionment of funds to certain special act school
districts, in relation to eliminating reference to union free school
district number eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; to
provide for the payment of the debts and obligations and the handling
of records of the union free school district number eight in the town
of Canaan, Columbia County; and to repeal chapter 486 of the laws of
1964, relating to establishing union free school district number eight
of the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 486 of the laws of 1964 relating to establishing
union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the
county of Columbia is REPEALED.
§ 2. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid-
ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts,
as amended by section 6 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended
to read as follows:
Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b
of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such
school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or
under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is
hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu-
al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be
computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and
four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the
town of Dryden, Tompkins county; [union free school district number
eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county;] union free school
districts numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh,
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13075-01-1
S. 7338 2
Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four
of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school
district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester
county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the
town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school
district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school
district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the
Hopevale union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and
union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk
county.
§ 3. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid-
ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts,
as amended by section 7 of chapter 446 of the laws of 2014, is amended
to read as follows:
Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b
of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such
school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or
under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is
hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu-
al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be
computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and
four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the
town of Dryden, Tompkins county; [union free school district number
eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia county;] union free school
districts numbers ten, eleven and twelve of the town of Greenburgh,
Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and four
of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free school
district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester
county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district of the
town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school
district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school
district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; and
union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk
county.
§ 4. Any funds remaining in the possession of the union free school
district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia,
after all of its debts and obligations have been paid, shall be paid
over to each social services district and school district having resi-
dent children served by the union free school district number eight in
the town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school
year in the same proportion as the number of students placed by each
such social services district or school district and served by the union
free school district number eight in the town of Canaan in the county of
Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year bears to the total number of
students served by the union free school district number eight in the
town of Canaan in the county of Columbia in the 2019-2020 school year.
Though the union free school district number eight in the town of Canaan
in the county of Columbia be dissolved, the board of cooperative educa-
tional services of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum-
bia, Greene Counties (Questar III BOCES) shall be authorized to act on
behalf of the school district pursuant to section five of this act.
§ 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa-
tion of the union free school district number eight of the town of
Canaan, Columbia County, Questar III BOCES shall be authorized to take
any actions on behalf of the school district that are reasonable and
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necessary to complete the closedown and dissolution of the district that
the board of education would have, including but not limited to, the
power to enter into contracts, pay outstanding debts for reimbursable
costs incurred for closedown of the school district under this section
and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of
the education law, provided however that the Questar III BOCES shall not
pay for outstanding debts using its own funds and shall not be liable
for any outstanding debt or claims incurred by the union free school
district number eight of the town of Canaan, Columbia County. The Ques-
tar III BOCES may sell school district property, if any, with approval
of the commissioner, and bill for and receive any reimbursement due and
owing for tuition pursuant to article 81 of the education law or any
other provision of law for services rendered to students on or before
the school district ceased operation on June 30, 2020 and reimbursement
for close down costs determined pursuant to this section and subpara-
graph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the educa-
tion law. The Questar III BOCES shall be reimbursed the actual docu-
mented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its duties under
the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of
subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to close down the
school district. The Questar III BOCES shall review the business records
of the school district, including any claims, invoices and bills submit-
ted to the school district during any period in which there was no duly
constituted board of education and shall audit any expenses or claims,
based on invoices, bills or other documentation, that were not included
in an audited financial statement or financial reports submitted to the
department by the school district, to determine if such expenses or
claims are duplicative of claims previously submitted for reimbursement
and, if not, whether they are supported by documentation that would
substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school
district or is otherwise an outstanding debt of the school district.
Such audit may be conducted by the claims auditor of the BOCES or, with
the approval of the commissioner, by an independent auditor retained by
the BOCES. The BOCES shall report to the department any audited claims
that were not included in an audited financial statement or financial
report, together with the documentation supporting such claims.
Reimbursement for costs incurred for closedown of the school district
shall include only: (i) any allowable costs approved by the commissioner
that were included in the audited financial statement and financial
reports submitted by the school district in conformity with the finan-
cial reporting requirements; (ii) additional allowable costs incurred in
the 2019-2020 school year or subsequently during the closedown period
that are approved by the commissioner in accordance with the reimbursa-
ble cost manual in effect for the 2019-2020 school year and relate to
claims that were audited by the Questar III BOCES pursuant to this
section and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section
4405 of the education law and are based on supporting documentation that
would substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the school
district and not duplicative of claims previously reimbursed; and (iii)
the actual documented cost to the Questar III BOCES of carrying out its
duties under the provisions of this section and subparagraph (i) of
paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law to
close down the school district, as approved by the commissioner based on
documentation that such costs were necessary to carry out such duties,
shall be included in a closedown rate payable by each school district or
social services district responsible for tuition for students attending
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the special act school district in the 2019-2020 school year. Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
such closedown rate may be payable in three installments which shall be
as equal as practicable, over three consecutive years after the close-
down rate is established; provided that any reimbursement costs remain-
ing due to Questar III BOCES for carrying out its administrative duties
under this act and subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision 4 of
section 4405 of the education law may be paid in the first installment.
In such capacity, such board of cooperative educational services and its
officers and employees shall be entitled to defense and indemnification
by the state pursuant to section 18 of the public officers law. Services
provided by the Questar III BOCES under this act and subparagraph (i) of
paragraph j of subdivision 4 of section 4405 of the education law shall
not result in any additional costs being imposed on component school
districts, except those costs imposed on a component school district
pursuant to a closedown rate calculated under this section.
§ 6. The records of union free school district number eight of the
town of Canaan in the county of Columbia, shall be forwarded to the
district superintendent of schools for the board of cooperative educa-
tional services for the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Colum-
bia, Greene Counties for preservation. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law to the contrary, such records shall be deemed to be
records of the sole supervisory district of Rensselaer, Columbia, Greene
Counties for purposes of the management and disposition of such records
and any local government management grants issued pursuant to section
57.35 of the arts and cultural affairs law.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
the amendments to section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, made by
section three of this act, shall take effect on the same date and in the
same manner as section 5 of chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, as amended,
takes effect.