S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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9127
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 8, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ZACCARO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to metered in funding for
rental assistance for all New York city charter students
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 2853 of the
education law, as added by section 5 of part BB of chapter 56 of the
laws of 2014, subparagraphs 5 and 6 as amended by section 11 of part A
of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, and clause (B) of subparagraph 5 as
amended by section 5 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) In a city school district in a city having a population of one
million or more inhabitants, charter schools that [first commence
instruction or that require additional space due to an expansion of
grade level, pursuant to this article, approved by their charter entity
for the two thousand fourteen--two thousand fifteen school year or ther-
eafter and] request co-location in a public school building shall be
provided access to facilities pursuant to this paragraph for such char-
ter schools that first commence instruction or that require additional
space due to an expansion of grade level, pursuant to this article,
approved by their charter entity for those grades newly provided.
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, within
the later of (i) five months after a charter school's written request
for co-location and (ii) thirty days after the charter school's charter
is approved by its charter entity, the city school district shall
either: (A) offer at no cost to the charter school a co-location site in
a public school building approved by the board of education as provided
by law, or (B) offer the charter school space in a privately owned or
other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district
and at no cost to the charter school. The space must be reasonable,
appropriate and comparable and in the community school district to be
served by the charter school and otherwise in reasonable proximity.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14444-01-4
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(2) No later than thirty days after approval by the board of education
or expiration of the offer period prescribed in subparagraph one of this
paragraph, the charter school shall either accept the city school
district's offer or appeal in accordance with subparagraph three of this
paragraph. If no appeal is taken, the city's offer or refusal to make an
offer shall be final and non-reviewable. The charter school may appeal
as early as issuance of an educational impact statement for the proposed
co-location.
(3) The charter school shall have the option of appealing the city
school district's offer or failure to offer a co-location site through
binding arbitration in accordance with subparagraph seven of this para-
graph, an expedited appeal to the commissioner pursuant to section three
hundred ten of this chapter and the procedures prescribed in paragraph
(a-5) of this subdivision, or a special proceeding pursuant to article
seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. In any such appeal,
the standard of review shall be the standard prescribed in section
seventy-eight hundred three of the civil practice law and rules.
(4) If the appeal results in a determination in favor of the city
school district, the city's offer shall be final and the charter school
may either accept such offer and move into the space offered by the city
school district at the city school district's expense, or locate in
another site at the charter school's expense.
(5) [For a new charter school whose charter is granted or for an
existing charter school whose expansion of grade level, pursuant to this
article, is approved by their charter entity, if] IF the appeal results
in a determination in favor of the charter school, the city school
district shall pay the charter school an amount [attributable to the
grade level expansion or the formation of the new charter school] that
is equal to the lesser of:
(A) the actual rental cost of an alternative privately owned site
selected by the charter school or
(B) thirty percent of the product of the charter school's basic
tuition for the current school year and [(i) for a new charter school
that first commences instruction on or after July first, two thousand
fourteen,] the charter school's current year enrollment[; or (ii) for a
charter school which expands its grade level, pursuant to this article,
the positive difference of the charter school's enrollment in the
current school year minus the charter school's enrollment in the school
year prior to the first year of the expansion].
(5-A) FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT WERE OPERATING SCHOOLS OR GRADE LEVELS
PRIOR TO THE TWO THOUSAND FOURTEEN--TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN SCHOOL YEAR AND
ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS
SUBDIVISION, FUNDING WILL BE PROVIDED ON THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE SUCH
THAT THESE CHARTER SCHOOLS WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FULL FUNDING
PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH IN THE TWO THOUSAND
TWENTY-EIGHT--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-NINE SCHOOL YEAR AND THEREAFTER. IN
THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE SCHOOL YEAR, THE
CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL TWENTY PERCENT OF THE
AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. IN
THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX SCHOOL YEAR, THE
CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL FORTY PERCENT OF THE
AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. IN
THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN SCHOOL YEAR, THE
CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL SIXTY PERCENT OF THE
AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. IN
THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT SCHOOL YEAR,
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THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL EIGHTY PERCENT OF
THE AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
IN THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-NINE SCHOOL YEAR,
THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL ONE HUNDRED
PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS
PARAGRAPH.
(6) An arbitration in an appeal pursuant to this paragraph shall be
conducted by a single arbitrator selected in accordance with this
subparagraph from a list of arbitrators from the American arbitration
association's panel of labor arbitrators, with relevant biographical
information, submitted by such association to the commissioner pursuant
to paragraph a of subdivision three of section three thousand twenty-a
of this chapter. Upon request by the charter school, the commissioner
shall forthwith send a copy of such list and biographical information
simultaneously to the charter school and city school district. The
parties shall, by mutual agreement, select an arbitrator from the list
within fifteen days from receipt of the list, and if the parties fail to
agree on an arbitrator within such fifteen day period or fail within
such fifteen day period to notify the commissioner that an arbitrator
has been selected, the commissioner shall appoint an arbitrator from the
list to serve as the arbitrator. The arbitration shall be conducted in
accordance with the American arbitration association's rules for labor
arbitration, except that the arbitrator shall conduct a pre-hearing
conference within ten to fifteen days of agreeing to serve and the arbi-
tration shall be completed and a decision rendered within the time
frames prescribed for hearings pursuant to section three thousand twen-
ty-a of this chapter. The arbitrator's fee shall not exceed the rate
established by the commissioner for hearings conducted pursuant to
section three thousand twenty-a of this chapter, and the cost of such
fee, the arbitrator's necessary travel and other reasonable expenses,
and all other hearing expenses shall be borne equally by the parties to
the arbitration.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.