NY Educ L § 2601-A (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 2 - School District Organization Article 53 - School Elections in City School Districts of Cities With Less Than One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Inhabitants 2601-A - Procedures for Adoption of School Budgets in Small City School Districts.

§  2601-a.  Procedures  for  adoption  of school budgets in small city school districts. 1. The board of education of each city school district subject to this article shall provide for the submission of a budget for approval of the voters pursuant to the provisions of this section and in accordance with the requirements  set  forth  in  section  two  thousand twenty-three-a of this title.   2.  The board of education shall conduct all annual and special school district meetings for the purpose of adopting a school  district  budget in  the  same  manner as a union free school district in accordance with the provisions of article forty-one of this title, except  as  otherwise provided  by  this section. The annual meeting and election of each such city school district shall be held on the third Tuesday of May  in  each year,  provided,  however that such annual meeting and election shall be held on the second Tuesday in May if the commissioner at the request  of a  local  school  board  certifies  no  later than March first that such election would conflict  with  religious  observances,  and  any  school budget revote shall be held on the date and in the same manner specified in  subdivision  three  of section two thousand seven of this title. The provisions of this article, and where applicable subdivision  nine-a  of section   twenty-five   hundred   two   of  this  title,  governing  the qualification  and  registration  of  voters,  and  procedures  for  the nomination  and  election  of  members  of  the board of education shall continue to apply, and shall govern the qualification  and  registration of voters and voting procedures with respect to the adoption of a school district budget.   3.  The  board  of  education shall prepare a proposed school district budget for the ensuing year in accordance with the provisions of section seventeen hundred sixteen of  this  chapter,  including  all  provisions relating  to  required  notices  and  appendices  to  the  statement  of expenditures. No board  of  education  shall  incur  a  school  district liability  except  as  authorized by the provisions of section seventeen hundred  eighteen  of  this  chapter.  Such  proposed  budget  shall  be presented  in three components: a program component, a capital component and an administrative component which shall be separately delineated  in accordance  with regulations of the commissioner after consultation with local school district  officials.  The  administrative  component  shall include,  but  need not be limited to, office and central administrative expenses, traveling expenses and all compensation, salaries and benefits of  all  school  administrators  and  supervisors,  including   business administrators,   superintendents  of  schools  and  deputy,  assistant, associate  or  other  superintendents  under  all  existing   employment contracts  or collective bargaining agreements, any and all expenditures associated with the operation of the board of education, the  office  of the  superintendent  of  schools,  general  administration,  the  school business office, consulting costs not directly related to direct student services and programs, planning and all other administrative activities. The program component shall include, but need not  be  limited  to,  all program  expenditures of the school district, including the salaries and benefits of teachers and any school administrators  or  supervisors  who spend  a  majority  of  their  time  performing teaching duties, and all transportation operating expenses. The capital component shall  include, but  need  not  be limited to, all transportation capital, debt service, and lease expenditures; costs resulting from judgments in tax certiorari proceedings  or  the   payment   of   awards   from   court   judgments, administrative   orders  or  settled  or  compromised  claims;  and  all facilities costs of the  school  district,  including  facilities  lease expenditures,  the annual debt service and total debt for all facilities financed by bonds and notes of the school district,  and  the  costs  of  construction, acquisition, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of  school  buildings, provided that such budget shall include a rental, operations and maintenance section that includes base rent costs,  total rent  costs, operation and maintenance charges, cost per square foot for each  facility  leased  by  the  school  district,  and  any   and   all expenditures  associated  with  custodial salaries and benefits, service contracts, supplies, utilities, and maintenance and  repairs  of  school facilities.  For  the  purposes  of  the development of a budget for the nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year,  the  board  of education  shall  separate its program, capital and administrative costs for the nineteen hundred ninety-six--ninety-seven  school  year  in  the manner  as  if  the  budget  for  such  year had been presented in three components. Except as provided in  subdivision  four  of  this  section, nothing  in  this  section  shall preclude the board, in its discretion, from submitting additional  items  of  expenditure  to  the  voters  for approval   as  separate  propositions  or  the  voters  from  submitting propositions pursuant to sections two thousand eight  and  two  thousand thirty-five  of  this  chapter  subject to the requirements set forth in subdivision nine of section two thousand twenty-three-a of this part.   4. The budget adoption process shall conform to the  requirements  set forth in section two thousand twenty-three-a of this title. In the event the qualified voters of the district reject the budget proposed pursuant to  subdivision  three  of  this  section,  the board may propose to the voters a revised budget pursuant to subdivision  three  of  section  two thousand  seven of this title or may adopt a contingency budget pursuant to subdivision five of this section and subdivision five of section  two thousand  twenty-two  of  this title. The school district budget for any school year, or any part of such budget or  any  propositions  involving the expenditure of money for such school year shall not be submitted for a  vote  of  the  qualified  voters  more  than  twice. In the event the qualified voters reject the resubmitted budget, the board shall adopt  a contingency  budget  in accordance with subdivision five of this section and subdivision five of such section two  thousand  twenty-two  of  this title.   5. If the qualified voters fail or refuse to vote the sum estimated to be  necessary  for  teachers'  salaries  and  other  ordinary contingent expenses, the board shall adopt a contingency budget in accordance  with this  subdivision  and  shall  levy  a  tax for that portion of such sum remaining after applying thereto the moneys received or to  be  received from  state,  federal  or  other  sources,  in the same manner as if the budget had been  approved  by  the  qualified  voters;  subject  to  the limitations   imposed  in  subdivision  four  of  section  two  thousand twenty-three of this chapter, subdivision eight of section two  thousand twenty-three-a  of  this  title and this subdivision. The administrative component shall not comprise a greater  percentage  of  the  contingency budget  exclusive  of  the  capital component than the lesser of (1) the percentage the administrative component had comprised in the prior  year budget  exclusive  of  the  capital component; or (2) the percentage the administrative component had comprised in  the  last  proposed  defeated budget exclusive of the capital component. Such contingency budget shall include the sum determined by the board to be necessary for:  (a)  teachers'  salaries, including the salaries of all members of the teaching and supervising staff;  (b) items of expense specifically authorized by statute to be incurred by the board of education, including, but not limited  to,  expenditures for  transportation  to  and  from  regular  school programs included as ordinary  contingent  expenses  in   subdivision   twelve   of   section twenty-five  hundred  three of this chapter, expenditures for textbooks,  required  services  for  non-public  school  students,   school   health services,  special  education  services, kindergarten and nursery school programs, and the district's share of the administrative costs and costs of services provided by a board of cooperative educational services;  (c) items of expense for legal obligations of the district, including, but  not limited to, contractual obligations, debt service, court orders or judgments, orders of administrative bodies or officers, and standards and requirements of the board of regents and the commissioner that  have the force and effect of law;  (d)  the  purchase  of library books and other instructional materials associated with a library;  (e) items of expense necessary to maintain the educational programs of the district, preserve the property  of  the  district  or  protect  the health  and safety of students and staff, including, but not limited to, support services, pupil personnel services, the necessary  salaries  for the   necessary   number  of  non-teaching  employees,  necessary  legal expenses,  water  and  utility  charges,  instructional   supplies   for teachers'   use,   emergency  repairs,  temporary  rental  of  essential classroom  facilities,  and  expenditures  necessary  to  advise  school district voters concerning school matters; and  (f) expenses incurred for interschool athletics, field trips and other extracurricular activities; and  (g)  any other item of expense determined by the commissioner to be an ordinary contingent expense in any school district.   6. The commissioner shall determine appeals raising  questions  as  to what  items  of expenditure are ordinary contingent expenses pursuant to subdivision five of this section in accordance with section two thousand twenty-four and three hundred ten of this chapter.   7. Each year, the board of education shall prepare a  school  district 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 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  school  district, on a school by school basis, and measures of the fiscal performance of the 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 public schools, and statewide averages for public schools of  comparable wealth  and  need, developed by the commissioner. Such report card shall include, at a minimum, any information on the school district  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 two hundred fifteen-a of this chapter; and any other information   required   by   the  commissioner.  School  districts  (i) identified as having fifteen  percent  or  more  of  their  students  in special  education,  or  (ii)  which have fifty percent or more of their students with disabilities in special  education  programs  or  services sixty percent or more of the school day in a general education building, or  (iii)  which  have  eight  percent  or  more  of their students with disabilities in special education programs in public or private separate educational settings shall indicate on their school district report card their respective percentages as defined in this paragraph and paragraphs (i) and (ii) of this subdivision as compared to the statewide average.