NY Educ L § 409-D (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 1 - General Provisions Article 9 - School Buildings and Sites 409-D - Comprehensive Public School Building Safety Program.

§  409-d.  Comprehensive  public  school  building  safety program. 1. Program establishment. The commissioner is authorized  and  directed  to establish,  develop  and  monitor a comprehensive public school building safety program which shall include a uniform inspection,  safety  rating and monitoring system. Such program shall require the inspections of all public  school  buildings throughout the state (i) at least once between the period commencing with the first day of January, two thousand twenty and ending with the thirty-first day of December,  two  thousand  twenty and  (ii) at least once between the period commencing with the first day of January, two thousand twenty-two and ending with the thirty-first day of December, two thousand twenty-two,  provided  that  such  inspections shall  exclude  public school buildings in a school district required to conduct building condition surveys between January first,  two  thousand twenty  and the end of such period in accordance with regulations of the commissioner adopted pursuant to subparagraph one-a of  paragraph  c  of subdivision  four  of  section  thirty-six  hundred  forty-one  of  this chapter, and provided further that such exclusion shall not apply in the case of a school district which has not completed the building condition surveys so required and submitted the same to the department. Under such program, the commissioner  may  require  inspections  of  public  school buildings as deemed necessary to maintain the safety of school buildings and  the  welfare  of  the occupants, and such program shall establish a safety rating system for such school buildings to assess  the  need  for maintenance,  repairs,  rehabilitation, reconstruction, construction and other improvements related  to  the  structural  integrity  and  overall safety  of public school buildings including but not limited to building systems related to electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation,  and  air conditioning,  sanitation  and health, fire and accident protection; and require that such ratings be  used  for  the  purpose  of  developing  a buildings  condition  survey as required pursuant to subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred forty-one of this chapter  and  a  five  year facilities  plan  as required pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph two of paragraph b of subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred  two  of this chapter.   2.  Commissioner's  authorization.  In  implementing  the program, the commissioner is authorized to:  (a) require  the  inspection  of  every  public  school  building  and prescribe  qualifications  of  persons who may perform or supervise such inspections in accordance with the provisions of this section.  (b) establish a safety rating system keyed to the structural integrity and overall safety of the building. Such system shall rate  every  major building  system  contained  within  a  building  and  where practicable identify critical maintenance and include such information in  the  plan required  in  subdivision ten of section thirty-six hundred forty-one of this chapter;  (c) require each school district  to  develop  a  buildings  condition survey;  (d)  require  each  school  district  to  develop  a five year capital facilities plan;  (e) establish a process for monitoring all school buildings; and  (f) provide for waivers of the requirements  of  this  section  and/or section  four  hundred nine-e of this article for districts whose school building safety inspection procedures in existence on the effective date of this section are in substantial compliance with such requirements.   3. Notification. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  law  to  the contrary,  the commissioner shall be authorized to notify in writing any school  district  or  board  of  cooperative  educational  services  the existence  of  a hazardous condition found in any school building within  the school district that is in violation of applicable building, health, or safety codes or regulations  that  may  threaten  the  health  and/or safety  of  students  or  staffs.  Such  notice must be acknowledged and responded  to  within  five  business days or less. Such notice shall be delivered to the superintendent of the school district or  the  district superintendent  of the board of cooperative educational services. In the case of a city school district in a city  having  a  population  of  one million  or  more  inhabitants  such  notice  shall  be delivered to the chancellor of the city district.