NY Educ L § 402-A (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 1 - General Provisions Article 9 - School Buildings and Sites 402-A - Procedures for Closing a School Building.

§ 402-a. Procedures  for  closing  a school building.  1. At least six months in advance of a proposed school closing, the trustees or board of education of a school district in which such  building  is  located  are hereby  authorized and recommended to establish an advisory committee on school building utilization to investigate  the  educational  impact  of such a closing. In a city with a population of one million or more, when the  city  board is considering the closing of any school building, such city board is  hereby  authorized  and  recommended  to  establish  such advisory committee on school building utilization for schools within its jurisdiction  and delegate to the appropriate community school board the responsibility for appointing such a committee for any school within the jurisdiction of such community  school  board.  Each  committee  may  be comprised  of  but  not limited to school district authorities, teaching and nonteaching personnel, parents of pupils who attend  public  schools in  the  district,  other residents of the district, and representatives from  business,  labor  and  local  government.   Such   committee,   if established,  shall  prepare  in writing an educational impact statement which shall consider the criteria stated  in  subdivision  two  of  this section.   2.  The  factors  to be considered by the committee in the educational impact statement shall include, but not be limited to:  (a) The current and projected pupil enrollment, the  prospective  need for such building, the ramifications of such closing upon the community, initial  costs  and  savings  resulting from such closing, the potential disposability of the closed school;  (b) Possible  use  of  such  school  building  for  other  educational programs or administrative services;  (c) The effect of such closing on personnel needs, and on the costs of instruction, administration, transportation and other support services;  (d)  Type,  age  and  physical condition of such building, outstanding indebtedness,  maintenance  and  energy   costs,   recent   or   planned improvements for the building, and such building's special features;  (e)  Ability  of  the  other  schools  in  the  affected  district  to accommodate pupils if such school building closes; and  (f) Possible shared utilization  of  space  in  such  school  building during  or  after  regular  school  hours,  as permitted in section four hundred fourteen of this chapter.   3. (a) Such educational impact statement shall be filed with the board of education or in a city with a population of one million or more, with the city board and/or the appropriate community school board. Such board of education shall publish a notice of such proposed closing in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the community once  a  week  for two  weeks, and shall post a notice conspicuously in the affected school district, which shall also be circulated  to  elected  state  and  local public officials who represent the affected communities.  (b)  After  the  statement has been filed and circulated, the board of education, and in a city with a population of one million or  more,  the city board or, where applicable, the community school board shall hold a public  hearing  to  evaluate  the impact of the proposed closing on the affected district. Such hearing shall be held within sixty days  of  the issuance  of  the  educational  impact  statement  at  times  and places convenient and accessible to the public. Notice of such hearing shall be published by such board of  education  in  at  least  one  newspaper  of general  circulation  in  the  community  once a week for two weeks, and shall be posted conspicuously in the affected school district, and shall also be circulated to elected  state  and  local  public  officials  who represent  the affected communities. At such hearing, factors enumerated  in subdivision two of this section shall be considered and  alternatives may be presented by interested parties.  (c)  The  board  of  education shall render a decision at a regular or special meeting, the  results  of  which  shall  be  recorded  and  made available to the public. In a city having a population of one million or more,  the  community  school board shall submit written recommendations for schools within its jurisdiction to the city board.  The  city  board shall  render  a decision for all proposed school building closings at a regular or special meeting, the results of which shall be  recorded  and made available to the public.