2023 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.