2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 5 - Taxation and Financial Administration › Article 73 - Apportionment of Public Moneys › Part 1 - General Provisions › 3604 - Conditions Under Which Districts Are Entitled to Apportionment.

§   3604.   Conditions   under   which   districts   are  entitled  to
  apportionment.  Apportionment of state funds shall be  made  subject  to
  the following conditions:
4.  The  apportionments provided for in section thirty-six hundred two
  of this chapter are for the purpose of aiding school districts in paying
  the salaries of teachers and the cost of  school  maintenance,  and  the
  sums  so  apportioned to such school districts shall be applied for such
  purposes and such sums shall not in any  case  be  placed  in  the  city
  treasury  of any city to the credit of the general fund of such city for
  the reduction of taxation therein, notwithstanding any provision to  the
  contrary contained in the charter of such city or in any act relating to
  such city or in any general, special or local law.
5.   a.  State  aid  adjustments.  All  errors  or  omissions  in  the
  apportionment shall be corrected by the commissioner. Whenever a  school
  district  has  been  apportioned  less  money  than  that to which it is
  entitled, the commissioner may allot to such  district  the  balance  to
  which  it  is  entitled. Whenever a school district has been apportioned
  more money than that to which it is entitled, the commissioner  may,  by
  an order, direct such moneys to be paid back to the state to be credited
  to  the  general  fund  local  assistance  account  for state aid to the
  schools, or may deduct such amount from the  next  apportionment  to  be
  made  to  said  district,  provided, however, that, upon notification of
  excess payments of aid for which a recovery must be made  by  the  state
  through  deduction of future aid payments, a school district may request
  that such excess payments be recovered by deducting such excess payments
  from the payments due to such school district and payable in  the  month
  of  June  in (i) the school year in which such notification was received
  and (ii) the two succeeding school years, provided  further  that  there
  shall be no interest penalty assessed against such district or collected
  by  the  state.  Such  request shall be made to the commissioner in such
  form as  the  commissioner  shall  prescribe,  and  shall  be  based  on
  documentation  that the total amount to be recovered is in excess of one
  percent of the  district's  total  general  fund  expenditures  for  the
  preceding school year. The amount to be deducted in the first year shall
  be the greater of (i) the sum of the amount of such excess payments that
  is  recognized  as  a liability due to other governments by the district
  for the  preceding  school  year  and  the  positive  remainder  of  the
  district's  unreserved fund balance at the close of the preceding school
  year less the product of the district's total general fund  expenditures
  for  the  preceding  school  year  multiplied  by  five percent, or (ii)
  one-third of such excess payments. The amount to  be  recovered  in  the
  second  year  shall  equal  the  lesser  of the remaining amount of such
  excess payments to be recovered or one-third of  such  excess  payments,
  and  the  remaining amount of such excess payments shall be recovered in
  the  third  year.  Provided  further  that,  notwithstanding  any  other
  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  any pending payment of moneys due to
  such district as a prior year adjustment payable pursuant to paragraph c
  of this subdivision for aid claims that  had  been  previously  paid  as
  current  year aid payments in excess of the amount to which the district
  is entitled and for which recovery of excess  payments  is  to  be  made
  pursuant  to  this  paragraph,  shall  be  reduced at the time of actual
  payment by any remaining unrecovered balance of  such  excess  payments,
  and  the remaining scheduled deductions of such excess payments pursuant
  to this paragraph shall be reduced by the commissioner  to  reflect  the
  amount  so  recovered.  The  commissioner  shall certify no payment to a
  school district based on a claim submitted later than three years  after
  the close of the school year in which such payment was first to be made.
  For claims for which payment is first to be made in the nineteen hundred

  ninety-six--ninety-seven  school year, the commissioner shall certify no
  payment to a school district based on a claim submitted later  than  two
  years  after the close of such school year. For claims for which payment
  is  first  to be made in the nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight
  school year and thereafter, the commissioner shall certify no payment to
  a school district based on a claim submitted later than one  year  after
  the  close  of such school year. Provided, however, no payments shall be
  barred or reduced where such payment is required as a result of a  final
  audit  of  the state. It is further provided that, until June thirtieth,
  nineteen hundred ninety-six, the commissioner may grant  a  waiver  from
  the  provisions  of this section for any school district if it is in the
  best educational  interests  of  the  district  pursuant  to  guidelines
  developed  by  the  commissioner  and  approved  by  the director of the
  budget.
b. Claims resulting from court orders or judgments. Any payment  which
  would  be  due  as  the result of a court order or judgment shall not be
  barred,  provided  that,  commencing  January  first,  nineteen  hundred
  ninety-six,  such  court  order  or judgment and any other data required
  shall be filed with the comptroller within one year from the date of the
  court order or judgment, and  provided  further  that  the  commissioner
  shall certify no payment to a school district for a specific school year
  that is based on a claim that results from a court order or judgement so
  filed  with  the  comptroller  unless  the total value of such claim, as
  determined by the commissioner, is  greater  than  one  percent  of  the
  school  district's  total  revenues  from  state  sources  as previously
  recorded in the general fund and reported  to  the  comptroller  in  the
  annual financial report of the school district for such school year.
c.  Payment  of moneys due for prior years. State aid payments due for
  prior years in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision  shall
  be  paid  within  the  limit  of  the  appropriation designated therefor
  provided, however, that each eligible claim  shall  be  payable  in  the
  order  that it has been approved for payment by the commissioner, but in
  no case shall a single claim draw down more than forty  percent  of  the
  appropriation so designated for a single year, and provided further that
  no  claim  shall  be  set  aside  for  insufficiency  of funds to make a
  complete payment, but shall be eligible for a  partial  payment  in  one
  year  and  shall  retain  its  priority  date  status for appropriations
  designated for such purposes in future years.
6. The commissioner of education may also in his discretion excuse the
  default of a trustee or a board of education in employing a teacher  not
  legally qualified, legalize the time so taught and authorize the payment
  of the salary of such teacher.
7.  No district shall be entitled to any portion of such school moneys
  on such apportionment unless the report of  the  trustees  or  board  of
  education  for  the  preceding  school  year  shall show that the public
  schools were actually in  session  in  the  district  and  taught  by  a
  qualified  teacher  or  by successive qualified teachers or by qualified
  teachers for not less than one hundred eighty days. The  moneys  payable
  to  a  school  district pursuant to section thirty-six hundred nine-a of
  this part in the current  year  shall  be  reduced  by  one  one-hundred
  eightieth  of  the district's total foundation aid for the base year for
  each day less than one hundred eighty  days  that  the  schools  of  the
  district  were  actually  in  session,  except that the commissioner may
  disregard such reduction in the apportionment of public money:  (i)  for
  any  day  or days on which session had been previously scheduled but the
  superintendent was required to close the school  or  schools  due  to  a
  properly  executed  declaration  of  a state or local state of emergency
  pursuant to article two-B of the executive law; or (ii) for up  to  five

  days  if  he  or  she finds that the schools of the district were not in
  session for one hundred eighty days because of  extraordinarily  adverse
  weather  conditions,  impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of
  water  supply,  shortage  of  fuel,  lack  of  electricity,  natural gas
  leakage, unacceptable levels of chemical substances, a  credible  threat
  to  student safety as reasonably determined by a lead school official or
  the destruction of a school building either in whole or in part, and if,
  further, the commissioner finds that such district cannot make  up  such
  days  of  instruction  by  using  for the secondary grades all scheduled
  vacation  days  which  occur  prior  to  the  first  scheduled   regents
  examination  day  in  June,  and for the elementary grades all scheduled
  vacation  days  which  occur  prior  to  the  last   scheduled   regents
  examination  day  in  June;  or  (iii)  for  any  day or days in the two
  thousand nineteen -- two thousand twenty school year  on  which  session
  had  been  previously  scheduled  but  the chancellor of the city school
  district of the city of New York or the  superintendent  of  a  district
  closed the school or schools due to a determination by the chancellor or
  superintendent  that  it  was  in  the best interest of public health or
  safety of the school district to close the school or schools in response
  to  the  novel  coronavirus,  COVID-19.  For  the   purposes   of   this
  subdivision,  "scheduled  vacation  days"  shall  mean days on which the
  schools of the district are not in session and for which no  prohibition
  exists in subdivision eight of this section for them to be in session.
8.  No  school shall be in session on a Saturday, the first day of the
  second lunar month after the winter solstice in the  preceding  calendar
  year  known  as Asian Lunar New Year, or a legal holiday, except general
  election day, Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday,  and  except
  that  driver  education  classes  may  be  conducted  on  a  Saturday. A
  deficiency not exceeding four days during  any  school  year  caused  by
  teachers' attendance upon conferences held by superintendents of schools
  of   city   school   districts   or  other  school  districts  employing
  superintendents  of  schools  shall  be  excused  by  the  commissioner,
  notwithstanding  any  provision  of  law,  rule  or  regulation  to  the
  contrary, a school district may elect to schedule such  conference  days
  in  the  last  two  weeks  of  August,  subject to collective bargaining
  requirements pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law,  and
  such  days shall be counted towards the required one hundred eighty days
  of session, provided however, that such scheduling shall not  alter  the
  obligation  of the school district to provide transportation to students
  in non-public elementary and secondary schools or  charter  schools.  At
  least  two  such  conference  days  during  such  school  year  shall be
  dedicated  to  staff  attendance  upon   conferences   providing   staff
  development   relating  to  implementation  of  the  new  high  learning
  standards  and  assessments,  as  adopted  by  the  board  of   regents.
  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law, rule or regulation to the
  contrary, school districts  may  elect  to  use  one  or  more  of  such
  allowable  conference  days  in  units of not less than one hour each to
  provide staff development activities relating to implementation  of  the
  new  high  learning  standards  and  assessments. A district making such
  election may provide such staff development  on  any  day  during  which
  sessions are allowed and apply such units to satisfy a deficiency in the
  length  of  one  or  more  daily  sessions  of instruction for pupils as
  specified in regulations of the  commissioner.  The  commissioner  shall
  assure  that  such  conference  days include appropriate school violence
  prevention and intervention training, and may require  that  up  to  one
  such conference day be dedicated for such purpose.
8-b.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subdivision  eight of this
  section, a trustee or board of trustees or a board  of  education  of  a

  school   district  having  fewer  than  six  hundred  pupils  in  grades
  kindergarten through twelve may provide for classes to be  held  on  any
  day  of  the  week  in  connection  with  educational  programs  for the
  disadvantaged operated under the elementary and secondary education act;
  provided,  however,  no  pupils  or teachers shall be required to attend
  such classes if they observe any such day as a Sabbath or a holy day  in
  accordance with the requirements of their religion.
9.  Whenever  it  shall  appear  that  any  school district has had an
  average daily  attendance  of  five  or  less  during  the  three  years
  immediately  preceding  the first of July, if such district continues to
  maintain a school the succeeding year, it shall be entitled  to  receive
  for  such  year  an amount equivalent to the average daily attendance of
  pupils in such district divided by fifteen and multiplied by the  amount
  it  would  be  entitled to receive under the provisions of this chapter.
  Provided, however, whenever the commissioner of education  is  satisfied
  that  the closing of the school in any district is impracticable or that
  the cost to such district of contracting for the education of its pupils
  would exceed the cost involved in maintaining a school in  the  district
  and  such district maintains a school, he may apportion to such district
  the total amount of state aid to which it is entitled.
10.  No  school  district  shall  be  eligible  to  receive  the  full
  apportionment  of  state  aid  to  which  it  is  entitled  under  other
  provisions of this chapter unless the trustees  or  board  of  education
  comply  with the requirements of article eighty-nine of this chapter. If
  the trustees or board of education of a school district fail  to  comply
  with  such requirements or reduce the programs provided thereunder below
  the corresponding programs provided during the  school  year  commencing
  July  first,  nineteen  hundred  sixty-one,  except  as  a  result  of a
  reduction  in  the  number  of  pupils  affected,  the  commissioner  of
  education  shall  withhold from the full apportionment of such state aid
  an amount equal to the difference between (i) the expenditures which  he
  estimates the district would have had to make or incur during the school
  year  upon which such apportionments are based if the district had fully
  complied with such requirements or if the district had  maintained  such
  programs,  and  (ii)  the  expenditures actually made or incurred by the
  district for such programs during the same school year.
11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner shall
  withhold the general fund apportionment due to any school district  when
  such  school  district  fails to submit by the date specified in section
  thirty-six hundred  one  of  this  part  the  reports  required  by  the
  commissioner  to  calculate  such  apportionments,  until  the time such
  reports have been submitted in proper fashion.
12. All the acts done and proceedings  heretofore  had  and  taken  or
  caused  to  be  had  and  taken by the Center Moriches Union Free School
  district and by all its officers or agents relating to or in  connection
  with  certain transportation contractual obligations for regular student
  transportation of the nineteen hundred ninety-nine--two thousand  school
  year,  which  was  part  of the two thousand--two thousand one state aid
  claim submitted to the department by such school  district,  are  hereby
  legalized,   validated,  ratified  and  confirmed,  notwithstanding  any
  failure to comply with  the  approval  and  filing  provisions  of  this
  chapter  or  any  other  law  or  any other statutory authority, rule or
  regulation, other than those filing provisions defined in paragraph a of
  subdivision five of this section, in relation to  any  omission,  error,
  defect, irregularity or illegality in such proceeding had and taken. For
  the  purpose  of  those filing provisions defined in such paragraph a of
  subdivision five of this section, the district shall be deemed  to  have
  filed  such  contract  within  one  year  after  the  close  of  the two

  thousand--two thousand one school year, and aid due and payable for such
  filing shall be deemed to be state aid payments due for prior years  and
  shall  be  paid  pursuant  to  paragraph  c  of subdivision five of this
  section.
13.  For  purposes  of  this chapter, "limited English proficient" and
  "limited English proficiency" shall mean "English language learner".