Opinion ID: 789575
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The structure of the community school board

Text: 6 Amy Velez, a resident of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, was an elected member and treasurer of New York City Community School District Board # 1 (Board # 1). 1 She was elected to a three-year term in May of 1999, and the state legislature later extended her term by one year. 2 Pursuant to Article 52-A of the New York Education Law, the City School District of the City of New York (the District) is divided into 32 community school districts, each of which is governed by a community school district board. See Warden v. Pataki, 35 F.Supp.2d 354, 358 (S.D.N.Y.1999); N.Y. Educ. Law § 2590-b (McKinney 2001). These boards, including Board # 1, are composed of nine members. See id. § 2590-c. A seven-member city board — with one member appointed by each of the five borough presidents and the remaining two by the mayor — oversees and administers the community boards. See id. § 2590-b. The city board appoints the Chancellor, who serves for a fixed term that cannot exceed by more than one year the term of the city board which appointed him. See id. § 2590-h. The duties, powers, and relationships of these various entities are all fixed by statute and are described in detail in Article 52-A of the New York Education Law. The chief responsibility of the community board is to establish educational policies and objectives, not inconsistent with the provisions of this article and the policies established by the city board, with respect to all nursery, elementary, and middle school students within its geographical purview. N.Y. Educ. Law § 2590-e. The community boards have no executive or administrative powers or functions, but they fulfill a number of advocacy and advisory roles, including, inter alia, prepar[ing] a school district report card, promot[ing] achievement of educational standards and objectives, [a]pprov[ing] zoning lines, and [p]rovid[ing] input ... to the chancellor and the city board on matters of concern to the district. Id. 7 Although community board members are publicly elected officials, the Chancellor has unilateral statutory authority to suspend or remove them under certain circumstances. Specifically, N.Y. Educ. Law § 2590- l (1)(a) provides that the Chancellor may remove a community board member if he or she fails to comply with any applicable provisions of law, by-laws, rules or regulations, standards, directives and agreements. Ordinarily, the Chancellor is required to provide an opportunity for conciliation prior to removal, but he or she is empowered to remove without conciliation any board member who has engaged in conduct that is criminal in nature, or constitutes an immediate threat to student or staff safety or welfare, or is contrary to the best interest of the city school district. Id. § 2590- l (1)(b). Within fifteen days of removal, the board member may file an appeal with the city appeals board. Id. § 2590- l (2). 8