NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4438

Senate Bill S4438

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide; and to repeal various provisions of the education law relating thereto

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to education
Mar 11, 2019	referred to education

2019-S4438 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education
Laws Affected:: Rpld Title II Arts 33, 35, 37, 39, 51, 52 & 53, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S5226
2015-2016: S2621
2017-2018: S2345
2021-2022: S4756
2023-2024: S5752

2019-S4438 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one school district per county; and to repeal various provisions of the education law relating thereto.

2019-S4438 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4438

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act directing the commissioner of education for the
state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide
creating one school district per county; and to repeal various
provisions of the education law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE:

Directs the commissioner to establish and implement a new school
district system statewide that will consolidate school districts by
county to reduce waste, redundancy and costs.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISION:

Section 1: Sets forth the legislative finding and declaration

Section 2: The commissioner of the New York state department of educa-
tion shall establish and implement a new school district system such
that there are 62 school districts in New York state. School districts

located in a city with a population of one million or more shall be
exempt.

Section 3: Within 1 year of the effective date the commissioner shall
submit a report proposing implementing legislation to effect and fund
the consolidation of school districts.

Section 4: Repeals Article 33 of title II of the education law - Common
School districts.

Section 5: Repeals Article 35 of title II of the education law - Union
Free School Districts

Section 6: Repeals Article 37 of title II of the education law - Central
School Districts

Section 7: Repeals Article 39 of title II of the education law - Central
High School Districts

Section 8: Repeals Article 51 of title II of the education law - City
School Districts of Cities with less than 125,000 inhabitants

Section 9: Repeals Article 52 of title II of the education law - City
School Districts of Cities with 125,000 inhabitants or more

Section 10: Repeals Article 53 of title II of the education law - School
Elections in City School Districts of Cities with less than 125,000
Inhabitants.

Section 11: This Act shall take effect on the 365th day after it shall
have become a law

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York's public schools are required to prepare all students to
successfully excel in today's global economy. Currently New York spends
more money per student than any other state in the nation but ranks 39th
in high school graduation rates. Ensuring that each school district
meets the needs of each and every student is a daunting task. New York
has struggled with the ongoing process of reorganizing our school
district system in a way that provides a solution to the negative
effects of declining school enrollment, broadens the scope of program
offerings, facilitates optimum class scheduling, increases professional
resources, and alleviates heavy tax burden. This bill directs the
commissioner of education to reorganize the school districts in a manner
that addresses the needs of each and every student.

Small school districts, which are typically not wealthy have difficulty
providing the scope of educational programs and variety of opportunities
which are available in larger districts. If student enrollment drops in
these districts, the district is often forced to choose between a
reduction in programs offered or an increase in local property taxes.
Reorganizing these types of school districts into a larger district will
allow the school district to provide a broader choice of subjects
offered, reduce operational costs, increase the probability that teach-
ers will serve in their area of expertise and allow for necessary
upgrades to facilities. This in turn will result in better educated
students who can compete in the global economy.

Additionally, the reorganization of school districts will result in a
more cost-effective administrative organization and eliminate redundancy
in facilities, supplies, and equipment.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S2345 -Referred to Education
2015-16: S2621 -Referred to Education
2013-14: S5226 -Referred to Education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Unknown

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the three hundred sixty-fifth day after it
shall have become law.

2019-S4438 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4438
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 11, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT directing the commissioner of education for the state of New York
   to revamp the structure of school  districts  statewide  creating  one
   school  district  per  county; and to repeal various provisions of the
   education law relating thereto
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.    Legislative  findings  and declaration. The legislature
 hereby finds and declares that New York  state  spends  more  money  per
 student  than  any  other state in the nation, but ranks thirty-ninth in
 high school graduation rates. Only seventy-three percent of  New  York's
 students  graduate  from  high  school and only thirty-seven percent are
 college ready. The legislature finds that  New  York  students  are  not
 adequately  prepared  to  compete in the global economy and that changes
 must be made to the education system in order to reverse  these  statis-
 tics and prepare students to compete in the global economy. The legisla-
 ture  also  finds  and  declares that New York has struggled for several
 decades with the ongoing process of  reorganizing  our  school  district
 system  in  a  way  that  provides a solution to the negative effects of
 declining school enrollment, broadens the scope  of  program  offerings,
 facilitates  optimum class scheduling, increases professional resources,
 and alleviates heavy tax burdens. The legislature therefore directs  the
 commissioner of education to reorganize the school districts in a manner
 that  adequately  addresses  the  shortcomings  of the current education
 system and prepares each and every student to excel  in  today's  global
 economy.
   §  2.  The  commissioner of the New York state department of education
 shall establish and implement a new  school  district  system  statewide
 consisting  of  one  school  district  per county in each of the state's
 sixty-two counties.  The  resulting  sixty-two  school  districts  shall

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD10390-01-9

 S. 4438                             2
 
 service  only  the needs of students residing in such county.  Provided,
 however, that any school district located in a city with a population of
 one million or more shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
   § 3. Within one year of the effective date of this act the commission-
 er  of  the New York state department of education shall submit a report
 proposing implementing legislation to effect and fund the  consolidation
 of  school  districts  as  proposed  in  this  act. Such report shall be
 provided to the governor, the speaker of  the  assembly,  the  temporary
 president of the senate, the assembly minority leader, the senate minor-
 ity  leader  and  the chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and
 assembly committees on education.
   § 4. Article 33 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 5. Article 35 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 6. Article 37 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 7. Article 39 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 8. Article 51 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 9. Article 52 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 10. Article 53 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
   § 11. This act shall take effect on the three hundred sixty-fifth  day
 after it shall have become a law.

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