S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    85
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. ZACCARO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to metered in funding for
   rental assistance for all New York city charter students

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (e)  of  subdivision  3 of section 2853 of the
 education law, as added by section 5 of part BB of  chapter  56  of  the
 laws  of  2014, subparagraphs 5 and 6 as amended by section 11 of part A
 of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, and clause (B) of subparagraph  5  as
 amended  by  section 5 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
 amended to read as follows:
   (e) In a city school district in a city having  a  population  of  one
 million  or  more  inhabitants,  charter  schools  that  [first commence
 instruction or that require additional space  due  to  an  expansion  of
 grade  level, pursuant to this article, approved by their charter entity
 for the two thousand fourteen--two thousand fifteen school year or ther-
 eafter and] request co-location in a public  school  building  shall  be
 provided  access to facilities pursuant to this paragraph for such char-
 ter schools that first commence instruction or that  require  additional
 space  due  to  an  expansion  of grade level, pursuant to this article,
 approved by their charter entity for those grades newly provided.
   (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, within
 the later of (i) five months after a charter  school's  written  request
 for  co-location and (ii) thirty days after the charter school's charter
 is approved by its  charter  entity,  the  city  school  district  shall
 either: (A) offer at no cost to the charter school a co-location site in
 a  public school building approved by the board of education as provided
 by law, or (B) offer the charter school space in a  privately  owned  or
 other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD00526-01-5
 A. 85                               2
 
 and  at  no  cost  to  the charter school. The space must be reasonable,
 appropriate and comparable and in the community school  district  to  be
 served by the charter school and otherwise in reasonable proximity.
   (2) No later than thirty days after approval by the board of education
 or expiration of the offer period prescribed in subparagraph one of this
 paragraph,  the  charter  school  shall  either  accept  the city school
 district's offer or appeal in accordance with subparagraph three of this
 paragraph. If no appeal is taken, the city's offer or refusal to make an
 offer shall be final and non-reviewable. The charter school  may  appeal
 as early as issuance of an educational impact statement for the proposed
 co-location.
   (3)  The  charter  school  shall have the option of appealing the city
 school district's offer or failure to offer a co-location  site  through
 binding  arbitration in accordance with subparagraph [seven] SIX of this
 paragraph, an expedited appeal to the commissioner pursuant  to  section
 three hundred ten of this chapter and the procedures prescribed in para-
 graph  (a-5)  of  this  subdivision, or a special proceeding pursuant to
 article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. In  any  such
 appeal,  the  standard  of  review  shall  be the standard prescribed in
 section seventy-eight hundred three of the civil practice law and rules.
   (4) If the appeal results in a determination  in  favor  of  the  city
 school  district, the city's offer shall be final and the charter school
 may either accept such offer and move into the space offered by the city
 school district at the city school  district's  expense,  or  locate  in
 another site at the charter school's expense.
   (5)  [For  a  new  charter  school  whose charter is granted or for an
 existing charter school whose expansion of grade level, pursuant to this
 article, is approved by their charter entity, if] IF the appeal  results
 in  a  determination  in  favor  of  the charter school, the city school
 district shall pay the charter school an  amount  [attributable  to  the
 grade  level  expansion or the formation of the new charter school] that
 is equal to the lesser of:
   (A) the actual rental cost of  an  alternative  privately  owned  site
 selected by the charter school or
   (B)  thirty  percent  of  the  product  of  the charter school's basic
 tuition for the current school year and [(i) for a  new  charter  school
 that  first  commences  instruction on or after July first, two thousand
 fourteen,] the charter school's current year enrollment[; or (ii) for  a
 charter  school which expands its grade level, pursuant to this article,
 the positive difference  of  the  charter  school's  enrollment  in  the
 current  school year minus the charter school's enrollment in the school
 year prior to the first year of the expansion].
   (5-A) FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT WERE OPERATING SCHOOLS OR GRADE  LEVELS
 PRIOR  TO THE TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN--TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN SCHOOL YEAR AND
 ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING  PURSUANT  TO  SUBPARAGRAPH  FIVE  OF  THIS
 SUBDIVISION,  FUNDING  WILL  BE  PROVIDED ON THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE SUCH
 THAT THESE CHARTER SCHOOLS WILL BE  ELIGIBLE  TO  RECEIVE  FULL  FUNDING
 PURSUANT  TO  SUBPARAGRAPH  FIVE  OF  THIS PARAGRAPH IN THE TWO THOUSAND
 TWENTY-NINE--TWO THOUSAND THIRTY SCHOOL YEAR AND THEREAFTER. IN THE  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-FIVE--TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-SIX  SCHOOL  YEAR, THE CITY
 SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE  CHARTER  SCHOOL  TWENTY  PERCENT  OF  THE
 AMOUNT  OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. IN
 THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN SCHOOL YEAR,  THE
 CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL FORTY PERCENT OF THE
 AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH.  IN
 THE  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-SEVEN--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT SCHOOL YEAR,
 A. 85                               3
 
 THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL SIXTY  PERCENT  OF
 THE AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
 IN  THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-EIGHT--TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-NINE SCHOOL YEAR,
 THE  CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL EIGHTY PERCENT OF
 THE AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
 IN THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-NINE--TWO THOUSAND THIRTY  SCHOOL  YEAR,  THE
 CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF
 THE AMOUNT OWED TO THE SCHOOL UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH FIVE OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
   (6)  An  arbitration  in an appeal pursuant to this paragraph shall be
 conducted by a  single  arbitrator  selected  in  accordance  with  this
 subparagraph  from  a  list of arbitrators from the American arbitration
 association's panel of labor  arbitrators,  with  relevant  biographical
 information,  submitted by such association to the commissioner pursuant
 to paragraph a of subdivision three of section three  thousand  twenty-a
 of  this  chapter.  Upon request by the charter school, the commissioner
 shall forthwith send a copy of such list  and  biographical  information
 simultaneously  to  the  charter  school  and  city school district. The
 parties shall, by mutual agreement, select an arbitrator from  the  list
 within fifteen days from receipt of the list, and if the parties fail to
 agree  on  an  arbitrator  within such fifteen day period or fail within
 such fifteen day period to notify the commissioner  that  an  arbitrator
 has been selected, the commissioner shall appoint an arbitrator from the
 list  to  serve as the arbitrator. The arbitration shall be conducted in
 accordance with the American arbitration association's rules  for  labor
 arbitration,  except  that  the  arbitrator  shall conduct a pre-hearing
 conference within ten to fifteen days of agreeing to serve and the arbi-
 tration shall be completed and  a  decision  rendered  within  the  time
 frames  prescribed for hearings pursuant to section three thousand twen-
 ty-a of this chapter. The arbitrator's fee shall  not  exceed  the  rate
 established  by  the  commissioner  for  hearings  conducted pursuant to
 section three thousand twenty-a of this chapter, and the  cost  of  such
 fee,  the  arbitrator's  necessary travel and other reasonable expenses,
 and all other hearing expenses shall be borne equally by the parties  to
 the arbitration.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.