S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5797
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 3, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on New York City 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
 and at no cost to the charter school.  The  space  must  be  reasonable,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00526-01-5
              

 S. 5797                             2
 
 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,
 THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PAY THE CHARTER SCHOOL SIXTY  PERCENT  OF
 S. 5797                             3
 
 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.