§ 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".