N.Y. Education Law § 2601-a: Procedures for adoption of school budgets in small city school districts

§ 2601-a. Procedures for adoption of school budgets in small city

school districts. 1. The board of education of each city school district

subject to this article shall provide for the submission of a budget for

approval of the voters pursuant to the provisions of this section and in

accordance with the requirements set forth in section two thousand

twenty-three-a of this title.

2. The board of education shall conduct all annual and special school

district meetings for the purpose of adopting a school district budget

in the same manner as a union free school district in accordance with

the provisions of article forty-one of this title, except as otherwise

provided by this section. The annual meeting and election of each such

city school district shall be held on the third Tuesday of May in each

year, provided, however that such annual meeting and election shall be

held on the second Tuesday in May if the commissioner at the request of

a local school board certifies no later than March first that such

election would conflict with religious observances, and any school

budget revote shall be held on the date and in the same manner specified

in subdivision three of section two thousand seven of this title. The

provisions of this article, and where applicable subdivision nine-a of

section twenty-five hundred two of this title, governing the

qualification and registration of voters, and procedures for the

nomination and election of members of the board of education shall

continue to apply, and shall govern the qualification and registration

of voters and voting procedures with respect to the adoption of a school

district budget.

3. The board of education shall prepare a proposed school district

budget for the ensuing year in accordance with the provisions of section

seventeen hundred sixteen of this chapter, including all provisions

relating to required notices and appendices to the statement of

expenditures. No board of education shall incur a school district

liability except as authorized by the provisions of section seventeen

hundred eighteen of this chapter. Such proposed budget shall be

presented in three components: a program component, a capital component

and an administrative component which shall be separately delineated in

accordance with regulations of the commissioner after consultation with

local school district officials. The administrative component shall

include, but need not be limited to, office and central administrative

expenses, traveling expenses and all compensation, salaries and benefits

of all school administrators and supervisors, including business

administrators, superintendents of schools and deputy, assistant,

associate or other superintendents under all existing employment

contracts or collective bargaining agreements, any and all expenditures

associated with the operation of the board of education, the office of

the superintendent of schools, general administration, the school

business office, consulting costs not directly related to direct student

services and programs, planning and all other administrative activities.

The program component shall include, but need not be limited to, all

program expenditures of the school district, including the salaries and

benefits of teachers and any school administrators or supervisors who

spend a majority of their time performing teaching duties, and all

transportation operating expenses. The capital component shall include,

but need not be limited to, all transportation capital, debt service,

and lease expenditures; costs resulting from judgments in tax certiorari

proceedings or the payment of awards from court judgments,

administrative orders or settled or compromised claims; and all

facilities costs of the school district, including facilities lease

expenditures, the annual debt service and total debt for all facilities

financed by bonds and notes of the school district, and the costs of

construction, acquisition, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement

of school buildings, provided that such budget shall include a rental,

operations and maintenance section that includes base rent costs, total

rent costs, operation and maintenance charges, cost per square foot for

each facility leased by the school district, and any and all

expenditures associated with custodial salaries and benefits, service

contracts, supplies, utilities, and maintenance and repairs of school

facilities. For the purposes of the development of a budget for the

nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year, the board of

education shall separate its program, capital and administrative costs

for the nineteen hundred ninety-six--ninety-seven school year in the

manner as if the budget for such year had been presented in three

components. Except as provided in subdivision four of this section,

nothing in this section shall preclude the board, in its discretion,

from submitting additional items of expenditure to the voters for

approval as separate propositions or the voters from submitting

propositions pursuant to sections two thousand eight and two thousand

thirty-five of this chapter subject to the requirements set forth in

subdivision nine of section two thousand twenty-three-a of this part.

4. The budget adoption process shall conform to the requirements set

forth in section two thousand twenty-three-a of this title. In the event

the qualified voters of the district reject the budget proposed pursuant

to subdivision three of this section, the board may propose to the

voters a revised budget pursuant to subdivision three of section two

thousand seven of this title or may adopt a contingency budget pursuant

to subdivision five of this section and subdivision five of section two

thousand twenty-two of this title. The school district budget for any

school year, or any part of such budget or any propositions involving

the expenditure of money for such school year shall not be submitted for

a vote of the qualified voters more than twice. In the event the

qualified voters reject the resubmitted budget, the board shall adopt a

contingency budget in accordance with subdivision five of this section

and subdivision five of such section two thousand twenty-two of this

title.

5. If the qualified voters fail or refuse to vote the sum estimated to

be necessary for teachers' salaries and other ordinary contingent

expenses, the board shall adopt a contingency budget in accordance with

this subdivision and shall levy a tax for that portion of such sum

remaining after applying thereto the moneys received or to be received

from state, federal or other sources, in the same manner as if the

budget had been approved by the qualified voters; subject to the

limitations imposed in subdivision four of section two thousand

twenty-three of this chapter, subdivision eight of section two thousand

twenty-three-a of this title and this subdivision. The administrative

component shall not comprise a greater percentage of the contingency

budget exclusive of the capital component than the lesser of (1) the

percentage the administrative component had comprised in the prior year

budget exclusive of the capital component; or (2) the percentage the

administrative component had comprised in the last proposed defeated

budget exclusive of the capital component. Such contingency budget shall

include the sum determined by the board to be necessary for:

(a) teachers' salaries, including the salaries of all members of the

teaching and supervising staff;

(b) items of expense specifically authorized by statute to be incurred

by the board of education, including, but not limited to, expenditures

for transportation to and from regular school programs included as

ordinary contingent expenses in subdivision twelve of section

twenty-five hundred three of this chapter, expenditures for textbooks,

required services for non-public school students, school health

services, special education services, kindergarten and nursery school

programs, and the district's share of the administrative costs and costs

of services provided by a board of cooperative educational services;

(c) items of expense for legal obligations of the district, including,

but not limited to, contractual obligations, debt service, court orders

or judgments, orders of administrative bodies or officers, and standards

and requirements of the board of regents and the commissioner that have

the force and effect of law;

(d) the purchase of library books and other instructional materials

associated with a library;

(e) items of expense necessary to maintain the educational programs of

the district, preserve the property of the district or protect the

health and safety of students and staff, including, but not limited to,

support services, pupil personnel services, the necessary salaries for

the necessary number of non-teaching employees, necessary legal

expenses, water and utility charges, instructional supplies for

teachers' use, emergency repairs, temporary rental of essential

classroom facilities, and expenditures necessary to advise school

district voters concerning school matters; and

(f) expenses incurred for interschool athletics, field trips and other

extracurricular activities; and

(g) any other item of expense determined by the commissioner to be an

ordinary contingent expense in any school district.

6. The commissioner shall determine appeals raising questions as to

what items of expenditure are ordinary contingent expenses pursuant to

subdivision five of this section in accordance with section two thousand

twenty-four and three hundred ten of this chapter.

7. Each year, the board of education shall prepare a school district

report card, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner, and shall make

it publicly available by transmitting it to local newspapers of general

circulation, appending it to copies of the proposed budget made publicly

available as required by law, making it available for distribution at

the annual meeting, and otherwise disseminating it as required by the

commissioner. Such report card shall include measures of the academic

performance of the school district, on a school by school basis, and

measures of the fiscal performance of the district, as prescribed by the

commissioner. Pursuant to regulations of the commissioner, the report

card shall also compare these measures to statewide averages for all

public schools, and statewide averages for public schools of comparable

wealth and need, developed by the commissioner. Such report card shall

include, at a minimum, any information on the school district regarding

pupil performance and expenditure per pupil required to be included in

the annual report by the regents to the governor and the legislature

pursuant to section two hundred fifteen-a of this chapter; and any other

information required by the commissioner. School districts (i)

identified as having fifteen percent or more of their students in

special education, or (ii) which have fifty percent or more of their

students with disabilities in special education programs or services

sixty percent or more of the school day in a general education building,

or (iii) which have eight percent or more of their students with

disabilities in special education programs in public or private separate

educational settings shall indicate on their school district report card

their respective percentages as defined in this paragraph and paragraphs

(i) and (ii) of this subdivision as compared to the statewide average.