§ 2601-A — Procedures for adoption of school budgets in small city school districts

§ 2601-a. Procedures for adoption of school budgets in small city\nschool districts. 1. The board of education of each city school district\nsubject to this article shall provide for the submission of a budget for\napproval of the voters pursuant to the provisions of this section and in\naccordance with the requirements set forth in section two thousand\ntwenty-three-a of this title.\n 2. The board of education shall conduct all annual and special school\ndistrict meetings for the purpose of adopting a school district budget\nin the same manner as a union free school district in accordance with\nthe provisions of article forty-one of this title, except as otherwise\nprovided by this section. The annual meeting and election of each such\ncity school district shall be held on the third Tuesday of May in each\nyear, provided, however that such annual meeting and election shall be\nheld on the second Tuesday in May if the commissioner at the request of\na local school board certifies no later than March first that such\nelection would conflict with religious observances, and any school\nbudget revote shall be held on the date and in the same manner specified\nin subdivision three of section two thousand seven of this title. The\nprovisions of this article, and where applicable subdivision nine-a of\nsection twenty-five hundred two of this title, governing the\nqualification and registration of voters, and procedures for the\nnomination and election of members of the board of education shall\ncontinue to apply, and shall govern the qualification and registration\nof voters and voting procedures with respect to the adoption of a school\ndistrict budget.\n 3. The board of education shall prepare a proposed school district\nbudget for the ensuing year in accordance with the provisions of section\nseventeen hundred sixteen of this chapter, including all provisions\nrelating to required notices and appendices to the statement of\nexpenditures. No board of education shall incur a school district\nliability except as authorized by the provisions of section seventeen\nhundred eighteen of this chapter. Such proposed budget shall be\npresented in three components: a program component, a capital component\nand an administrative component which shall be separately delineated in\naccordance with regulations of the commissioner after consultation with\nlocal school district officials. The administrative component shall\ninclude, but need not be limited to, office and central administrative\nexpenses, traveling expenses and all compensation, salaries and benefits\nof all school administrators and supervisors, including business\nadministrators, superintendents of schools and deputy, assistant,\nassociate or other superintendents under all existing employment\ncontracts or collective bargaining agreements, any and all expenditures\nassociated with the operation of the board of education, the office of\nthe superintendent of schools, general administration, the school\nbusiness office, consulting costs not directly related to direct student\nservices and programs, planning and all other administrative activities.\nThe program component shall include, but need not be limited to, all\nprogram expenditures of the school district, including the salaries and\nbenefits of teachers and any school administrators or supervisors who\nspend a majority of their time performing teaching duties, and all\ntransportation operating expenses. The capital component shall include,\nbut need not be limited to, all transportation capital, debt service,\nand lease expenditures; costs resulting from judgments in tax certiorari\nproceedings or the payment of awards from court judgments,\nadministrative orders or settled or compromised claims; and all\nfacilities costs of the school district, including facilities lease\nexpenditures, the annual debt service and total debt for all facilities\nfinanced by bonds and notes of the school district, and the costs of\nconstruction, acquisition, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement\nof school buildings, provided that such budget shall include a rental,\noperations and maintenance section that includes base rent costs, total\nrent costs, operation and maintenance charges, cost per square foot for\neach facility leased by the school district, and any and all\nexpenditures associated with custodial salaries and benefits, service\ncontracts, supplies, utilities, and maintenance and repairs of school\nfacilities. For the purposes of the development of a budget for the\nnineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year, the board of\neducation shall separate its program, capital and administrative costs\nfor the nineteen hundred ninety-six--ninety-seven school year in the\nmanner as if the budget for such year had been presented in three\ncomponents. Except as provided in subdivision four of this section,\nnothing in this section shall preclude the board, in its discretion,\nfrom submitting additional items of expenditure to the voters for\napproval as separate propositions or the voters from submitting\npropositions pursuant to sections two thousand eight and two thousand\nthirty-five of this chapter subject to the requirements set forth in\nsubdivision nine of section two thousand twenty-three-a of this part.\n 4. The budget adoption process shall conform to the requirements set\nforth in section two thousand twenty-three-a of this title. In the event\nthe qualified voters of the district reject the budget proposed pursuant\nto subdivision three of this section, the board may propose to the\nvoters a revised budget pursuant to subdivision three of section two\nthousand seven of this title or may adopt a contingency budget pursuant\nto subdivision five of this section and subdivision five of section two\nthousand twenty-two of this title. The school district budget for any\nschool year, or any part of such budget or any propositions involving\nthe expenditure of money for such school year shall not be submitted for\na vote of the qualified voters more than twice. In the event the\nqualified voters reject the resubmitted budget, the board shall adopt a\ncontingency budget in accordance with subdivision five of this section\nand subdivision five of such section two thousand twenty-two of this\ntitle.\n 5. If the qualified voters fail or refuse to vote the sum estimated to\nbe necessary for teachers' salaries and other ordinary contingent\nexpenses, the board shall adopt a contingency budget in accordance with\nthis subdivision and shall levy a tax for that portion of such sum\nremaining after applying thereto the moneys received or to be received\nfrom state, federal or other sources, in the same manner as if the\nbudget had been approved by the qualified voters; subject to the\nlimitations imposed in subdivision four of section two thousand\ntwenty-three of this chapter, subdivision eight of section two thousand\ntwenty-three-a of this title and this subdivision. The administrative\ncomponent shall not comprise a greater percentage of the contingency\nbudget exclusive of the capital component than the lesser of (1) the\npercentage the administrative component had comprised in the prior year\nbudget exclusive of the capital component; or (2) the percentage the\nadministrative component had comprised in the last proposed defeated\nbudget exclusive of the capital component. Such contingency budget shall\ninclude the sum determined by the board to be necessary for:\n (a) teachers' salaries, including the salaries of all members of the\nteaching and supervising staff;\n (b) items of expense specifically authorized by statute to be incurred\nby the board of education, including, but not limited to, expenditures\nfor transportation to and from regular school programs included as\nordinary contingent expenses in subdivision twelve of section\ntwenty-five hundred three of this chapter, expenditures for textbooks,\nrequired services for non-public school students, school health\nservices, special education services, kindergarten and nursery school\nprograms, and the district's share of the administrative costs and costs\nof services provided by a board of cooperative educational services;\n (c) items of expense for legal obligations of the district, including,\nbut not limited to, contractual obligations, debt service, court orders\nor judgments, orders of administrative bodies or officers, and standards\nand requirements of the board of regents and the commissioner that have\nthe force and effect of law;\n (d) the purchase of library books and other instructional materials\nassociated with a library;\n (e) items of expense necessary to maintain the educational programs of\nthe district, preserve the property of the district or protect the\nhealth and safety of students and staff, including, but not limited to,\nsupport services, pupil personnel services, the necessary salaries for\nthe necessary number of non-teaching employees, necessary legal\nexpenses, water and utility charges, instructional supplies for\nteachers' use, emergency repairs, temporary rental of essential\nclassroom facilities, and expenditures necessary to advise school\ndistrict voters concerning school matters; and\n (f) expenses incurred for interschool athletics, field trips and other\nextracurricular activities; and\n (g) any other item of expense determined by the commissioner to be an\nordinary contingent expense in any school district.\n 6. The commissioner shall determine appeals raising questions as to\nwhat items of expenditure are ordinary contingent expenses pursuant to\nsubdivision five of this section in accordance with section two thousand\ntwenty-four and three hundred ten of this chapter.\n 7. Each year, the board of education shall prepare a school district\nreport card, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner, and shall make\nit publicly available by transmitting it to local newspapers of general\ncirculation, appending it to copies of the proposed budget made publicly\navailable as required by law, making it available for distribution at\nthe annual meeting, and otherwise disseminating it as required by the\ncommissioner. Such report card shall include measures of the academic\nperformance of the school district, on a school by school basis, and\nmeasures of the fiscal performance of the district, as prescribed by the\ncommissioner. Pursuant to regulations of the commissioner, the report\ncard shall also compare these measures to statewide averages for all\npublic schools, and statewide averages for public schools of comparable\nwealth and need, developed by the commissioner. Such report card shall\ninclude, at a minimum, any information on the school district regarding\npupil performance and expenditure per pupil required to be included in\nthe annual report by the regents to the governor and the legislature\npursuant to section two hundred fifteen-a of this chapter; and any other\ninformation required by the commissioner. School districts (i)\nidentified as having fifteen percent or more of their students in\nspecial education, or (ii) which have fifty percent or more of their\nstudents with disabilities in special education programs or services\nsixty percent or more of the school day in a general education building,\nor (iii) which have eight percent or more of their students with\ndisabilities in special education programs in public or private separate\neducational settings shall indicate on their school district report card\ntheir respective percentages as defined in this paragraph and paragraphs\n(i) and (ii) of this subdivision as compared to the statewide average.\n