§ 3604 — Conditions under which districts are entitled to apportionment

§ 3604. Conditions under which districts are entitled to\napportionment. Apportionment of state funds shall be made subject to\nthe following conditions:\n 4. The apportionments provided for in section thirty-six hundred two\nof this chapter are for the purpose of aiding school districts in paying\nthe salaries of teachers and the cost of school maintenance, and the\nsums so apportioned to such school districts shall be applied for such\npurposes and such sums shall not in any case be placed in the city\ntreasury of any city to the credit of the general fund of such city for\nthe reduction of taxation therein, notwithstanding any provision to the\ncontrary contained in the charter of such city or in any act relating to\nsuch city or in any general, special or local law.\n 5. a. State aid adjustments. All errors or omissions in the\napportionment shall be corrected by the commissioner. Whenever a school\ndistrict has been apportioned less money than that to which it is\nentitled, the commissioner may allot to such district the balance to\nwhich it is entitled. Whenever a school district has been apportioned\nmore money than that to which it is entitled, the commissioner may, by\nan order, direct such moneys to be paid back to the state to be credited\nto the general fund local assistance account for state aid to the\nschools, or may deduct such amount from the next apportionment to be\nmade to said district, provided, however, that, upon notification of\nexcess payments of aid for which a recovery must be made by the state\nthrough deduction of future aid payments, a school district may request\nthat such excess payments be recovered by deducting such excess payments\nfrom the payments due to such school district and payable in the month\nof June in (i) the school year in which such notification was received\nand (ii) the two succeeding school years, provided further that there\nshall be no interest penalty assessed against such district or collected\nby the state. Such request shall be made to the commissioner in such\nform as the commissioner shall prescribe, and shall be based on\ndocumentation that the total amount to be recovered is in excess of one\npercent of the district's total general fund expenditures for the\npreceding school year. The amount to be deducted in the first year shall\nbe the greater of (i) the sum of the amount of such excess payments that\nis recognized as a liability due to other governments by the district\nfor the preceding school year and the positive remainder of the\ndistrict's unreserved fund balance at the close of the preceding school\nyear less the product of the district's total general fund expenditures\nfor the preceding school year multiplied by five percent, or (ii)\none-third of such excess payments. The amount to be recovered in the\nsecond year shall equal the lesser of the remaining amount of such\nexcess payments to be recovered or one-third of such excess payments,\nand the remaining amount of such excess payments shall be recovered in\nthe third year. Provided further that, notwithstanding any other\nprovisions of this subdivision, any pending payment of moneys due to\nsuch district as a prior year adjustment payable pursuant to paragraph c\nof this subdivision for aid claims that had been previously paid as\ncurrent year aid payments in excess of the amount to which the district\nis entitled and for which recovery of excess payments is to be made\npursuant to this paragraph, shall be reduced at the time of actual\npayment by any remaining unrecovered balance of such excess payments,\nand the remaining scheduled deductions of such excess payments pursuant\nto this paragraph shall be reduced by the commissioner to reflect the\namount so recovered. The commissioner shall certify no payment to a\nschool district based on a claim submitted later than three years after\nthe close of the school year in which such payment was first to be made.\nFor claims for which payment is first to be made in the nineteen hundred\nninety-six--ninety-seven school year, the commissioner shall certify no\npayment to a school district based on a claim submitted later than two\nyears after the close of such school year. For claims for which payment\nis first to be made in the nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight\nschool year and thereafter, the commissioner shall certify no payment to\na school district based on a claim submitted later than one year after\nthe close of such school year. Provided, however, no payments shall be\nbarred or reduced where such payment is required as a result of a final\naudit of the state. It is further provided that, until June thirtieth,\nnineteen hundred ninety-six, the commissioner may grant a waiver from\nthe provisions of this section for any school district if it is in the\nbest educational interests of the district pursuant to guidelines\ndeveloped by the commissioner and approved by the director of the\nbudget.\n b. Claims resulting from court orders or judgments. Any payment which\nwould be due as the result of a court order or judgment shall not be\nbarred, provided that, commencing January first, nineteen hundred\nninety-six, such court order or judgment and any other data required\nshall be filed with the comptroller within one year from the date of the\ncourt order or judgment, and provided further that the commissioner\nshall certify no payment to a school district for a specific school year\nthat is based on a claim that results from a court order or judgement so\nfiled with the comptroller unless the total value of such claim, as\ndetermined by the commissioner, is greater than one percent of the\nschool district's total revenues from state sources as previously\nrecorded in the general fund and reported to the comptroller in the\nannual financial report of the school district for such school year.\n c. Payment of moneys due for prior years. State aid payments due for\nprior years in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision shall\nbe paid within the limit of the appropriation designated therefor\nprovided, however, that each eligible claim shall be payable in the\norder that it has been approved for payment by the commissioner, but in\nno case shall a single claim draw down more than forty percent of the\nappropriation so designated for a single year, and provided further that\nno claim shall be set aside for insufficiency of funds to make a\ncomplete payment, but shall be eligible for a partial payment in one\nyear and shall retain its priority date status for appropriations\ndesignated for such purposes in future years.\n 6. The commissioner of education may also in his discretion excuse the\ndefault of a trustee or a board of education in employing a teacher not\nlegally qualified, legalize the time so taught and authorize the payment\nof the salary of such teacher.\n 7. No district shall be entitled to any portion of such school moneys\non such apportionment unless the report of the trustees or board of\neducation for the preceding school year shall show that the public\nschools were actually in session in the district and taught by a\nqualified teacher or by successive qualified teachers or by qualified\nteachers for not less than one hundred eighty days. The moneys payable\nto a school district pursuant to section thirty-six hundred nine-a of\nthis part in the current year shall be reduced by one one-hundred\neightieth of the district's total foundation aid for the base year for\neach day less than one hundred eighty days that the schools of the\ndistrict were actually in session, except that the commissioner may\ndisregard such reduction in the apportionment of public money: (i) for\nany day or days on which session had been previously scheduled but the\nsuperintendent was required to close the school or schools due to a\nproperly executed declaration of a state or local state of emergency\npursuant to article two-B of the executive law; or (ii) for up to five\ndays if he or she finds that the schools of the district were not in\nsession for one hundred eighty days because of extraordinarily adverse\nweather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of\nwater supply, shortage of fuel, lack of electricity, natural gas\nleakage, unacceptable levels of chemical substances, a credible threat\nto student safety as reasonably determined by a lead school official or\nthe destruction of a school building either in whole or in part, and if,\nfurther, the commissioner finds that such district cannot make up such\ndays of instruction by using for the secondary grades all scheduled\nvacation days which occur prior to the first scheduled regents\nexamination day in June, and for the elementary grades all scheduled\nvacation days which occur prior to the last scheduled regents\nexamination day in June; or (iii) for any day or days in the two\nthousand nineteen -- two thousand twenty school year on which session\nhad been previously scheduled but the chancellor of the city school\ndistrict of the city of New York or the superintendent of a district\nclosed the school or schools due to a determination by the chancellor or\nsuperintendent that it was in the best interest of public health or\nsafety of the school district to close the school or schools in response\nto the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. For the purposes of this\nsubdivision, "scheduled vacation days" shall mean days on which the\nschools of the district are not in session and for which no prohibition\nexists in subdivision eight of this section for them to be in session.\n 8. No school shall be in session on a Saturday, the first day of the\nsecond lunar month after the winter solstice in the preceding calendar\nyear known as Asian Lunar New Year, or a legal holiday, except general\nelection day, Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday, and except\nthat driver education classes may be conducted on a Saturday. A\ndeficiency not exceeding four days during any school year caused by\nteachers' attendance upon conferences held by superintendents of schools\nof city school districts or other school districts employing\nsuperintendents of schools shall be excused by the commissioner,\nnotwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, a school district may elect to schedule such conference days\nin the last two weeks of August, subject to collective bargaining\nrequirements pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law, and\nsuch days shall be counted towards the required one hundred eighty days\nof session, provided however, that such scheduling shall not alter the\nobligation of the school district to provide transportation to students\nin non-public elementary and secondary schools or charter schools. At\nleast two such conference days during such school year shall be\ndedicated to staff attendance upon conferences providing staff\ndevelopment relating to implementation of the new high learning\nstandards and assessments, as adopted by the board of regents.\nNotwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, school districts may elect to use one or more of such\nallowable conference days in units of not less than one hour each to\nprovide staff development activities relating to implementation of the\nnew high learning standards and assessments. A district making such\nelection may provide such staff development on any day during which\nsessions are allowed and apply such units to satisfy a deficiency in the\nlength of one or more daily sessions of instruction for pupils as\nspecified in regulations of the commissioner. The commissioner shall\nassure that such conference days include appropriate school violence\nprevention and intervention training, and may require that up to one\nsuch conference day be dedicated for such purpose.\n 8-b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision eight of this\nsection, a trustee or board of trustees or a board of education of a\nschool district having fewer than six hundred pupils in grades\nkindergarten through twelve may provide for classes to be held on any\nday of the week in connection with educational programs for the\ndisadvantaged operated under the elementary and secondary education act;\nprovided, however, no pupils or teachers shall be required to attend\nsuch classes if they observe any such day as a Sabbath or a holy day in\naccordance with the requirements of their religion.\n 9. Whenever it shall appear that any school district has had an\naverage daily attendance of five or less during the three years\nimmediately preceding the first of July, if such district continues to\nmaintain a school the succeeding year, it shall be entitled to receive\nfor such year an amount equivalent to the average daily attendance of\npupils in such district divided by fifteen and multiplied by the amount\nit would be entitled to receive under the provisions of this chapter.\nProvided, however, whenever the commissioner of education is satisfied\nthat the closing of the school in any district is impracticable or that\nthe cost to such district of contracting for the education of its pupils\nwould exceed the cost involved in maintaining a school in the district\nand such district maintains a school, he may apportion to such district\nthe total amount of state aid to which it is entitled.\n 10. No school district shall be eligible to receive the full\napportionment of state aid to which it is entitled under other\nprovisions of this chapter unless the trustees or board of education\ncomply with the requirements of article eighty-nine of this chapter. If\nthe trustees or board of education of a school district fail to comply\nwith such requirements or reduce the programs provided thereunder below\nthe corresponding programs provided during the school year commencing\nJuly first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, except as a result of a\nreduction in the number of pupils affected, the commissioner of\neducation shall withhold from the full apportionment of such state aid\nan amount equal to the difference between (i) the expenditures which he\nestimates the district would have had to make or incur during the school\nyear upon which such apportionments are based if the district had fully\ncomplied with such requirements or if the district had maintained such\nprograms, and (ii) the expenditures actually made or incurred by the\ndistrict for such programs during the same school year.\n 11. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner shall\nwithhold the general fund apportionment due to any school district when\nsuch school district fails to submit by the date specified in section\nthirty-six hundred one of this part the reports required by the\ncommissioner to calculate such apportionments, until the time such\nreports have been submitted in proper fashion.\n 12. All the acts done and proceedings heretofore had and taken or\ncaused to be had and taken by the Center Moriches Union Free School\ndistrict and by all its officers or agents relating to or in connection\nwith certain transportation contractual obligations for regular student\ntransportation of the nineteen hundred ninety-nine--two thousand school\nyear, which was part of the two thousand--two thousand one state aid\nclaim submitted to the department by such school district, are hereby\nlegalized, validated, ratified and confirmed, notwithstanding any\nfailure to comply with the approval and filing provisions of this\nchapter or any other law or any other statutory authority, rule or\nregulation, other than those filing provisions defined in paragraph a of\nsubdivision five of this section, in relation to any omission, error,\ndefect, irregularity or illegality in such proceeding had and taken. For\nthe purpose of those filing provisions defined in such paragraph a of\nsubdivision five of this section, the district shall be deemed to have\nfiled such contract within one year after the close of the two\nthousand--two thousand one school year, and aid due and payable for such\nfiling shall be deemed to be state aid payments due for prior years and\nshall be paid pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision five of this\nsection.\n 13. For purposes of this chapter, "limited English proficient" and\n"limited English proficiency" shall mean "English language learner".\n