§ 402-A — Procedures for closing a school building

§ 402-a. Procedures for closing a school building. 1. At least six\nmonths in advance of a proposed school closing, the trustees or board of\neducation of a school district in which such building is located are\nhereby authorized and recommended to establish an advisory committee on\nschool building utilization to investigate the educational impact of\nsuch a closing. In a city with a population of one million or more, when\nthe city board is considering the closing of any school building, such\ncity board is hereby authorized and recommended to establish such\nadvisory committee on school building utilization for schools within its\njurisdiction and delegate to the appropriate community school board the\nresponsibility for appointing such a committee for any school within the\njurisdiction of such community school board. Each committee may be\ncomprised of but not limited to school district authorities, teaching\nand nonteaching personnel, parents of pupils who attend public schools\nin the district, other residents of the district, and representatives\nfrom business, labor and local government. Such committee, if\nestablished, shall prepare in writing an educational impact statement\nwhich shall consider the criteria stated in subdivision two of this\nsection.\n 2. The factors to be considered by the committee in the educational\nimpact statement shall include, but not be limited to:\n (a) The current and projected pupil enrollment, the prospective need\nfor such building, the ramifications of such closing upon the community,\ninitial costs and savings resulting from such closing, the potential\ndisposability of the closed school;\n (b) Possible use of such school building for other educational\nprograms or administrative services;\n (c) The effect of such closing on personnel needs, and on the costs of\ninstruction, administration, transportation and other support services;\n (d) Type, age and physical condition of such building, outstanding\nindebtedness, maintenance and energy costs, recent or planned\nimprovements for the building, and such building's special features;\n (e) Ability of the other schools in the affected district to\naccommodate pupils if such school building closes; and\n (f) Possible shared utilization of space in such school building\nduring or after regular school hours, as permitted in section four\nhundred fourteen of this chapter.\n 3. (a) Such educational impact statement shall be filed with the board\nof education or in a city with a population of one million or more, with\nthe city board and/or the appropriate community school board. Such board\nof education shall publish a notice of such proposed closing in at least\none newspaper of general circulation in the community once a week for\ntwo weeks, and shall post a notice conspicuously in the affected school\ndistrict, which shall also be circulated to elected state and local\npublic officials who represent the affected communities.\n (b) After the statement has been filed and circulated, the board of\neducation, and in a city with a population of one million or more, the\ncity board or, where applicable, the community school board shall hold a\npublic hearing to evaluate the impact of the proposed closing on the\naffected district. Such hearing shall be held within sixty days of the\nissuance of the educational impact statement at times and places\nconvenient and accessible to the public. Notice of such hearing shall be\npublished by such board of education in at least one newspaper of\ngeneral circulation in the community once a week for two weeks, and\nshall be posted conspicuously in the affected school district, and shall\nalso be circulated to elected state and local public officials who\nrepresent the affected communities. At such hearing, factors enumerated\nin subdivision two of this section shall be considered and alternatives\nmay be presented by interested parties.\n (c) The board of education shall render a decision at a regular or\nspecial meeting, the results of which shall be recorded and made\navailable to the public. In a city having a population of one million or\nmore, the community school board shall submit written recommendations\nfor schools within its jurisdiction to the city board. The city board\nshall render a decision for all proposed school building closings at a\nregular or special meeting, the results of which shall be recorded and\nmade available to the public.\n