Prohibits contracts with out-of-state school districts in relation to aidable shared service

2 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Jeffrey D. Klein

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the prohibition of out-of-state school contracts

Purpose or general idea of bill

This legislation seeks to clarify the power and duty of the board of cooperative educational services to enter into contracts with out-of-state school districts to provide services to said districts, while specifying that no approved service that shall be provided to an out-of-state district shall be approved as an aidable shared service.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one amends paragraphs (d) and (h) of subdivision four of section 1950 of the education law by adding a new sentence to the end of subparagraph two of paragraph (d), which states that the commissioner of education shall not approve any services provided to an out-of-state school district as an aidable shared service, and by adding a new subparagraph eight to paragraph (h), which gives the board of cooperative educational services the ability to enter into contracts with out-of-state school districts in order to provide services to said districts.

Section two provides the effective date.

Justification

The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), a public organization established over forty years ago by the New York State Legislature, is unique to New York. It was created for the primary purpose of providing school districts with a program of shared services that would be prohibitively expensive if those services were funded by each individual school district. Thousands of students in special education and career and technical education have benefited from BOCES programs. Teachers and school administrators have benefited from BOCES support services including computer technology, curriculum and instruction, health and safety, transportation, human resources, payroll and record keeping, test analyses and athletics.

Bordering states have found that BOCES programs are well suited to the needs of their students and staff, are cost effective, and are geographically more convenient to their districts than their in-state programs. Since the law is silent as to whether BOCES can provide its shared service programs to out-of-state school districts, for many years BOCES had been providing them services. Due to a recent interpretation of the law by the State Education Department (SED), BOCES programs were told to stop the practice. This bill clarifies that BOCES may provide shared services programs to these districts with the approval of the District Superintendent and the Commissioner of Education.

By allowing BOCES to provide shared services to out-of-state school districts, significant benefits will result. BOCES operates on an economy of scale basis, i.e., the greater the number of users, the less expensive it is for each. BOCES also operates on the common business demand/supply model whereby services are provided only if the demand is sufficient to provide a program at a reasonable cost. If demand drops, then BOCES must eliminate the program even if the program is tailored to the unique needs of a student or school district, or if BOCES is the only provider within a reasonable distance from the school district. Authorizing BOCES to serve out-of-state school districts will benefit all interested stakeholders. Classes will remain full at a lower cost to the school districts, students will have more options to choose from in all program areas, curriculum and instruction programs and technical support programs may be expanded, fewer programs will be dropped for lack of enrollment and, most importantly, New York school districts will be able to decrease their own costs for shared services.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.