Establishes the qualifications of director of facilities of school districts

Summary of provisions

Section 1; Amends section 17 of the Civil Service law, to authorize a statewide exam for the positions of director of facilities in school districts throughout New York, and the development of eligibility criteria for examination of potential candidates for the positions of director of facilities based on qualifications and experience in accordance with article 4 section 50 of the civil service law.

Section 2; Amends Article 2 of the Civil Service Law, relates to the permanent appointment of persons currently serving as directors of school facilities to such position as may be properly classified by local civil service commissions or authorities.

Section 3; Amends section 23 of the Civil Service law, relating to the use of use of state and county eligible lists by municipal commissions for the appointment of directors of school facilities.

Section 4; effective date.

Justification

The roles and responsibilities of Directors of School Facilities have become more complex over the past 10 years as environmental safety regulations have advanced, cleaning and maintenance product development have evolved to include "green" products, and the complexity of the school facility has evolved into more than a one room school house. Technological innovation, sophisticated building environment controls, stricter safety requirements have all contributed to the greatly broaden the knowledge and expertise school facility directors need to be successful.

In order to generate the best candidate for Directors of School Facilities, the establislunent of qualifications for the post of director of facilities of school districts is now a priority. A measure passed by the Senate and Assembly in 2008 would direct the Slate Civil Service Department to administer a test for Director of Facilities for a school district. A.8473-A passed the Assembly on May 12, 2008, and the Senate on June 17, 2008, but was vetoed by Governor Paterson on July 7, 2008. In his veto message (No. 22), Governor Paterson

cited technical concerns raised by the NYS Department of Civil Service (DCS), but also comments that:

"The sponsors have brought an important issue to my attention, for which they deserve great credit. Steps must be taken to address the crucial issue they have raised: insuring that school districts are able to recruit the best individuals for this important position.

DCS has indicated that it will assess whether there are better ways to classify titles with similar responsibilities to directors of facilities. I also have directed my staff to work with the sponsors to craft a bill that would address the barriers to recruitment they have identified."

This bill has been developed to resolve the concerns expressed in the Governor's veto.

For the past several years many school districts have voiced concern over the lack of qualified candidates to fill the facilities director positions in their school districts. If a qualified individual from another area of the state is interested in a position then they must sit for another test in the area that has a job opening. One regional test would allow for the flexibility needed by school districts to reach qualified candidates no matter what area of the state they are from.

In addition, director of facilities is one of the only managerial positions left in a school district that does not have a statewide certification process, and this legislation would create such a process to benefit school districts around the State. The legislation also calls for a phase in period whereby anyone serving in an equivalent title would be waived into this position and would not have to take this test. If an equivalent position was inadvertently left off the list of equivalent positions, then a person in such a position would have the opportunity to apply for a waiver from the Department of Civil Service.

The legislation also removes the residency restriction from the test and allows all eligible applicants statewide to be considered for an open position. In addition, the State Department of Civil Service currently provides assistance to local jurisdictions to write the myriad of tests for the different local titles that exist for a director of facilities position.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediately.