What's happening
This bill legalizes and validates certain previously non-compliant transportation contracts of the Taconic Hills Central School District for state aid.
Why it matters
Prevents financial penalties for the school district. By legalizing these specific transportation contracts, the bill ensures Taconic Hills Central School District will not lose out on state transportation aid due to technical mistakes in how the contracts were awarded or filed.
Protects district operations and budgeting. The validation of these contracts safeguards the district’s ability to fund and organize student transportation, avoiding unexpected budget shortfalls that could impact other educational services.
Sets a precedent for handling procedural errors. This action demonstrates the state’s willingness to grant relief for procedural missteps when no fraud or intentional wrongdoing is involved, potentially influencing how similar cases may be handled in the future.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Approve School Transport Contracts
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–0
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.1456
- Referred to education
- Referred to rules
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6900
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
October 6, 2017
Introduced by Sen. MARCHIONE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT in relation to legalizing, validating, ratifying and confirming certain transportation contracts of the Taconic Hills central school district
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. All the acts done and proceedings heretofore had and taken or caused to be had and taken by the Taconic Hills central school district and by all officers, employees or agents of such school district relating to or in connection with transportation contracts E264632, E412975, E264580, and E273436 of the 2015--2016 school year, and all acts incidental thereto are hereby legalized, validated, ratified and confirmed, notwithstanding any failure to comply with the contract award, approval, and filing provisions of the education law, the general municipal law or any other law or any other statutory authority, rule or regulation, other than those filing provisions defined in paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section 3604 of the education law, in relation to any omission, error, defect, irregularity or illegality in such proceeding had and taken.
§ 2. The department of education is hereby directed to consider the aforementioned contracts for transportation aid as valid and proper obligations of the Taconic Hills central school district.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13557-02-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act in relation to legalizing, validating, ratify- ing and confirming certain transportation contracts of the Taconic Hills central school district
Purpose
This bill would correct a clerical error caused by extenuating circum- stances, between the Taconic Hills Central School District and the State Education Department in the 2015-2016 school year in an effort to restore transportation aid to the School District.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 legalizes, validates ratifies, and confirms transportation contracts E264632, E412975, E264580 and E273436, in connection with transportation contracts of the 2015-2016 school year.
Section 2 directs the Department of Education to consider the contracts for transportation aid. Section 3 sets the effective date
Justification
It is through extenuating circumstances that the Taconic Hills Central School District discovered that the New York State Education Department did not have the District's transportation contracts for timely filing in order to receive transportation aid in full.
Taconic Central School District submitted its transportation contract to NYSED in September 2015, in advance of the District's due date of Janu- ary 7, 2016. As reported to the police, a break-in occurred at the office of the Transportation Supervisor of the Taconic Hills Central School District sometime between July 15, 2016 and August 3, 2016. All copies of NYSED transportation contracts, extensions, bidding documents, receipts of mailing and notations dating back to 2006 were stolen along with private employee personnel files. On August 4, 2016, the transpor- tation Supervisor notified the Office of Pupil Transportation Services at NYSED of the theft and asked if NYSED could supply the district with copies of the 2015-2016 contract documents for reconstruction. NYSED replied that they did not have the 2015-2016 files and asked him to reconstruct the 2015-2016 contract documents with original signatures for State purposes. The documents were subsequently filed with NYSED on September 16, 2016.
Because copies of the original timely filed transportation contracts and their mailing receipts were stolen, Taconic Hills CSD is unable to demonstrate that the original contracts were indeed sent to NYSED in September of 2015. NYSED is only in receipt of the reconstructed trans- portation contracts one year later, past the due date and past the transportation contract extension which allows the contract to be filed within 120 days of the first day of service. Ironically, the break-in at the School District was the tickler that enabled the District to find out that NYSED did not have the original transportation contracts on file so that the District could resubmit a reconstructed contract, albe- it "late". This supposed late filing by Taconic Hills CSD is denying the District $173,404 in State transportation aid.
Without the restoration of this transportation aid, the residents and students in the District will face either a cut in quality education or a raise in real property taxes. In this instance, extenuating circum- stances dictate the Commissioner of the Department of Education to consider the contracts for transportation aid as valid and proper obli- gations of the Taconic Hills Central School District.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.