STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4864 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 8, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GOODELL, BLANKENBUSH, MORINELLO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating a school board empowerment act which allows local school districts to declare a fiscal emergency under designated conditions and fiscally restructure so as to minimize adverse impacts on student education; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new title 5-a to 2 read as follows: 3 TITLE V-A 4 SCHOOL BOARD EMPOWERMENT 5 Article 78. School Board Empowerment (§§ 3850-3853) 6 ARTICLE 78 7 SCHOOL BOARD EMPOWERMENT 8 Section 3850. Declaration of fiscal emergency. 9 3851. Temporary freeze of expenditure increases. 10 3852. Restructuring operations. 11 3853. Restructuring plan. 12 § 3850. Declaration of fiscal emergency. Notwithstanding any other 13 provision of the law to the contrary, upon a majority vote of the 14 school board a fiscal emergency may be declared allowing the school 15 board to take reasonable steps to ameliorate the fiscal emergency pursu- 16 ant to the provisions of this article. To declare a fiscal emergency the 17 board must be able to demonstrate: 18 1. projected expenses exceed all available revenue; and 19 2. the school budget was rejected by voters or failed to receive the 20 votes necessary to exceed any enacted property tax cap. Such school 21 board vote shall be made following a public hearing at which the school 22 board shall provide evidence that projected expenses exceed all avail- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09002-01-1

A. 4864 2 1 able revenue. Evidence proffered by the school board shall include a 2 showing of projected increases in contractually mandated costs, pension 3 costs, health care costs, utility costs, and other expenditures, exceed 4 revenues from state aid and other revenues. Such public hearing shall be 5 conducted pursuant to the provisions of article seven of the public 6 officers law. 7 § 3851. Temporary freeze of expenditure increases. 1. Notwithstanding 8 any other provision of law to the contrary, upon the declaration of a 9 fiscal emergency pursuant to section thirty-eight hundred fifty of this 10 article the school board shall have the authority to freeze any 11 increases in expenditures in a manner that minimizes any adverse impact 12 on student education. Expenditure freezes may include freezing employee 13 salaries and any contractually negotiated increases to employee salaries 14 provided that before implementing a salary freeze the school board 15 determines by a majority vote that: 16 a. the school board has considered all other reasonable alternatives 17 prior to impairing any existing employee contracts; 18 b. no other reasonable course of action would serve its purpose; and 19 c. its actions are reasonable in light of the surrounding circum- 20 stances. 21 2. All expenditure freezes approved by the school board shall be 22 disclosed at a public hearing conducted pursuant to the provisions of 23 article seven of the public officers law. 24 § 3852. Restructuring operations. 1. Notwithstanding any other 25 provision of the law to the contrary should a school board vote affirma- 26 tively to adopt an employee salary freeze the school board shall be 27 required to comply with all the provisions of this section. 28 2. The school board shall enter into a ninety-day period of negoti- 29 ations with its employees and/or their duly appointed representatives. 30 At the request of either party, a public employment relations board 31 mediator shall be assigned to oversee and assist such negotiations. 32 3. Upon expiration of such ninety-day period the school board shall 33 have the power to restructure operations including changing the terms 34 and conditions of any current employment contracts, adjusting pay levels 35 and mandatory staffing requirements, work rules, and health insurance 36 benefits and contributions. To implement any measure that impairs any 37 employees' rights under a current contract the school board shall be 38 required to show: 39 a. that performance under the current contract terms would have an 40 adverse impact on student education due to fiscal constraints; 41 b. that the school board has considered all other reasonable alterna- 42 tives prior to impairing any existing employee contracts and no other 43 course of action would better serve its purpose; and 44 c. the school board's actions are reasonable in light of the surround- 45 ing circumstances. 46 4. Any revised contracts shall remain in effect until a new collective 47 bargaining agreement is negotiated. 48 5. The provisions of sections fifteen hundred five-a, eighteen hundred 49 four, nineteen hundred seventeen, nineteen hundred seventeen-a, twenty- 50 five hundred ten, twenty-five hundred eighty-eight, three thousand thir- 51 teen, three thousand fourteen-a, three thousand fourteen-b, three thou- 52 sand fourteen-c, and three thousand fourteen-d of this chapter 53 pertaining to seniority base employee retention shall not apply when a 54 school board has declared a fiscal emergency pursuant to section thir- 55 ty-eight hundred fifty of this article and is in the process of restruc- 56 turing operations under the provisions of this section. Decisions on the

A. 4864 3 1 retention of teachers, should positions be abolished, shall be based on 2 a number of factors including, but not limited to: the schools' needs 3 for particular license areas; the annual professional performance review 4 conducted pursuant to section three thousand twelve-c of this chapter, 5 available student performance data; attendance; an assessment of the 6 teacher's performance by the teacher's building principal or other 7 building administrator in charge of the school or program; the educa- 8 tional qualifications of the teacher including curriculum specialized 9 education, degrees, licenses, or areas of expertise; the length of 10 satisfactory service; and other factors related to the teacher's experi- 11 ence and demonstrated ability. The teacher's salary shall not be a 12 factor in making a layoff recommendation. The board of education shall 13 exercise its discretion and shall approve or reject the recommendations 14 of the superintendent so as to minimize the adverse impact on student 15 education. 16 6. School boards shall have the authority to enter into new collective 17 bargaining agreements that alter employee contribution requirements 18 and/or the amount of employee salaries considered by the retirement 19 system for pension purposes. 20 7. The school board shall include analysis of other plausible means of 21 raising revenue, and upon a majority vote implement such measures before 22 reducing employee salaries or benefits or utilize such revenue to offset 23 reductions in employee salaries or benefits. 24 § 3853. Restructuring plan. The school board shall be required to 25 submit a restructuring plan to the department. Such restructuring plan 26 shall provide detailed analysis of the board's compliance with section 27 thirty-eight hundred fifty-two of this article. 28 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire December 29 31, 2024, when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed 30 repealed.

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