BILL NUMBER: S6737
SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the date of school
district annual organizational meetings; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE:
To allow boards of education to meet on any date on or before the Monday
after July 20th for their annual organizational meeting.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 1707 of the education law to
provide that union free school districts may choose any date on or
before the Monday after July 20th for their annual organizational meet-
ing.
Section 2 repeals subdivision 2 of section 1707 of the education law.
Section 3 repeals section. 1904 of the education law.
Section 4 amends subdivision 1 of section 2504 of the education law to
provide that city school districts may choose any date on or before the
Monday after July 20th for their annual organizational meeting.
Section 5 repeals subdivision 2 of section 2504 of the education law.
Section 6 amends paragraph o of subdivision 9 of section 2502 of the
education law to reflect the updated timeline in subdivision 1 of
section 2504.
Section 7 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
School districts hold annual organizational meetings, in which they
choose their president and vice-president, and often appoint officers
such as internal auditors, school attorneys, records access officers,
and records management officers, as well as designate depositories for
district funds. Given the importance of these decisions, it is important
for school board members to be present at these meetings. Since the
mid-twentieth century, school boards have been required to hold their
organizational meetings on specific dates and times through- out the
month of July, with variations between district types and a specific
date only for central school districts in Nassau County, In 1997,
certain boards were allowed to meet under certain conditions within a
restricted timespan, and in 2019 the same limited ability was extended
to school boards of city school districts. This inflexibility as to the
date of the organizational meeting unnecessarily restricts the autonomy
of school boards, while providing no benefit to students, districts, or
the public at large. On the contrary, if boards were afforded more
flexibility as to the date of their organizational meetings, more board
members would be able to attend them, which is crucial given the impor-
tance of the meeting to school boards' operations for the rest of the
year.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.6829 - 2023/2024 (McDonald), referred to education
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To Be Determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S6737: 1707 education law, 1707(1) education law, 1707(2) education law, 1904 education law, 2502 education law, 2502(9-a) education law