Act No. 168 Page 1 of 1
2024
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the General Assembly. It
is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be exhaustive. It has been prepared by the
staff of the Office of Legislative Counsel without input from members of the General Assembly. It is not
intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 168 (H.630). An act relating to improving access to high-quality education through
community collaboration
Subjects: Education; counties; regional boards of cooperative education services;
shared services; specialized education settings; shared purchasing
Sec. 1 of this act contains several legislative findings regarding the need for and
benefits of the collaborative provision of educational services and the community schools
model.
Sec. 2 adds a new chapter 10 to Title 16 that governs the creation and operation of
Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) to provide shared programs and
services on a regional and statewide level. It creates requirements for the process for
supervisory unions to form BOCES; articles of agreement; boards of directors; the
powers of BOCES; financing, budgeting, and accounting practices; public reporting; and
employment practices, including establishing BOCES as public employers. This section
limits the number of BOCES to seven statewide and limits supervisory unions to
membership in not more than one BOCES, but allows supervisory unions to seek services
as a nonmember from other BOCES.
Sec. 3 requires supervisory unions to consider and vote on the desirability of
establishing a BOCES on or before July 1, 2026. The Secretary of Education shall
review the BOCES as they exist on or before July 1, 2028 and issue a report to the
General Assembly on or before November 1, 2028 with information about the use and
operation of BOCES.
Sec. 4 establishes the BOCES Start-up Grant Program, to be administered by the
Agency of Education, to provide $10,000.00 grants to newly formed BOCES to be used
for start-up costs. A total of $70,000.00 is appropriated from the Education Fund for the
Grant Program.
Secs. 5 through 11 of this act contain conforming amendments to include BOCES as a
public employer in applicable retirement, labor relations, and healthcare statutes, as well
as to include the formation of a BOCES in the enumerated duties of supervisory union
boards.
Sec. 12 continues the community schools grant program that was created in 2021 Acts
and Resolves No. 28.
Sec. 13 requires the Agency of Education, in consultation with the Department of
Mental Health, to include certain additional information about the community schools
structure in the Agency’s report to the General Assembly about the community schools
grant program.
Sec. 14 of this act appropriates $1,000,000.00 from the Education Fund to the Agency
of Education to fund the community schools program.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024
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Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 16-563
As Passed By the House -- Official: 16-563, 16-261a, 16-1691a, 16-1931(20), 16-1931, 24-5051(10), 24-5051, 16-1981, 21-1722, 16-2101
As Passed By the House -- Unofficial: 16-261a, 16-1691a, 16-1931(20), 16-1931, 24-5051(10), 24-5051, 16-1981, 21-1722, 16-2101
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 16-563, 16-261a, 16-1691a, 16-1931(20), 16-1931, 24-5051(10), 24-5051, 16-1981, 21-1722, 16-2101
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 16-261a, 16-1691a, 16-1931(20), 16-1931, 24-5051(10), 24-5051, 16-1981, 21-1722, 16-2101
As Enacted: 16-261a, 16-1691a, 16-1931(20), 16-1931, 24-5051(10), 24-5051, 16-1981, 21-1722, 16-2101