EDU-27-11-00009-EP School Facility Report Cards  

  • 7/6/11 N.Y. St. Reg. EDU-27-11-00009-EP
    NEW YORK STATE REGISTER
    VOLUME XXXIII, ISSUE 27
    July 06, 2011
    RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES
    EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
    EMERGENCY/PROPOSED RULE MAKING
    NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED
     
    I.D No. EDU-27-11-00009-EP
    Filing No. 561
    Filing Date. Jun. 21, 2011
    Effective Date. Jun. 21, 2011
    School Facility Report Cards
    PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
    Proposed Action:
    Repeal of section 155.6 of Title 8 NYCRR.
    Statutory authority:
    Education Law, sections 207(not subdivided), 305(1), (2), (20), 409-d(1-3) and 409-e(1-4)
    Finding of necessity for emergency rule:
    Preservation of general welfare.
    Specific reasons underlying the finding of necessity:
    The proposed amendment will reduce costs and provide mandate relief to school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), by repealing section 155.6 of the Commissioner's Regulations to eliminate a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare a school facility report card for each occupied school building.
    Because the Board of Regents meets at fixed intervals, the earliest the proposed amendments could be adopted, pursuant to the requirements of the State Administrative Procedure Act, is the September 12-13, 2011 Regents meeting, and the earliest an adoption at such meeting could be made effective would be October 5, 2011.
    The national recession and the expiration of the federal stimulus funds has forced many districts to dip into their fund balance and reduce staffing and other resources for students. It is critical that districts receive relief from mandates that have not been demonstrated to justify their cost in order that districts can maintain critical services to students. The proposed amendment is being adopted as an emergency measure upon a finding by the Board of Regents that such action is necessary for the preservation of the general welfare to provide immediate mandate relief to school districts and allow them to preserve critical programs, by repealing unnecessary requirements relating to school facility report cards, so that school districts may immediately make applicable changes in their 2011-12 budgets and timely prepare and issue their tax levies in July 2011.
    It is anticipated that the proposed rule will be presented to the Board of Regents for adoption as a permanent rule at their September 12-13, 2011 meeting, which is the first scheduled meeting after expiration of the 45-day public comment period mandated by the State Administrative Procedure Act.
    Subject:
    School facility report cards.
    Purpose:
    To repeal the requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facility report cards.
    Text of emergency/proposed rule:
    Section 155.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is repealed, effective June 21, 2011.
    This notice is intended:
    to serve as both a notice of emergency adoption and a notice of proposed rule making. The emergency rule will expire September 18, 2011.
    Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
    Chris Moore, State Education Department, Office of Counsel, State Education Building, Room 148, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-8869, email: legal@mail.nysed.gov
    Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
    Valerie Grey, State Education Department, Office for P-12 Education, State Education Building, Room 125, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 473-8381, email: NYSEDP12@mail.nysed.gov
    Public comment will be received until:
    45 days after publication of this notice.
    Regulatory Impact Statement
    1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
    Education Law section 207 empowers the Board of Regents and the Commissioner to adopt rules and regulations to carry out the laws of the State regarding education and the functions and duties conferred on the Department by law.
    Education Law section 305(1) and (2) provide the Commissioner, as chief executive officer of the State education system, with general supervision over schools and institutions subject to the provisions of education law, and responsibility for executing Regents policies. Section 305(20) authorizes the Commissioner with such powers and duties as are charged by the Regents.
    Education Law sections 409-d and 409-e, as added by Chapters 56 and 58 of the Laws of 1998 (Rebuilding Schools to Uphold Education - RESCUE), direct the Commissioner of Education to establish, develop and monitor a Comprehensive Public School Safety Program which includes a uniform code providing for school building inspections, the establishment of a safety rating system for school buildings and the establishment of a monitoring system to ensure that school buildings are safe and maintained in a state of good repair.
    2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:
    The proposed repeal is consistent with the above statutory authority of the Commissioner to establish, develop and monitor a Comprehensive Public School Safety Program.
    3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:
    The proposed repeal will reduce costs and provide mandate relief to school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), by repealing section 155.6 of the Commissioner's Regulations to eliminate a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare a school facility report card for each occupied school building. While the intent of the report card was to summarize all facilities activities, projects, investigations, and tests performed throughout the year, the report card data may be obtained from other required data available in the district and represents a duplicative and unnecessary administrative burden.
    The national recession and the expiration of the federal stimulus funds has forced many districts to dip into their fund balance and reduce staffing and other resources for students. It is critical that districts receive relief from mandates that have not been demonstrated to justify their cost in order that districts can maintain critical services to students.
    4. COSTS:
    (a) Cost to state government: None.
    (b) Cost to local government: None. The proposed repeal will reduce costs to school districts and BOCES and provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facility report cards. Experience shows that it takes approximately one day to develop and manage the school facilities report card per building. It was also required to be discussed annually at a board of education meeting. Therefore one Full time Equivalent (FTE) multiplied by one day multiplied by 5,500 occupied facilities is 5500 days divided by 250 days per year or a total statewide impact of 22 FTE, multiplied by an average salary and fringe of $82,000 results in a total statewide savings to school districts of approximately $1.8 million.
    (c) Cost to private regulated parties: Not applicable. The regulation applies to school districts and BOCES.
    (d) Cost to regulatory agency for implementation and continued administration of this rule: None. The school facilities report card was designed as a local tool to inform the taxpaying public about the condition of their district schools. It was not required to be submitted to the State Education Department, and the Department did not review the information contained in them. The Department did develop a format for the report and provided that to the districts. There are no costs or cost savings to the Department as it had insignificant involvement after the distribution of the report card format.
    5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:
    The proposed repeal does not impose any additional program, service, duty or responsibility upon local governments, and will instead provide mandate relief to school districts without a commensurate risk to school safety, by repealing an existing requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facilities report cards. While the intent of the report card was to summarize all facilities activities, projects, investigations, and tests performed throughout the year, the report card data may be obtained from other required data available in the district and represents a duplicative and unnecessary administrative burden.
    6. PAPERWORK:
    The proposed repeal does not impose any additional reporting or other paperwork requirements. The elimination of the School Facilities Report Card will reduce the paperwork burden to school district. The report card format developed by the State Education Department merely refers readers to other available documentation.
    7. DUPLICATION:
    The proposed repeal does not duplicate, overlap or conflict with any other State or federal statute or regulation.
    8. ALTERNATIVES:
    There are no significant alternatives and none were considered. The proposed amendment is intended to provide mandate relief to school districts by repealing a duplicative and unnecessary requirement.
    9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:
    There are no applicable federal standards for the School Facilities Report Card. Federal laws governing the triennial inspection required pursuant to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, as referenced in Education law section 3641(4)(d) is not impacted.
    10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:
    As this measure repeals an existing requirement for purposes of affording mandate relief, school districts and BOCES will not require additional time to comply with the requirements of the proposed amendment.
    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
    Small Businesses:
    The proposed repeal relates to school facilities report cards prepared by school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES). It does not impose any adverse impact, reporting, recordkeeping or any other compliance requirements on small businesses. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendments that small businesses will not be affected, no further measures are needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis for small businesses is not required and one has not been prepared.
    Local Governments:
    1. EFFECT OF RULE:
    The proposed repeal applies to each school district and BOCES in the State.
    2. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:
    The proposed repeal does not impose any additional compliance requirements on school districts or BOCES, and will provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facilities report cards.
    3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
    The proposed repeal does not impose any professional services requirements on school districts or BOCES.
    4. COMPLIANCE COSTS:
    The proposed repeal will reduce costs to school districts and BOCES and provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facility report cards. Experience shows that it takes approximately one day to develop and manage the school facilities report card per building. It was also required to be discussed annually at a board of education meeting. Therefore one Full time Equivalent (FTE) multiplied by one day multiplied by 5,500 occupied facilities is 5500 days divided by 250 days per year or a total statewide impact of 22 FTE, multiplied by an average salary and fringe of $82,000 results in a total statewide savings to school districts of approximately $1.8 million.
    5. ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FEASIBILITY:
    The proposed repeal will not require any new technological requirements. Economic feasibility is addressed above under compliance costs.
    6. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
    The proposed repeal will reduce compliance requirements and costs for school districts and BOCES in that it will provide them with mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facilities report cards. While the intent of the report card was to summarize all facilities activities, projects, investigations, and tests performed throughout the year, the report card data may be obtained from other required data available in the district and represents a duplicative and unnecessary administrative burden.
    7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION:
    Copies of the proposed repeal have been provided to District Superintendents with the request that they distribute them to school districts within their supervisory districts for review and comment.
    Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
    1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:
    The proposed repeal would apply to all school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) in the State, including those located in 44 rural counties with fewer than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns in urban counties with a population density of 150 per square mile or less.
    2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS; AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
    The proposed repeal does not impose any additional reporting, recordkeeping and other compliance requirements on school districts or BOCES in rural areas, and will provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facilities report cards.
    3. COMPLIANCE COSTS:
    The proposed repeal will reduce costs to school districts and BOCES and provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facility report cards. Experience shows that it takes approximately one day to develop and manage the school facilities report card per building. It was also required to be discussed annually at a board of education meeting. Therefore one Full time Equivalent (FTE) multiplied by one day multiplied by 5,500 occupied facilities is 5500 days divided by 250 days per year or a total statewide impact of 22 FTE, multiplied by an average salary and fringe of $82,000 results in a total statewide savings to school districts of approximately $1.8 million.
    4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
    The proposed repeal will reduce compliance requirements and costs for school districts and BOCES in that it will provide them with mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts and BOCES prepare school facilities report cards. While the intent of the report card was to summarize all facilities activities, projects, investigations, and tests performed throughout the year, the report card data may be obtained from other required data available in the district and represents a duplicative and unnecessary administrative burden.
    5. RURAL AREA PARTICIPATION:
    Copies of the proposed repeal were provided to the Department's Rural Education Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of school districts in rural areas.
    Job Impact Statement
    The proposed repeal relates to school facilities report cards prepared by school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), and will not have a substantial impact on jobs and employment opportunities. Because it is evident from the nature of the repeal that it will not affect job and employment opportunities, no affirmative steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required, and one has not been prepared.

Document Information

Effective Date:
6/21/2011
Publish Date:
07/06/2011