TO:                  ROBERT E. BIGGERSTAFF
FROM:            LAURA K. BIGGERSTAFF
DATE:             April 5, 2007
 

No specific state statute deals with the question presented: what happens to the status of a central school district when the village in which it is located becomes a city? However, the answer most probably is that the school district will have a change in its classification and become a city school district.  Education Law Sections 2501 and 2550 define city school districts as those in which the school district is coterminous with the city.  As the municipality contains fewer than 125,000 inhabitants, the new city school district would be subject to the provisions of Article 51 of the Education Law, as well as other statutes applicable to small city school districts.

There are procedures for reorganization of school districts but these provisions involve the merger or dissolution of school districts and do not seem to apply here.

REB has suggested that state special legislation could make explicit the changed designation and provide for the continuation of the central school district’s policies.

•Albany
•Amsterdam
•Auburn
•Batavia
•Beacon
•Binghamton
•Canandaigua
•Cohoes
•Corning
•Cortland
•Dunkirk
•Elmira
•Fulton
•Geneva
•Glen Cove
•Glens Falls
•Gloversville
•Hornell
•Hudson
•Ithaca
•Jamestown
•Johnstown
•Kingston
•Lackawanna
•Little Falls
•Lockport
•Long Beach
•Mechanicville
•Middletown
•Mount Vernon
•New Rochelle
•Newburgh
•Niagara Falls
•N. Tonawanda
•Norwich
•Ogdensburg
•Olean
•Oneida
•Oneonta
•Oswego
•Peekskill
•Plattsburgh
•Port Jervis
•Poughkeepsie
•Rensselaer
•Rome 
•Rye
•Salamanca
•Saratoga
•Schenectady
•Tonawanda
•Troy
•Utica
•Vernon Verona Sherrill
•Watertown
•Watervliet
•White Plains