Sag Harbor - Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) has introduced legislation which would establish standards for determining petitions to alter school district boundaries. Under current law, there are no standards and school districts may summarily reject such petitions. There have been several cases on the South Fork where school district boundary alterations have been proposed by residents in recent months. Such proposals have been rejected in the past with little or no consideration of education impacts.

Thiele stated, "Most of the current school district boundaries on the East End were established in the 1950s and 1960s pursuant to a 1947 State law. At the time, large areas of the East End were undeveloped. Over the last 60 years, the region has undergone substantial growth with changing demographics and some school boundaries no longer make sense for students and families. School districts have routinely rejected any changes not wishing to lose any tax base without any regard to the impact on school children. This proposed law would change that."

Under Thiele's proposal a majority of the qualified voters in a territory seeking to be transferred could petition the district superintendent (BOCES District) in the region in which the affected districts are located for a boundary alteration. The school districts would be afforded a 90 day period to negotiate a boundary alteration. If no action is taken or the petition is rejected, the citizen petitioners may request that the district superintendent hold a public hearing on the proposal. Within 30 days, the district superintendent must issue findings and a decision. The following criteria must be considered:

 • Student educational opportunities as measured by the percentage of students performing at each level of the statewide mandated assessments and data regarding student attendance, graduation, and dropout rates.

 • The safety and welfare of pupils. For the purposes of this subsection, "safety" means freedom or protection from danger, injury, or damage and "welfare" means a positive condition or influence regarding health, character, and well-being.

 • The history and relationship of the property affected to the students and communities affected.

 • Whether or not geographic accessibility warrants a favorable consideration of a recommended alteration in school district boundaries, including remoteness or isolation of places of residence and time required to travel to and from school.

 • All funding sources of the affected districts, equalization among school districts of the tax burden, improvement in the economies in the administration and operation of schools, and the extent the proposed change would potentially reduce or increase the individual and aggregate transportation costs of the affected school districts.

Where the transfer involves 10 percent or more of the student population, of any district, the petition would be subject to a referendum approval in each of the districts affected.

Thiele stated, "Alteration of school districts boundaries should not be easy, but it should not be impossible either. Such decisions should be based on what is in the best interest of the students affected, not just tax base. School boards should be required to articulate the basis of their decisions consistent with legitimate education policies."