New York Laws
Article 52 - City School Districts of Cities With One Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Inhabitants or More
2554-B - Special Provisions Relating to the City School District of the City of New York During Emergency Period.

§ 2554-b. Special provisions relating to the city school district of
the city of New York during emergency period. 1. As used in this
section, the term "emergency period" shall mean the period from the
effective date of this section to the first day of July, nineteen
hundred sixty-two.

2. In order to place the educational affairs of the city school
district of the city of New York under the closer supervision of the
regents and the commissioner during the emergency period, the board of
education of such district shall submit to the regents and the
commissioner and to the mayor of the city of New York on the first day
of January and April, nineteen hundred sixty-two, an interim progress
report in such form and detail as the commissioner shall prescribe and
on the first day of July, nineteen hundred sixty-two, a final report in
such form and detail as the commissioner shall prescribe as to:

a. the corrective action taken in the emergency period and planned by
the board of education with respect to the administration of the program
for new school building construction;

b. the corrective action taken in the emergency period and planned by
the board of education with respect to the repair and maintenance of
existing school buildings and other structures under the control of the
school district;

c. the disciplinary action taken in the emergency period with respect
to employees guilty of accepting gratuities in relation to the
performance of their duties, and the corrective action taken by the
board of education to prevent recurrences of such misconduct;

d. the corrective action taken in the emergency period and planned by
the board of education with respect to administrative reform and the
development of a program for the division of responsibility between the
board and the superintendent of schools and the administrative staff for
the more efficient and effective management of the district;

e. the plans developed and action taken in the emergency period by the
board of education for the revitalization of local school boards and for
increased participation of residents throughout the city of New York in
the affairs of their local neighborhood schools;

f. the plans developed and action taken in the emergency period by the
board of education to establish a long-range program and the necessary
staff organization for better informed and coordinated planning of new
school construction and the modernization of existing structures; and

g. the steps taken in the emergency period by the board of education
to evaluate and to improve the quality of instruction in the schools.

3. During the emergency period, the board of education of the city
school district of the city of New York shall have, specifically, the
power:

a. To undertake any studies, inquiries, surveys or analyses it may
deem relevant through the personnel of the district or in cooperation
with or by agreement with any other public or private agency;

b. To employ and at pleasure remove educational, engineering,
architectural, legal or management consultants and such other assistants
as it may deem necessary for the performance of its functions and fix
their compensation within the amounts made available by appropriation
therefor;

c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of section
twenty-five hundred sixty-five of this chapter, to remove at its
pleasure by a vote of a majority of all its members, the superintendent,
any deputy superintendent or any associate superintendent of schools of
the district irrespective of the date of their appointments, provided,
however, that the board may enter into a contract with the

superintendent of schools for a period of not less than three and not
more than five years; and

d. To authorize the superintendent of schools and the administrative
staff of the district by by-law, rule, regulation or resolution to
exercise on its behalf such of its administrative and ministerial powers
and duties with respect to the administration of the city school
district, the purchase, repair, remodeling, improvement or enlargement
of school buildings or other buildings or sites and the construction of
new buildings as the board deems necessary or desirable for the more
efficient administration of the district or for the more expeditious
completion of school construction, maintenance or repairs, provided,
however, that the board shall not authorize the superintendent of
schools and the administrative staff to exercise any powers and duties
relating to its investigative or judicial functions.