New York State's Student Intern Program exposes next generation of leaders to careers in public service

The New York State Department of Civil Service announced more than 250 new student internship opportunities currently available for the upcoming fall semester throughout New York State government and reminded students to apply prior to the September 13, 2019 application deadline. Internships are available across a wide array of State agencies and include opportunities in human services, environmental conservation, criminal justice, health care, and engineering.

The Department of Civil Service has created a one-stop website – www.nysinternships.cs.ny.gov– that allows applicants to view job descriptions, create profiles, specify occupational interests, and upload resumes, writing samples, and letters of recommendation.

A list of available internships for the fall 2019 Session is available by visiting:

  www.nysinternships.cs.ny.gov/nnyl/main/viewinternships.cfm.

“Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York State is attracting and developing our future leaders in State government and providing them with valuable skills and hands-on experience that will assist them as they step out into the workplace,” said Lola W. Brabham, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Civil Service. “Today and every day, let us thank our student interns for their valuable contributions to State government and their efforts in building a better and stronger New York for all.”

The Student Intern Program is part of Governor Cuomo’s New New York Leaders Initiative, which focuses on attracting new and highly-skilled individuals to State government through both internship and fellowship programs. Through this program, students are exposed to the work of governing, while gaining valuable hands-on experience serving the people and interacting with government leaders and policy-makers.

Student internships are available to undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities throughout New York State, as well as New York residents enrolled elsewhere. Each intern works in a particular area within an Executive Branch agency or department.

Opportunities include both paid and unpaid positions. Academic credit may be given for internships depending on the policy of the intern’s educational institution.

Featured internships for the fall 2019 session include:

Classification & Compensation Intern (Department of Civil Service – Albany): As part of the Department’s Division of Classification and Compensation, interns will gain an exposure to human resource management, division operations, and how budget considerations affect agency operations. Intern duties will consist of a range of activities that include position classification and reclassification, title allocation and reallocation, preparation of Classification Standards, review and analysis of requests for salary differentials, and occupational studies.

Accounting & Investigative Intern (Gaming Commission – New York City): Student interns will work within the Office of the Gaming Inspector General and will assist staff with investigations of allegations of corruption, fraud, criminal activity or abuse in the Commission. Interns will be exposed to a number of different experiences, including attending public meetings, participating in interviews, and preparing data analysis and/or memoranda.

Social Work Intern (Office of Children and Family Services - Rensselaer): Working within the Bureau of Behavioral Health Science, the student intern will learn how to process applications for Medicaid waiver services, and receive supervision to develop a short-term wellness program for staff. In addition, the intern will learn about the process of assessing and treating youth with mental health diagnoses.

Program Services Intern (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision – Gowanda): Student interns will assist staff in completing initial assessments, risk assessments, and participate in the development of treatment plans for inmate clients. In addition, interns will become familiarized with the Criminal Justice System, from courts, to incarceration and release to the community. They will also develop clinical skills and professionalism, while maintaining ethical standards in the field.

N.B. Students Must Apply by September 13, 2019

If a party objects to arbitrating a provision in a Taylor Law collective bargaining agreement courts will require a showing that it is lawful to arbitrate the dispute and that the parties agreed to arbitrate such a dispute

About three months after collective bargaining agreement [CBA] between the School District[District] and the Employee Organization [Local 811] had expired the parties entered into a memorandum of agreement that extended the CBA, with certain modifications, through 2020. These modification included changes with respect to  employee prescription drug benefits. Local 811 subsequently filed a grievance with the District challenging the change to the prescription drug coverage as applied to retirees.

The District denied the grievance, finding that [1] it was untimely; [2] Local 811 did not represent retirees;*and [3] there was nothing in the CBA prohibiting this change. When, ultimately, Local 811 demanded that the grievance be submitted to arbitration, the District initiated a CPLR Article 75 action seeking a court order to permanently stay arbitration.

Supreme Court found that the matter was arbitrable, dismissed the District's petition and the District appealed Supreme Court's ruling to the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division sustained the Supreme Court's ruling.

Explaining that the court's role in reviewing applications to stay arbitration is a limited one, the Appellate Division said that central inquiry is whether the dispute is arbitrable, citing City of Johnstown [Johnstown Police Benevolent Assn.], 99 NY2d 273. The Appellate Division then opined that to show that a CBA dispute is arbitrable requires proof that [a] it is lawful to arbitrate the dispute and [b] the parties have agreed to arbitrate such a dispute. In this action, however, the court said that the only question to resolve was [b] -- whether the parties agreed to arbitrate the dispute at issue.

To determine whether parties so agreed requires the court to examine the [CBA] to ascertain whether CBA contains a "broad arbitration clause," and if it does the court will find an "agreement" to arbitrate if "there is a reasonable relationship between the subject matter of the dispute and the general subject matter of the CBA." In contrast, specific contentions related to the scope of the CBA or interpretation of its substantive provisions are to be determined by an arbitrator.

In this instance the court found that the CBA's grievance procedure was intended to "establish a more harmonious and cooperative relationship between the non-instructional staff and [the District]" which, in this context said the Appellate Division, mandates that the CBA's provisions to be "liberally construed for the accomplishment of this purpose."

Further, the CBA broadly defines a grievance as "any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or inequitable application of [the CBA] or of any laws, rules, procedures, regulations, administrative order or work rules of the [individual designated by management to review and resolve grievances], or those matters affecting employees' health or safety, physical facilities, materials or equipment furnished to the employees or supervision of employees, or any other matter(s), in which the employee feels he [or she] has been dealt with unfairly." The CBA's grievance procedure provides, as the final step in the processing of a grievance, arbitration of the dispute.

Considering "the breadth of this language, lack of any exception for grievances concerning retirement benefits, and the CBA's provisions expressly addressing [prescription drug] coverage for retirees ..." the Appellate Division concluded that there was a reasonable relationship between the dispute and the subject matter of the CBA such that the dispute was arbitrable.

Although the District sought to read the terms "staff" and "employee" to narrow the ambit of the arbitration clause and specifically to exempt retirees from having the right to bring a grievance, the Appellate Division held that such a specific contention is not relevant to the threshold analysis of arbitrability but, instead, concerns the scope and substance of the CBA. Accordingly, the court ruled that the issue should be "determined by an arbitrator" rather than the court.

* Typically retirees are not in the collective bargaining negotiating unit but may be entitled to certain benefits set out in a collective bargaining agreement where specifically so provided.

The decision is posted on the Internet:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2019/2019_05619.htm

New York State's State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli finds schools falling short on emergency planning

Schools are not doing enough to prepare for emergency situations like shootings, according to an audit of safety planning at 19 schools released on July 25, 2019 by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Auditors found none of the schools met the minimum planning or training requirements of the State Education Department (SED), which oversees safety planning for schools. Alarmingly, two schools did not have district-wide safety plans even though plans were mandated nearly 20 years ago.

“New York’s schools must be better prepared for emergencies and violent incidents. My auditors looked at a sample of big and small schools in urban, suburban and rural settings. We found too many schools had gaps in their safety plans that could leave them unprepared if a shooting or life-threatening incident occurred,” DiNapoli said. “Helping our schools get strong safety plans in place will require more guidance and more resources from state policymakers. I urge the State Education Department to re-engage the NYS Safe Schools Task Force to make sure our children and school personnel are safe. Emergency planning must be a priority for all New York schools.”

This audit is part of DiNapoli’s initiative focused on educational issues. His auditors have completed three audits that examined safety planning at more than 40 school districts. The audits have found significant problems at schools, including no safety plans, plans filled with errors and plans not being shared with local law enforcement.

In New York, the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) Act, enacted in 2000, mandates training and instruction for preventing and responding to incidents of school violence and establishes a statewide uniform system for reporting violent incidents.

The SAVE Act also requires public school districts, charter schools and BOCES programs to develop comprehensive safety plans and building-level emergency response plans. SED regulations were developed to provide additional guidance and details on school safety planning requirements. The requirements outlined in the law and regulations do not apply to private schools.

For the audit released on July 25, 2019, DiNapoli’s auditors looked at safety planning efforts at 16 school districts and two charter schools from 2017 to 2018, and 2019 for one school district. 

These entities include: Argyle Central School District, Candor Central School District, Commack Union Free School District, East Meadow Union Free School District, Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District, Genesee Community Charter School, Green Tech High Charter School, Haverstraw-Stony Point Central School District, Hendrick Hudson Central School District, Indian River Central School District, Lancaster Central School District, Levittown Union Free School District, Longwood Central School District, Naples Central School District, Niagara Falls City School District, Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District, Schenectady City School District, Syracuse City School District, and Wappingers Central School District.

Auditors found:

Two schools did not have safety plans and 17 others had incomplete safety plans. None of the schools met all 19 minimum safety plan requirements.

Overall, half the safety plan requirements were met, but seven schools did not meet a majority of the requirements. For instance, most schools did not designate a chief emergency officer in their safety plans or identify duties for this critical position.

They also did not include specifics on how they would collaborate with state and local law enforcement officials.

Sixteen school boards did not adopt a safety plan within the time requirements, properly submit it to SED or give the public the opportunity for input. Thirteen schools did not hold a public hearing on the safety plan or offer a public comment period.

Eighteen schools either did not have a safety team or did not have all the required members.

No schools met all of the annual safety training requirements, yet they certified to SED that they trained staff.

Because of the sensitive nature of the findings, the Comptroller’s office will not publicly release school-specific details. However, it has released two confidential audits to each school district and SED: one on examining district-wide safety plans and one on building-level emergency response plans. Auditors made a series of general recommendations as part of the audit and specific recommendations in the confidential reports given to each school district.

School boards are required to seek public input on their safety plans, including holding a 30-day comment period and adopting safety plans by Sept. 1. The Comptroller encourages school boards to publicly discuss how they are addressing the audit findings as they prepare for the upcoming school year. By law, building-level emergency response plans are deemed confidential and details cannot be shared.

Although nine schools did not respond to the public audit, two schools suggested the formation of a communication platform to foster school safety communication and collaboration. See the audit for more commentary.

Read the audit, or go to:

https://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/swr/2019/safe-schools/global-2019-ms-1.pdf

DiNapoli’s office has also probed the reporting of bullying, discrimination, harassment and violence at schools, which are often the underlying causes that can lead to major incidents if not addressed.

Prior school safety audits include:

Audit of State Education Department Oversight (released in April): https://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093019/sga-2019-18s34.pdf.

Audit of NYC Planning (released in June): https://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093019/sga-2019-18n2.pdf.