Education Law § 5001(1) provides that “No private school which charges tuition or fees related to instruction and which is not exempted hereunder shall be operated by any person or persons, firm, corporation, or private organization for the purpose of teaching or giving instruction in any subject or subjects, unless it is licensed by the department.”
Education Law § 5001(4)(b)(ii) and 8 NYCRR § 126.10(j)(2)(i)(a) require (and allow) a separate license or certification application at half the fee of a regular license application for, respectively, additional locations of currently operating LPCSs and additional locations of currently operating ESLs.
Basic Definition:
an additional location of a currently operating school is a location of the same school that does not have the same building address that appears on the license document.
To qualify for an “additional location” license, the school applying for it must be currently operating and the additional location must be under the same ownership and operating using the same licensed name (i.e. Jones Cosmetology School located in Buffalo and Jones Cosmetology School located in Manhattan). If a school is not currently operating or under the same ownership and operating using the same name, it is not eligible for an “additional location” license. The school otherwise must also currently be in compliance with the Education Law and Commissioner’s regulations.
Quarters approval:
Education Law § 5002(1)(b)(3) states that "For every such school, the commissioner shall set forth in regulation standards governing all of the following... the equipment available for instruction with the maximum enrollment that such equipment and physical plant will accommodate..."
Each facility, location, room, building, or space, including shared and leased spaces, must be approved through the quarters approval process that has been established for new schools. There is no reduction in the level or type of quarters approval for additional locations.
Exception:
A school may secure additional classroom or instructional space which does not have the same building address that appears on the license document. Such additional classroom or instructional space will require a distinct quarters approval prior to its use by the school, with each location requiring a valid Certificate of Occupancy and a positive FDNY inspection prior to a BPSS quarters inspection. Such additional classroom or instructional space will not be deemed an ‘additional location’ requiring a separate license provided that no school administrative activity occurs on the premises, all school administrative activity occurs at the main school site, and the school director is on site during the instructional period. This condition will require additional licensed directors if the school is to have classes ongoing in both approved spaces simultaneously.
If a school is located in a building or building complex that has multiple mailing addresses BPSS will consider this as the same building address and thus the same school location.