Section 5002(6) of the Education Law states that "No person shall be employed by a private career school as a director or a teacher who is not licensed in such capacity by the department pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner . . ."
Section 5002(6)(b) states that "A school director shall have access to all student and school records which shall be maintained in accordance with this article and the regulations of the commissioner and shall make such records available to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee upon request during an on-site school inspection."
Section 126.6(d)(1) states in part that, "Each licensed school and registered business school/computer training facility shall employ a director who shall be responsible for all activities of the school or done in the name of the school..."
Section 126.6(d)(3) states that "Directors shall have the administrative and educational competency to operate a school, as determined by the commissioner. The factors considered by the commissioner in evaluating administrative and educational competency shall include, but not be limited to, patterns of violations of the duties and responsibilities of a director relating to the administration of a school, as set forth in this Part and Article 101 of the Education Law."
The Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS) prohibits any director or school owner from assigning or delegating their duties to an unlicensed individual. This includes the use of consultants and attorneys representing the school in non-legal matters, when the sole purpose of involving the consultant is to receive approval for a licensure application with no intention of continued involvement in the school’s daily operations.
BPSS will not respond to inquiries from consultants seeking information on behalf of owners or directors, nor will BPSS include consultants on routine correspondence. If the owner or director seeks to share information with their consultant, they must do so under separate cover.
Use of Consultant by BPSS Applicants
BPSS will accept general inquiries from prospective applicants and their representatives prior to submission of an application. Once an application is filed, the owners and directors of the school must be the primary point of contact with BPSS.
The application process encompasses many important opportunities for the owners and directors of private career and ESL schools to become familiar with the requirements of operating a school under Education Law 5001. The application process is also used as an orientation to the BPSS electronic system, whereby the applicant practices uploading documents and understanding the specific information to be maintained in the school’s unique portal. The application process is an opportunity for ensuring email exchanges are working properly and settings are modified as needed.
As part of the application process, it is imperative that the applicants, owners and prospective directors, demonstrate their capacity for interpreting and applying the education law and commissioner’s regulations through the creation of their administrative documents. Demonstrating capacity cannot be met without the active participation of owners and prospective directors in the development of the school catalog, master schedule, and enrollment agreements. If an applicant assigns this task to a consultant, the application will be denied for failure to meet the Administrative criteria.
Use of Consultant by BPSS Licensed Schools
BPSS will not interface with consultants on behalf of BPSS licensed schools. Schools may not redirect BPSS communication to consultants. This includes the use of Certified Public Accountants for the purpose of preparing financial statements. If a licensed school enters a consultant as their school contact on the BPSS system, the licensed director will still be required to be present in all aspects of the school’s operations.
BPSS will receive and communicate with attorneys when representing school owners on legal matters involving school violations and discipline, with the approval of the BPSS Director.
Any inspection of the school, whether announced or unannounced, will require the licensed director to be present and produce any records as requested. Schools that fail to demonstrate the licensed director is adequately supervising the school may be considered for non-renewal of the school license or director license.
Prohibited Activities
While BPSS cannot prohibit an applicant from seeking outside assistance from a consultant, BPSS makes clear the following tasks will not be delegated to consultants:
- Creating catalogs, enrollment agreements, or administrative documents without the active participation of the owner and/or director.
- Providing templates of catalogs, enrollment agreements, or administrative documents from other schools.
- Using another person’s BPSS credentials to upload documents to the BPSS system.
- Filing personnel applications on behalf of applicants using another person’s BPSS credentials or my.ny.gov account.
- Divesting school employees’ responsibilities to corporate staff members of the parent organization that are not licensed by BPSS.
- Relocating the licensed school’s quarters or acquiring additional quarters.
- Facilitating in the investigation of the school or a student complaint without the director present.
- Licensing a consultant for the sole purpose of gaining access to the BPSS system and/or communication access to BPSS staff, with no intention of fulfilling the director responsibilities on a daily basis in the school, in accordance with PG 12-0301.