New York State education law requires public school districts, including the New York City Department of Education (DOE), to purchase and loan certain instructional materials to all children in grades kindergarten through twelve whom legally reside in and/or attend a school located within their school district. This includes K-12 students attending non-public schools as well. The purchase and loan of instructional materials is managed through four New York State Education Department (SED) loan programs:
- New York State Textbook Loan (NYSTL) program
- New York State Library (NYSLIB) loan program
- New York State Software Loan (NYSSL) program
- New York State Computer Hardware (NYSCH) loan program
The DOE’s Non-Public Schools Unit, residing within the Division of Financial Operations, administers this program for eligible students who reside in New York City and/or attend a non-public school located in New York City.
Eligibility
While New York City resident students attending a non-public school located within New York City are eligible to participate in any of the four loan programs, K-12 students legally residing in New York City yet attending a non-public school outside of New York City are only eligible to participate in the NYSTL program via the DOE. To inquire about state funding for the purchase of library materials or computer software or hardware on behalf of New York City resident students attending a non-public school located outside of the New York City school district, please contact the school district in which your school is located.
Participation Requirements
Participation in any of the four loan programs requires that non-public schools, including day care centers that operate a kindergarten program, submit a Loan Request and Enrollment Certificate (LREC) to the DOE on an annual basis. Non-public school principals/directors use the LREC to report enrollment data for the current school year which represents their school’s needs. Funding for the loan programs is determined by the actual number of K-12 students who legally reside in New York City and/or attend your school. The deadline to submit the LREC to the DOE is Friday, November 4, 2016.
In order to complete the form, your school must already possess a 12-digit Basic Education Data Systems (BEDS) number issued by SED, and a four-digit school location code issued by the DOE. If you do not yet have these, please request them immediately:
Additional information about BEDS can be found on the New York State Education Department (SED) website.
| Note that the enrollment information your school provides on its LREC will be compared to the enrollment information reported to the SED. A decrease in enrollment will result in a decrease in total allocation for the year. If you report an increase in enrollment, you must provide documentation to substantiate the claim. |
Additional Documentation Requirements:
New York State education law requires parents to submit requests for the loan of textbooks, instructional materials and equipment to the public school district in which the pupil resides or the non-public school is located. The DOE is entrusting non-public school administrators with the responsibility of collecting these requests from parents and maintaining them on file at the school. These records are subject to periodic review by state and local agencies.
NYSTL: Allocation level is based upon the total number of eligible students (K-12) who legally reside within New York City prior to November 1, of the current school year.
NYSSL, NYSLIB and NYSCH: Allocation levels are based upon the number of eligible students (K-12) who were attending your school in NYC as of the Basic Educational Data System reporting date of the base year; that is, the school year preceding the current school year. Your school provided this information in last school year’s LREC and BEDS data forms.
Change in School Name or Address
If your school has a change in name and/or address, you must immediately notify both SED – by completing a BEDS Change of Address Form, and the DOE – in writing, of this change. You must also notify the DOE immediately if your school closes so that you may receive instruction pertaining to the transfer or disposal of all instructional materials and/or equipment purchased for loan.