Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for our Annual Virtual Capital Conference on Friday, February 7th. We thank our guests from the State Education Department, the Governor’s Office and our legislative panel with Senator Shelley Mayer and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, and our Reporters’ Round Table..
For those that were unable to join, or if you are interested in reviewing a session or two, the entire conference was recorded and is now available for your viewing. You can find the recording of the entire event here:
2025 Capital Conference Recording
You can find the full Executive Budget Proposal presentation used during Capital Conference here:
Executive Budget Proposal Presentation
For those that were able to tune-in, we encourage you to fill out our survey regarding the Capital Conference. The survey was sent in a separate email Friday. As we continue to bring you valuable content, your thoughts will assist us greatly.
Lobby Day in Albany
Yesterday, more than 100 NYSSBA members and other school leaders joined together in the Legislative Office Building in Albany for NYSSBA’s annual Lobby Day. We want to thank everyone for joining us for an important day in Albany.
If you were unable to attend in person, we encourage you to reach out to your legislators’ district office to set up a meeting. We provided attendees with talking points and leave behind materials for their meetings that can be found here. Unsure of your district's state officials? Use your school district name in the "Find Officials" function on our Advocacy page.
You can find NYSSBA's 2025 Legislative Priorities and Position Statements here:
Budget Advocacy
NYSSBA has crafted our annual state budget Take Action letter. The letter will be automatically sent to the Assembly and Senate member representing your school district or BOCES. We encourage you to customize the letter by adding a personal story that relates to your school. You can find the letter here. The letter is public and can shared with your fellow board members, school leaders and your community.
Interested in comparing student poverty data changes to the Foundation Aid formula proposed within the Governor’s budget, for your district, against what that data looks like in the current 2024-25 school year? You can do so with our Foundation Aid database tool below. The tool is best viewed via desktop or laptop.
2025-26 Foundation Aid Database
Amendment to Classroom Temperature Law
State legislation introduced last month, making adjustments to the recently enacted maximum classroom temperature law, has passed both houses of the legislature and was delivered yesterday to the Governor for her presumptive signature. We expected her approval to be made soon.
Last year, the Governor signed legislation that requires school boards to enact policies for, and require staff to take action, when indoor heat reaches or exceeds eighty-two degrees. In addition, it requires rooms that reach eighty-eight degrees to be immediately evacuated.
This proposed amendment to the law would make some practical changes to the statutory language. The amendment would omit the provision requiring extreme heat conditions to be included in school safety plans. It would also broaden language related to heat condition policy requirements to include a plan for removal of students "where practicable" when the room reaches 88 degrees, as opposed to requiring a mandatory evacuation in all circumstances.
NYSSBA was opposed to last year’s legislation for multiple logistical reasons, and is encouraged by the practical changes proposed in this amendment. NYSSBA advocated for similar changes in the Association’s letter to the governor opposing the original bill.