Governor Hochul delivered her annual State of the State address this afternoon at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The Governor outlined her priorities for the new legislative session, which began on January 8th.
Among the proposals the Governor laid out, several were related to education and school administration. Chief among these is creating a full universal school meals program to serve breakfast and lunch to all New York students. NYSSBA has been very engaged in bringing this about and applauds this historic announcement. In NYSSBA’s recent press release regarding the announcement, the Association stated, “NYSSBA is thrilled to support this initiative. The last two state budgets made significant investments in school meals, and this program builds on that progress by providing a truly universal school meals program. This will ensure that no children go to school hungry and greatly increases their chances to be successful in the classroom.”
The Governor also proposed:
- Modernizing the civil service system including extending the Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide (NY HELPS) program, waiving civil service exam fees, and launching a statewide awareness campaign.
- Enhancing connections between high school and college or career by fostering collaboration between the Department of Labor and school districts and businesses to recruit high school students for a summer work experience program in high-demand fields. This would include a 50% reimbursement of the students’ stipends during the summer.
- Increasing investments in early college high schools.
- Continuing investments in and attention to youth mental health including a new Teen Mental Health First Aid Program, weaving mental health and social and emotional well-being into after school programs, and encouraging social work graduate students to complete their required fieldwork in after-school programs.
- Expanding broadband and cell phone service.
NYSSBA expects the governor to build on these proposals during her upcoming executive budget presentation. You can find NYSSBA’s full press release here.
NYSSBA Governmental Relations staff will produce a more thorough analysis of the Governor’s State of the State proposals in the coming days. NYSSBA staff will continue to engage with the Executive and Legislature and update our members on our legislative priorities as the 2025 legislative session gets under way.
Proposed Amendment to Classroom Temperature Law
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.
A proposed amendment to law has been introduced as a bill (S. 775 Skoufis / A. 752 Eachus) that 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, thus returning safety plan language to how it was before. 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 this legislation 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. As that letter stated, “Should a temperature exceed a certain threshold even just momentarily, school space would have to be immediately evacuated and would be treated, under law, as equivalent to real emergency conditions such as mandatory school lockdowns.” NYSSBA will continue to keep members updated on the progress of this proposed chapter amendment.
2025 Capital Conference and Lobby Day
February 7, 2025 – NYSSBA Annual Capital Conference (Virtual)
This half-day morning virtual advocacy conference will feature conversations with state policymakers, a review of the executive budget proposal and other important information to support your local advocacy efforts. As we have done in the past, the event will be recorded and shared with our members. You can find registration details here.
February 12, 2025 – NYSSBA Annual Lobby Day (Albany, NY)
Join us for our annual Lobby Day at the NYS Capitol. We will provide a light breakfast, coffee, and talking points. Scheduling of legislative meetings is done by attendees. Registration for NYSSBA Lobby Day here.