State lawmakers passed two more budget extenders this week, as a state budget agreement continues to remain out of reach. Thursday’s extender funds state operations through Wednesday, April 23.
Some potential progress has been made in recent days, as lawmakers and the Governor have publicly spoken about a framework agreement on criminal discovery reform. Assuming that deal holds, remaining high profile issues include banning of mask wearing during certain public protests and involuntary confinement.
There now exists some optimism that an overall budget deal could be reached sometime next week. However, with most school districts needing to finalize their school budget proposals by early next week, if they have not already done so, it seems very likely that we will not have finalized state aid numbers in time by then.
In anticipation, the State Education Department released a memo on April 11 offering thoughts for districts as they put finishing touches on local budget proposals with an incomplete revenue picture.
In addition, we have been in regular contact with our partners at the state Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) and the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO-NY) as they have been providing advice to their respective memberships. We recommend positive dialogue and conversations with your superintendent, business official and other administrative leadership, to ensure you have appropriate understanding of the differences between the executive budget proposal, the Senate and Assembly budget proposals and any impacts updated data may have on your local budget outlook.
2025 Resolutions Process
Earlier this month, all NYSSBA members were sent our annual Resolutions Kit. The Kit contains results of the recent resolutions survey and detailed instructions on the resolution submission process for 2025. To review our current position statements, you can find them here. Please note, all 2020 positions will be sunsetting and must be resubmitted for a vote at the Annual Business Meeting if they are to remain as official NYSSBA positions. Questions that received at least a 2/3 ‘support’ or ‘oppose’ response in the resolutions survey will likely be submitted by the NYSSBA Board of Directors on behalf of the membership but can also be submitted by a member board.
Here are a few important dates for the process:
July 18, 2025 @ 5pm - Deadline for Submission of Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions
September 8, 2025 - Distribution of Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions Book
September 19, 2025 @ 5pm - Deadline for Submission of Amendments, Rebuttals, and Endorsements
September 29, 2025 - Distribution of Voting Delegates’ Guide
October 16, 2025 @ 4pm - Annual Business Meeting