Since its passing, we have heard from our members, members of our fellow education advocacy groups, and school transportation professionals about issues with the rollout of the Zero Emissions School Bus mandate. While we have all been advocating for changes both on our own and jointly with other groups, we will be joining forces for a lobby day on this issue. On Wednesday, May 14, 2025, we invite you to join NYSSBA and our partners for the Zero Emissions School Buses Lobby Day. Until or unless the mandate is repealed or the timeline is significantly altered, we want to take this opportunity to work with legislators and our partners in education and school transportation to develop solutions that will work for everyone.
The lobby day is an opportunity to educate legislators as to the on-the-ground realities districts are facing in their struggle to successfully comply with this mandate. Additionally, we want to build support for several bills circulating both houses that alleviate some of the obstacles districts are experiencing and the overall barriers to the transition. As we push towards the end of this legislative session, now is the time to increase awareness and support for these bills and push them to pass before the end of session. Additional information and materials will be made available soon.
If you are interested in joining, you can register here.
State Budget Update
The legislature passed the seventh and eighth budget extender last week, as a state budget agreement continues to remain out of reach. The most recent budget extender funds state operations through tomorrow, April 29. Towards the end of last week, legislative leaders expressed some hope that they would reach an agreement this last week of April. The legislature also returned to Albany for normal legislative session today, following two weeks of a scheduled break that was mostly scrapped by stalled budget negotiations.
Despite the lack of an approved school aid package, many of your districts have adopted your local budget proposals in order to comply with the statutory budget deadlines and timelines. As you continue to communicate those plans with your voters and broader school community, we have created a tool that allows you to see where some of your notable state aid factors – enrollment, district wealth and student need – have moved over the past 5 and 10 years. This trend analysis tool is best viewed via desktop or laptop.
State Aid Factor Trend Database
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