FOR RELEASE: June 18, 2025
As the 2025 legislative session wraps-up, NYSSBA appreciates lawmakers’ support of public education on key issues that greatly impact our state’s schoolchildren. Specifically, school boards welcome the following policy changes that will help our students thrive:
- Full funding of Foundation Aid and, at minimum, a two percent increase for school districts, along with needed updates to the formula including how student poverty is assessed.
- Funding for universal school meals for New York’s schoolchildren, which will help promote student learning.
- Support for Career and Technical Education and other valuable programs through a doubling of the BOCES aidable salary cap in three years-time.
- Reforms to the zero-emission school bus transition rollout, including new purchase date flexibility which, while modest, offers school leaders continued adjustments and reforms to better manage the changeover process to electric buses.
The end-of-session also brought successful outcomes for several bills related to public school district governance and operations. If signed by Governor Hochul, these bills will pave the way for more flexibility and streamlining of district operations and governance, as well as promote better participation in district elections. These bills include simplifying absentee ballots for district elections, giving school boards the authority through the Commissioner of Education to schedule another voting day if voter turnout is low due to a natural disaster, and permitting greater flexibility for the convening date of boards’ organizational meetings.
While school boards take a well-deserved moment to reflect on the accomplishments of this legislative session, governance teams and school leaders will be plenty busy this summer getting ready to implement new education policies and practices regarding student cell phone use, temperatures in classrooms, and the transition to zero-emission buses.