On Board Online • August 31, 2026

By Sara Foss
Special Correspondent

The State Education Department (SED) is moving away from a timeline that calls for full implementation of NY Inspires by 2029.

"2029 for many of us is probably an unrealistic finish point," according to David Frank, an assistant commissioner of education. "What will happen in 2029 is the starting point of this work."

When today's sixth graders walk into high school in 2029, "I don't think you're going to be able to flip a switch and give them a radically different experience," Frank said. "We're going to have to ease into it."

Frank spoke as a representative of SED at a two-day conference hosted by the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS) in August. Leaders of school districts and BOCES brainstormed ways to improve public education in an extension of a monthly professional development program called Redefining Ready.

State officials have spent several years talking about the concept of NY Inspires. The idea is to shift from a K-12 school system that emphasizes earning credits, passing tests and uses time-based measures of learning to a system in which diplomas are awarded based on a student's demonstrated readiness in the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to succeed post-high school.

Passing Regents exams might still be part of a path for students to earn a diploma, but it would not be the only path to graduation. However, SED has yet to detail the alternative paths in the form of regulations or guidance.

At the NYSCOSS event, school officials peppered Frank with questions. Several expressed concern about a lack of information about how assessment will work under a competency-based system. One school official spoke about a lack of clarity in terms of NY Inspires' final outcomes.

Frank acknowledged that SED does not yet have all of the answers and said more guidance is forthcoming.

"You have a partner in State Ed," he said. "We are doing our best to get out of your way so you can design and develop the school that you've always wanted to do."