Message from the Executive Director
Aug. 16, 2026
Dear Members and Stakeholders,
While it might not compare with the Super Bowl or a Taylor Swift concert, our members and their district clerks were ready to go when registration opened for the 2026 Annual Convention and Education Expo! There was a rush of activity on Tuesday morning with hundreds of registrations pouring in.
I’d like to take a moment to thank the district clerks for their assistance in getting their board members registered and housed. You play an important role in the success of our convention registration and we appreciate you! Our NYSSBA staff work hard to make sure everything is ready to go and to support both clerks and members when they have questions or need assistance. Well done, team!
Now, if you haven’t registered yet, take another look at the more than 100 sessions being offered during our convention from Oct. 22 to 24 in Buffalo. They will cover topics you want to learn more about including NY Inspires and Portrait of a Graduate, artificial intelligence, preventing violence in the online era, workforce development, using Census data to guide decision making, and much more.
Don’t forget to check out our pre-convention events and to learn more about Braindate.
If you can’t make the trip, you don’t have to miss out on the learning opportunities. The Annual Convention Digital Experience will include livestreams of some of the sessions and two tracks of educational sessions designed for digital delivery. There will be virtual networking, too.
Whether you join us in person or online, you’ll hear our two keynote speakers - Steven Sharp Nelson and David Allison. Don’t forget to sign up for a preview of David’s presentation by joining us on Sept. 24 for his complimentary webinar.
NYSSBA’s Governance Leadership Program builds strong president-superintendent relationships
For the third year, NYSSBA’s Governance Leadership Program (GLP), designed to enhance the relationship between board presidents and superintendents, will be hosted in four locations this fall: Ulster BOCES (10/8), Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES (10/15), Monroe One BOCES (Nov. 6) and Broome-Tioga BOCES (Nov. 9). Registration is open and I encourage board presidents and superintendents to invest in their working partnership by registering. There will also be a session hosted by Nassau BOCES in the spring.
This interactive experience brings superintendents and board presidents together to strengthen their partnership through practical strategies, peer learning, communication style assessments, and real-world governance discussions. When communication is strong, roles are clear, and leadership is aligned, boards make better decisions, meetings become more productive and students benefit.
It was interesting to hear a superintendent’s impressions and very positive review after participating in the training session last year. Dr. Turina Parker, district superintendent and CEO for the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES, said that the GLP "set us up to continue to be successful in our leadership roles and our leadership work together." She shared that among the session’s most significant benefits were the "opportunity to interact closely with my board president" and "learn about our leadership styles…(and) the leadership styles of those that we interact with in ways we hadn’t previously."
Thank you to the district superintendents for hosting the GLP this year.
Resolutions Committee reviews proposals
The NYSSBA Resolutions Committee reviewed all proposed bylaw amendments and resolutions on Wednesday. Their work is an important part of the process as the items eligible for consideration are advanced for consideration during the Annual Business Meeting on Oct. 15. This process is how NYSSBA members set the advocacy positions and beliefs of the association.
In total, there were five bylaw amendments and 28 resolutions reviewed. A complete committee report and all eligible proposals will be included in the Proposed Bylaw Amendment and Resolutions booklet, which will be distributed via email in early September.
This is important work and I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the committee members as they reviewed all the proposals sent in by members earlier this year.
Registration for voting delegates opens tomorrow
Tomorrow, Aug. 17, all district clerks will receive instructions for registering their voting delegates, who will participate in the Annual Business Meeting. All NYSSBA member districts can register one board member to serve in this role. Official registration can only be done using the link in the email. All forms and booklets related to the resolutions process can be found here. All questions regarding the resolutions process or voting delegate registration can be sent to advocacy@nyssba.org.
Take Action on federal tax credit program
I encourage you to take a few minutes to respond to our Take Action on the federal tax credit program. We have called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state leaders to not opt-in to the federal tax credit program. In December, we joined the New York State Educational Conference Board (ECB) in issuing a joint statement urging the governor to reject the program. The governor has expressed an interest in opting-in, but has indicated she wants to wait for final guidelines to be released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before making any official decision. The state must opt-in before the end of 2026 for the state to participate in 2027.
If you haven’t already responded, you can make your voice heard by clicking on this Take Action to send a message to Gov. Hochul calling on her to support public education by not opting New York into the federal tax credit program. Please also share the link with others within your school community.
Weekly Updates and Reminders
Register today: Live Virtual Superintendent Evaluation Workshop on Aug. 20 from 8 a.m.to noon. One of the core responsibilities of a school board is evaluating its superintendent. The evaluation is an opportunity to help your superintendent thrive in this critical leadership role, which leads to success for your students and district. The program will help you deliver an objective, evidence-based superintendent evaluation based on open communication, transparency and clear expectations. When done well, the superintendent evaluation fosters meaningful conversations and strengthens your relationship with your superintendent, giving your leadership team the foundation to overcome challenges as they arise.
From SED this week
The State Education Department shared the following this week:
- The Academic Intervention Services (AIS) scale scores, which must be used to identify students eligible to receive AIS in the 2026-2027 school year, are now available. Local policies for providing AIS, including a description of which student performance measures and associated scores will be used to decide eligibility, must either be posted on the district website or distributed to parents in writing.
- The Office of Information and Reporting and the Office of Special Education have created a Student Infraction Response FAQ to assist LEAs in reporting student-level disciplinary removal data for students with disabilities in the Student Information Repository System (SIRS). The FAQ can be found on the SIRS Guidance webpage.
Read the latest national association news
Here’s the latest from the National School Boards Association (NSBA):
Be well and stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Robert S. Schneider CPA, CAE
Executive Director
New York State School Boards Association