Message from the Executive Director
June 21, 2026
Dear Members and Stakeholders,
As Regents exams conclude and we all prepare for graduation ceremonies, this is a week where we celebrate student achievement.
But I also want to take a moment to thank all of you, our school board members and administrators, for the work that you do to govern our schools. Graduation ceremonies are a defining moment for our students, but also for school leaders, representing the culmination of the hard work that you do to ensure our schools can provide the richest educational experiences for students in our communities.
On the state level, it has been a busy week. At the Board of Regents meeting on Monday, the Regents and the State Education Department ("the Department") announced a plan to move toward a competency-based diploma. Under a competency-based system, students must demonstrate that they have learned specific competencies.
Specifically, the Regents plan seeks to move graduation requirements away from measures such as instructional seat time and credit accumulation toward proven readiness in statewide competencies. These competencies are aligned with the Portrait of a Graduate pillars and include critical thinking, effective communication, academically prepared, global citizenship, creative innovation, as well as reflective and future focused. The Regents have emphasized that their plan is built around the concept of culturally responsive-sustaining education.
Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa called the focus on demonstrating readiness (versus seat time) "a nation-leading transformation that redefines what a diploma represents and how students demonstrate readiness for the future."
The Regents and Department emphasized that students will be able to demonstrate learning in multiple ways, as opposed to a single pathway - again signaling a move away from the current, Regents-focused graduation requirements. Multiple pathways could include career-connected learning, interdisciplinary project-based learning, capstone projects and other "high-quality learning experiences." The Department will establish statewide standards, rubrics, and accountability measures.
Following the Board of Regents' meeting, the Department emphasized that this is currently a plan and represents the beginning of the next phase of NY Inspires. No immediate changes are being made to graduation requirements; current requirements, credits, and assessments remain in effect. The Department's next step will be to work with teachers, school leaders, community members, business leaders, and students to further design the competency-based system.
To learn more about this initiative, you can access the PowerPoint presentation on the Board of Regents website and the State Education Department's press release. This year's Leadership in Education Event will feature a panel discussion with Commissioner Rosa on Portrait of a Graduate and NY Inspires.
U.S. Department of Education interagency agreements for IDEA, Civil Rights programs
Also this week, the U.S. Department of Education announced four new interagency agreements moving offices out of the Education Department into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Specifically, oversight for special education will move to HHS. In addition, the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights is moving to DOJ. You can read more about these interagency agreements through the press release announcing these changes here.
New study on "positive outlier" elementary schools available
NYKids, a team of educators and researchers at the University at Albany, has announced the completion of data collection for its study examining educational strategies in positive outlier elementary schools in New York State. In their first three case studies, the group identifies key themes such as family and community connections, data-driven decision-making, educator collaboration, and innovations to meet the needs of the whole child. You can read more about the three positive outlier elementary schools here: Van Schaick Grade School, Albany School of Humanities (ASH), and Kendall Elementary School.
2026 NYSSBA Annual Convention Webinar Series
On Wednesday, June 17, NYSSBA delivered a complimentary webinar featuring one of our upcoming 2026 Convention speakers. Dr. Amy Brombos, who serves organizations across New York State as a data dissemination specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau's Data Dissemination and Training Branch, discussed how to access free federal data sources, validate planning assumptions, spot population shifts and ask your administrators more informed questions. This type of information is critical to understand before your board votes on facility projects, budget proposals or program changes.
The webinar is part of a series we're producing to give you more opportunities to learn from our 2026 Convention speakers. If you missed it (or any of the webinars in this series), you can watch the recordings here. If you would like to join Dr. Brombos for a deeper dive into this subject matter, join us in person at our Annual Convention in Buffalo or virtually through our Annual Convention Digital Experience October 22-24. Registration opens August 11 at 10 a.m. here.
Weekly updates and reminders
Registration open: Leadership in Education Event, July 24-25, at the Crowne Plaza Albany
Our annual Leadership in Education Event provides you with an in-depth view of key issues facing our schools, delivered by top speakers in the field. In addition to a conversation about the Portrait of a Graduate with Commissioner Rosa, the event will cover student wellbeing in a digital world, community engagement, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. There will also be a session on the Dignity Index and opportunities to network.
To stay on top of legal issues facing schools, our legal team is once again offering a summer law conference. Our experienced school attorneys will help you gain a deeper understanding of the increasingly complex legal issues such as how the use of AI could lead to civil rights violations, the growing challenges involved in protecting student and staff personally identifiable information under state law, and how court decisions on immunization may impact your district. In addition, you will hear the latest on many other important topics. Our Summer Law Conference this year will be held in-person on July 23 in Albany (the day before the Leadership in Education Event) and on July 28 in Long Island, as well as a virtual event on July 29-30.
Nominations for NYSSBA's Everett R. Dyer Award due this week
A reminder that nominations for the NYSSBA Everett R. Dyer Award for Distinguished School Board Service are due by this Friday, June 26. The award is presented annually to a current or former school board member in recognition of outstanding contributions to public education.
NSBA Magna Award nominations open
NSBA has opened the nominations period for the 2027 Magna Awards focusing on improving indoor air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Grand prize and silver award winners will be recognized in three categories: urban, rural and suburban. Grand prize winners will showcase their programs during the NSBA annual conference. The deadline for nominations is October 31, 2026.
Read the latest national association news
Here's the latest from the Consortium of State School Boards Associations (COSSBA) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA):
As I wrap up this week's message, I'd like to wish all the dads a Happy Father's Day.
Be well and stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Robert S. Schneider CPA, CAE
Executive Director
New York State School Boards Association