September 27, 2019

NYSSBA Annual Business Meeting
Saturday, October 26^th - 8:00 am
Convention Center, Grand Lilac Ballroom, 1^st Floor Ballroom

Below you will find a link to the 2019 Voting Delegates' Guide for the Annual Business Meeting. This guide contains the report of the Resolutions Committee as well as amendments and rebuttals received by the September 20 deadline.

• 2019 Voting Delegates' Guide

September 25, 2019

Senate to Hold Meetings on Foundation Aid

The Senate Majority has announced that the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Committee on Budget and Revenues will hold a series of roundtables and a public hearing on Foundation Aid. Specifically, these events are to hear from stakeholders regarding the factors used to calculate and distribute Foundation Aid. Senator Shelley Mayer, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, will lead these hearings in partnership with Senator Brian Benjamin, Chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Revenues.

September 18, 2019

Yesterday, the New York State Senate held a public hearing on broadband access in NYS. NYSSBA provided testimony at this well attended hearing, focusing on the importance of improved broadband access to support education, especially in underserved rural areas. NYSSBA's testimony can be accessed at the link below:

• NYSSBA Rural Broadband Access Testimony

August 28, 2019

Below is the link to the 2019 Proposed Bylaw Amendments & Resolutions Book.

• 2019 Proposed Bylaw Amendments and Resolutions

This book contains information needed to prepare for the 2019 Annual Business Meeting, including:

• The Order of Business
• The Report of the Resolutions Committee
• Rules of Conduct for the Business Meeting
• Instructions for the Submission of Amendments, Rebuttals and Statements of Support

August 20, 2019

Last week, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) released emergency regulations intended to strengthen the approval process for issuing medical exemptions for immunizations required to attend school. These regulations provide specific, evidence based guidance and required that a form outlining the specific medical reasons for the exemption be filled out and submitted to DOH annually.

In addition, the DOH, along with the State Education Department (SED) and Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), have issued a third frequently asked question (FAQ) document with information on immunizations for students with disabilities, home schooled students and applicability for pre-school students.

July 30, 2019

As Congress prepares to leave Washington for the 2019 in-district work period, leaders appear to have reached an agreement with the White House on a two-year budget plan. The plan will provide an aggregate $57 billion increase for non-defense programs, including education, for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. The Senate is expected to approve the deal this week.

July 18, 2019

A provision included in the 2019 enacted state budget requires that districts with individual schools that have been identified by the state as "high need and underfunded" are required to establish plans that "shall prioritize funding within the district to such schools." The law further requires that districts with identified schools submit to the Education Commissioner by September 1, 2019 a report specifying how such prioritization will be achieved.

July 10, 2019

Last year, a new mandate was enacted that requires school districts to annually submit to the State Education Department and the Division of the Budget a report on the building by building  allocations for each school in the district for the upcoming school budget year. The 2019 form is now available.

In 2019, districts with four or more schools will be required to complete and submit the New York State School Funding Transparency Form. A list of the 306 districts required to report this year, as well as the form and guidance on the form can be found at the links below.

Districts that reported in 2018 should note that the report is now in an online format, rather than the excel-based report that was submitted last year.

Districts required to report this year must complete and submit the report to the Division of the Budget and the State Education Department by the Friday prior to Labor Day, August 30, 2019, at 5:30 pm.

June 25, 2019

At the close of last week's session, the legislature went home, having acted on more than 900 two-house bills. This session, the newly unified Senate and Assembly acted on a wide variety of issues, from election reform to decriminalization of marijuana. Luckily, efforts to impose massive expansions of the state's MWBE program and the prevailing wage faltered, and school districts avoided those new mandates and the associated costs, for another year.  A summary of some of the key bills NYSSBA advocated on this session can be found at the link below.

2019 End of Session Summary

June 21, 2019

Earlier today, the Senate (around 1:00 am) followed by the Assembly (just after 7:00 am) completed their work for the 2019 regular legislative session.

Despite concerns about what this session would look like, overall this was a pretty good year for school districts.  After a series of priority accomplishments being included in the budget, including the increase in the BOCES DS salary cap and authorization to establish TRS reserves, the session ended with a number of positive developments for schools.