A meeting of the New York State Board of Regents’ P-12 Education Committee was held Monday, April 6, 2020. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was held virtually and was available to the public via teleconferencing.

During the meeting, it was announced that the June Regents Exams will be canceled. However, there were no meeting items covering this topic. An official announcement and guidance about the cancellation of June Regents Exams will be released tomorrow by the State Education Department.

Charter Revisions

The Committee approved the following revisions to schools’ charters, effective immediately:

  • Riverhead Charter School: A revision was approved to increase authorized enrollment by 63 students from 787 students to 850 students to be phased in over the next two school years.

  • Evergreen Charter School:  A revision was approved to increase the current grade span to include Grades 9 – 12 from the school’s current kindergarten through Grade 8 configuration; and to Increase authorized enrollment from 750 students to 1100 students beginning in the 2020-2021 school year and phased in gradually thereafter.

This motion passed with four abstentions made by Regent Chin, Regent Collins, Regent Hakanson, and Regent Reyes and one no vote by Regent Mittler.

See the full resolution for these revisions here.

Amendments

Amendments & Additions to multiple Sections of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis

Department staff proposed the emergency adoption of the multiple regulatory amendments to provide flexibility from certain regulatory requirements due to the COVID-19 crisis across the Department. This motion was unanimously approved. The below items approved today will be brought to the July Regents meeting for permanent adoption.  Charter-specific amendments have been highlighted below.

 A full list of emergency regulatory amendments can be found here.

  • Charter Schools

    • Reporting and Payments: Excuses delays of up to 30 days in required

reporting and payment by charter schools to public schools

    • Lotteries: Requires charter schools to provide notice on their websites of

the date, time and place of lotteries for the random selection process for

charter school student applicants and permits such lotteries to be held remotely.

  • State Aid

    • Permits schools and districts to operate for less than 180 days without a

reduction in State Aid.

    • Similar to the amendment regarding required number of instructional days; permits missed instructional hours to count toward annual instructional hour requirements.

  • Accountability

    • The federal government has approved the Department’s application for a

one-year waiver for State assessments and accountability systems.

    • The Commissioner may modify timelines for the 2019-20 through 2021-22 school years.

    • District and School Performance Review and Accountability Status:

      • The Commissioner shall not conduct school and district performance reviews using 2019-20 school year results.

      • Accountability status of public schools and districts for the 2020-21 school year will remain the same for the 2019-20 school year.

      • 2018-19 school year results shall be used where 2019-20 results would have been used.

  • Curriculum and Instruction

    • Provides an exemption to students from the unit of study requirement.

  • Home Instruction

    • Alternative Form of Evaluation: Permits an alternative form of evaluation, in lieu of an annual assessment, for home instruction students.

  • Special Education

    • Ensures that State approved private schools, State-operated schools, Special Act School Districts, State-supported schools and preschools will not be penalized because they are unable to provide instruction or operate for 180 days.

    • Allows impartial hearing officers to conduct special education due process hearings by video conference.

    • Allows hearing officers to extend cases up to 60 days rather than 30 days.

    • Extends the time period for preschool providers to make up missed services.

    • Extends the time period to arrange for special education programs and

services to be provided to a student with a disability.

  • Bi-Lingual Education

    • Provides an exemption to students from the unit of study requirements

where such student otherwise achieves the learning outcomes.

    • Provides that for this school year, there will be no English language

learner annual assessment.

    • Provides that days, when a school is closed, will not count toward the following timelines:

      • English language learner identification process

      • Parental notification and information

      • English as a New Language/Bilingual Education placement

Amendments to Sections 156.1, 156.2, 156.3, 156.4, 156.5, and 156.12 of the Commissioner’s Regulations Relating to Pupil Transportation

Department staff proposed the emergency adoption of a revised regulatory amendment relating to pupil transportation to align such regulations with current policies and procedures and to provide regulatory flexibility due to the COVID-19 crisis.

This proposal was unanimously approved and will go into effect tomorrow.
To read the full resolution, click here.

Department Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Department staff provided updates on guidance issued to schools and institutes of higher education regarding COVID-19.

To read these updates, click here.

Consent Items

Department staff unanimously approved the following Consent Agenda items:

March 2020 Fiscal Report

Department staff voted on and unanimously approved the March 2020 Fiscal Report.

We look forward to bringing you summaries of meetings of the Regents’ P-12 Education Committee in the months ahead.