ESSAA CAS Stakeholder Meeting Summaries

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Summary of October 2024 Stakeholders Meeting 

The Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association (ESSAA) held their monthly Stakeholder Meeting on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, via videoconference. Participants representing NYSED included Commissioner, Betty Rosa; Senior Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy, Jeffrey Matteson; Deputy Commissioner, P-12 Instructional Support, Angelique Johnson-Dingle; Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Educational Policy, David Frank; and Deputy Commissioner, P-12 Operational Supports, Jason Harmon. 

ESSAA was represented at the meeting by ESSAA President, Carol Conklin-Spillane; Executive Vice President, Skip Voorneveld; Director of Professional Learning, Eva Jones; Vice President, Lisa O’Neill; Vice President, John Zampaglione; Vice President, John Rickert; Vice President, Jessimae Ossorio; Vice President, Vince DiGrandi; Vice President for Professional Development, Shelley Baldwin-Nye; ESSAA member, Mike Moran; and Regents/NYSED Liaison, Paul Scampini. 

Topics discussed during the meeting included: 

1. Blue Ribbon Commission On Graduation Measures (BRC) Update. 
2. Growing Safety Concerns Over the Use of School Buildings as Polling Sites. 
3. Update on Tenure Reform as it Relates to the New APPR/Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Guidelines. 
4. Regionalization Process Update. 

Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures Update 

Commissioner Rosa opened the meeting by expressing that NYSED staff members look forward to presenting the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures (BRC) at the upcoming November 4th Board of Regents meeting. Deputy Commissioner Johnson-Dingle expressed that the presentation will include a review of feedback that was received from the 47 stakeholder forums that 

were conducted, an overview of the proposed BRC recommendations, and an outline of the tentative implementation timeline. 

Mrs. Conklin-Spillane asked if there are specific plans to change assessment calendars in the near future. Deputy Commissioner Johnson-Dingle responded that there would not be any immediate adjustments at this time and that NYSED will need to conduct a thorough review process before making any changes. 

Safety Concerns Regarding the Use of School Buildings as Polling Sites 

Several months ago, ESSAA representatives expressed a need to address growing safety concerns associated with the use of schools as polling sites. Mrs. Conklin-Spillane asked for a progress update on the status of our request. 

Commissioner Rosa responded that she has received a very limited response from the Governor’s Office regarding our concern. The Commissioner added that an initiative such as this would require at least a year of planning, and suggested the formation of a committee to advocate for more serious discussions in the coming year. 

ESSAA intends to formally request that the Commissioner issue guidance on limiting the use of school buildings as polling places while school is in session. We would ask that any ESSAA members who have experience with scenarios or examples that would support the request send us a brief summary of the situation to info@essaa.org. 

Update on Tenure Reform it Relates to New APPR/Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Guidelines 

Mr. Scampini asked for an update on the status of the new administrator and teacher APPR regulations as they relate to tenure reform. 

Deputy Commissioner Matteson responded that an emergency amendment, which specifically addresses the new Teacher and Administrator Effectiveness Guidelines, will be adopted at the upcoming November Board of Regents meeting. The Deputy Commissioner stated that that the new guidelines will be discussed in detail during the meeting presentation, and stressed that many of the internal structures relating to evaluation and tenure procedures will need to be developed at the district level. The new policy will go into effect in March 2025. 

A review of all the information in the amendment will be included in the Board of Regents meeting summary that will be sent out to all ESSAA members shortly after next week’s meeting. 

Regionalization Process Update 

Deputy Commissioner Matteson shared that the 37 BOCES regions across the state have completed the first phase of the Regionalization Process, which includes developing Strength/Gap Assessments that are currently being reviewed and analyzed. He stated that the next phase includes developing a more comprehensive preliminary needs assessments which is due April 1, 2025. The Deputy Commissioner feels 

this timeline will assist NYSED with developing budget priorities that can be advocated for in the 2025 legislative budget. 

Mrs. Conklin-Spillane asked if the preliminary BRC recommendations that will be presented next week will affect proposals that come out of Regionalization discussions. Deputy Commissioner Matteson responded that he anticipates that the BRC recommendations will strongly influence the Regionalization discussions, especially in the future, as the 14 month process continues into 2025. 

Additionally, in an effort to clarify misconceptions about the Regionalization Process, NYSED has recently released a guidance document. A link to the document can be found below. 

ESSAA Members: If you have any feedback on the foregoing issues or would like to suggest a topic to be addressed with the Commissioner at an upcoming meeting, please e-mail us at info@essaa.org. New topics will be submitted to our Stakeholder Committee for con