| The Board of Regents conducted their monthly meeting on Monday, October 6, and Tuesday, October 7, at the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES in Central New York. Regent Aramina Vega Ferrer opened the meeting by recognizing the month of October as Hispanic Heritage Month. Regent Ferrer highlighted the positive impact that Hispanic Americans have had with shaping American society and noted the unique diversity they bring to our country from so many areas around the world. She also, however, expressed sadness with the fact that this year is different, with several celebratory events around the country having to be cancelled due to safety concerns. She concluded her reflections by reciting the poem, I Too Sing America, by Julia Alvarez.
Chancellor Young then recognized October as Principal Recognition Month, commending the outstanding work educational leaders do in guiding our schools on a daily basis.
Chancellor Young also announced that as part of the November 2025 Board of Regents Meeting, NYSED will be hosting a CTE EXPO in Albany that is open to the public.
P-12 Related Topics Covered During the October 2025 Meeting and Summarized in This Report Include:
· Update on 2027 Fiscal Year Legislative and Budget Proposal Process.
· Proposed Policy Updates Relating to the Education of Indigenous Youth.
· Review of Upcoming Changes Relating to How English Language Proficiency is Assessed for English Language Learners.
Update on 2027 Fiscal Year Legislative and Budget Proposal
State Aid Subcommittee Co-Chairs, Regent Frances Wills and Regent Roger Catania, along with NYSED staff members, provided a progress update of the 2027 Fiscal Year Legislative and Budget Proposal. Regent Catania reviewed the priorities that are emerging from the many discussions that have taken place within NYSED and with stakeholders.
Current budget priorities being focused on at this time include:
1. Securing adequate funding to support effective implementation of the Graduation Measures and Portrait of a Graduate initiative.
2. Increased funding to expand UPK opportunities.
3. Funding to support Increased access to student mental health supports through community interagency cooperation.
4. Increased funding to enable districts to comply with new FAPE regulations that require districts to support students with disabilities until the age of 22.
5. Expanding access for high school students to pursue to college level course work, especially in rural districts. This includes programs such as CTE, P-Tech, Early College High School, and AP and IB courses.
6. Enhancing academic and mental health supports for incarcerated students.
7. Increased support for Arts Education course work.
8. Increased financial support for districts that have high numbers of English language Learners.
9. Support for curriculum development in emerging areas such as financial literacy, climate education, AI related programs, and media literacy.
It is anticipated that NYSED will have a rough estimate on the anticipated costs of these proposals ready for review and discussion at the November Board of Regents meeting. The finalized budget proposal will be presented for Board adoption at the December Board of Regents meeting.
The link below includes the slides that were referenced during the discussion.
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/SA – 2026-2027 Regents Budget and Legislative Priorities.pdf
Proposed Policy Updates Relating to the Education of Indigenous Youth
NYSED Assistant Commissioner for Education Policy, David Frank, introduced a presentation on a NYSED draft policy proposal relating to educational program requirements for indigenous youth. The new proposed guidelines represent an ongoing collaborative effort between NYSED staff and representatives of indigenous nations from various regions of the state. The new policies would amend outdated regulations that were enacted in 1975 and bring an enhanced focus on advancing equity and mutual respect in the education of New York’s indigenous youth.
Key aspects in the new policy include:
1. An active Advisory Council to guide all future policy decisions.
2. A new Indigenous Culture and Language Studies educator certification title.
3. Provisions for providing curricular resources to schools.
4. Integrating instructional practices that embed indigenous culture and perspectives with culturally responsive and sustaining education practices.
5. Consistent professional learning opportunities for teachers.
6. Creating pathways for indigenous students to earn the Seal of Civic Readiness.
It is anticipated that the proposed changes will be presented for adoption at the November 2025 Board of Regents meeting.
A second presentation on this topic focused on two grants NYSED has secured that are enabling indigenous students to pursue the Seal of Civic Readiness. Assistant Commissioner Frank provided an overview of this project that creates opportunities for students to develop skills associated with the Portrait of a Graduate and build connections within their communities while they work toward earning the Seal.
Below you will find two separate links to the slides that were referenced during each presentation. The first link includes slides used during the discussion on the new policy proposal. The second link includes the slides that were referenced during the presentation on the service learning projects that indigenous students are engaging in to achieve the Seal of Civic Readiness.
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/P-12 – Indigenous Education – A Statement of Policy and Proposed Action.pdf
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/P-12 – Empowering and Deepening Indigenous Youth Service.pdf
Update on Changes Relating to How English Language Proficiency is Assessed in English Language Learners.
The Board was updated on the recent decision for New York to join the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium (WIDA). WIDA is a nationally recognized organization that designs and implements standards-based instruction and assessments to support English Language Learners. New York is the 42nd state to join the consortium.
Deputy Commissioner Angelique Johnson-Dingle, along with representatives from WIDA, provided an overview of the services that will now be available to support the 32,000 ELL students in New York State. The Deputy Commissioner expressed that WIDA’s resources will greatly enhance our ability to support multi-language learners with their extensive pool of teacher resources, enhanced progress monitoring options, training opportunities for teachers, and more effective tools to alternatively assess students with disabilities.
A key ELL-related assessment change will begin in the Fall of 2027 when New York will begin using WIDA developed assessments for both ELL Screening and annual ELL Language Proficiency Assessments. These new WIDA assessments will replace the NYSITELL screening tool and the NYSESLAT assessment tools that are currently utilized.
The link below includes the slides that were referenced during the presentation.
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/P-12 – Update to New York State%E2%80%99s English Language Proficiency Assessment.pdf |
