| The Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association (ESSAA) held their monthly Stakeholder Meeting on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 via videoconference. Participants representing NYSED included Commissioner of Education; Betty Rosa, Senior Deputy Commissioner for Education Policy, Jeffrey Matteson; and Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Educational Policy, David Frank.
ESSAA was represented at the meeting by Executive Director, Mike Starvaggi; Vice President John Rickert; Vice President for Professional Development, Shelley Baldwin-Nye; Vice President Jessiemae Ossorio; Regents/NYSED Liaison, Paul Scampini; and ESSAA Delegate, Luke Sotherden.
This month’s discussion focused on the development of 2026 NYSED Budget and Legislative Priorities Proposal and the role of Regionalization Reports in the process. Deputy Commissioner Matteson provided an update on the timeline being followed and some of the items under consideration. Key areas of focus noted during the discussion include:
· Moving up certain deadlines in the process. The Deputy Commissioner stressed that this will ensure adequate time for thorough discussion of all proposals before they are presented for final adoption by the Board of Regents in December.
· Placing more emphasis on policy items versus funding requests in preparation for anticipated funding reductions at both the federal and state level.
· Closely examining the first round of Regionalization Reports that have been submitted from around the State. Deputy Commissioner Frank stressed that the reports could provide valuable feedback on best practices that are being implemented through regionalization and could assist with developing cost effective budget priorities and policy strategies.
Deputy Commissioner Matteson asked that we encourage ESSAA members to monitor and closely review the components of the budget and legislative priorities as they are developed. He stressed that honest feedback from practicing administrators on the potential advantages or drawbacks of any proposed policy changes would be very valuable as priorities are debated and finalized.
Prior to the meeting, NYSED provided a September Stakeholder Summary Newsletter which includes updated policies and resources on several topics including:
1. Supporting Migrant Students Amid Immigration Enforcement
2. Inclusion of a Student from Each High School on Local School Boards
3. Cybersecurity Reporting Requirements
4. Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) Meal Requirements
5. Guidelines for Behavioral and Threat Assessments in Schools
A link to the newsletter can be found below:
NYSED – September 2025 Stakeholder Updates
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 consideration. |
