---

October Board of Regents Meeting

The New York State Board of Regents met in Albany on October 20 and 21, 2008. Reports of the Board of Regents committees are now being made available on the Web to provide you with a timely summary of Regents discussions.  The October 2008 committee reports can be found at http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2008Meetings/October2008/1008committeereports.html.

Highlights of agenda items this month include:

• The Board of Regents approved the conceptual differentiated accountability proposal that was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) in time to meet the USED deadline. If the model is approved by the USDE, New York will be able to revise the manner in which schools and districts are categorized under No Child Left Behind as well as develop modified supports and consequences for schools and districts identified for improvement.
• The Board of Regents discussed input received from the field on the proposed Interim Growth Model for Title I from the 6 public forums held throughout the State in September and October and approved a final model for submission to USDE.
• Development of the Board of Regents State Aid Proposal for the 2009-10 school year
• Discussion on proposals that the Regents will consider for 2009-10 legislative priorities
• Proposal to Address Statewide Shortages of Teachers of Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
• Proposed amendment to clarify procedures for nominating eligible students for Excelsior Scholars Program
• Impact of Attrition and Budget Cuts on P-16 Capacity
• Charter School Actions
• 2009 New York State Teacher of the Year award presentation to Vickie Mike, a high school Spanish and French teacher at Horseheads High School in Horseheads, New York
• …and more.

Advance materials and meeting agendas are also available on the Board of Regents Web site at http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2008Meetings/October2008/1008monthmat.html.

Congratulations to Ms. Vickie Mike - the 2009 New York State Teacher of the Year!

Ms. Vickie Mike, a high school foreign language teacher at Horseheads High School in Horseheads, NY, has been named the 2009 New York State Teacher of the Year. Congratulations!  Ms. Mike is the 39th New York State Teacher of the Year and the first from the Horseheads district where she has taught for 27 years. She has served as the Horseheads Department Chairperson for Languages Other Than English for the last 16 years and was invited to participate in a Symposium of World Language Educators in China in October of 2007.

We would also like to extend our congratulations to the outstanding teachers who were selected as finalists for the 2009 New York State Teacher of the Year including Maribel Pregnall, a science teacher at Arlington High School in Lagrangeville, NY; Joan D’Urso, an elementary inclusion teacher at Medford Elementary School in Patchogue, NY; Deborah Dahlin, an art teacher at Elmcrest Elementary School in Liverpool, NY; and Richard Lemke III, a science teacher at Sachem High School East in Farmingville, NY.

Special thanks go out to our program sponsors - the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers (NYSPTA), the New York State Association for School Curriculum Development (NYSASCD), ING Financial Services Inc., the SMARTer Kids Foundation, SMART Technologies, and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The program is run in conjunction with the National Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by CCSSO.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fine Arts & Essay Display Sponsored by the New York State Office of General Services and the New York State Education Department

New York State schools are invited to submit student artwork based on Dr. King's Six Principles of Nonviolence and essays on celebrating his birthday throughout the year. The categories are writing, painting, drawing, sculpting and photography. All entries must be postmarked by December 5, 2008 and will be placed on display for viewing one week prior to the King Holiday January 19, 2009 in Albany, New York. For complete details, please see the memo from Steven Earle, Director of the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics and Access, and the flyer: PDF | HTML)

2008 Louis E. Yavner Awards Information

The Board of Regents invites nominations for the 2008 Louis E. Yavner Teaching and Citizen Awards. These awards provide recognition of a teacher and a citizen who have made outstanding contributions to New York State education about the Holocaust and other violations of human rights. The awards were established by the Regents and funded by the late Regent Emeritus Louis E. Yavner. State Education Department staff are not eligible for these awards.
Complete information, including nomination forms, are available at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/yavner.html. The deadline for submission of nominations is Friday, January 30, 2009.

The 2007 winners of the Louis E. Yavner Teaching and Citizen Awards were announced in a recent press release http://emsc32.nysed.gov/ciai/Yavner/nysed2007yavnerawardwinners.htm .

Model Policy on Educational Neglect  

A Model Policy on Educational Neglect that describes essential practices and procedures related to reporting of educational neglect by schools districts and investigation by local child protective services (CPS) and been posted on our web site at www.emsc.nysed.gov/sss/EducationalNeglect.html.  The model policy provides guidance on the development of written policies and procedures related to reporting educational neglect and will help to strengthen collaborative efforts in this area between school districts and local departments of social services.  If you have any questions concerning this material, please e-mail us at studentsupportservices@mail.nysed.gov.

New Guidance Regarding Retention Requirements for Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting (VADIR)

The Guidance for Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting (VADIR) document retention has been modified and now states that VADIR and summary records, including copies of summary information submitted to the State Education Department must be maintained until the youngest person involved in the incident(s) is 27 years old.  Summary records may need to be retained longer, even permanently, if they document school violence, or if a school has been designated a persistently dangerous school.  School districts are encouraged to contact the New York State Archives for additional advice on document retention.  A Question and Answer document with additional information is available on the Web at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/sss/SDFSCA/uvir/home_uvir_vadir.htm. Additional questions can be directed to Greg Bayduss at (518) 486-7327.

 

 

 

Previous News and Notes:

09/24/08