Decisions of the Commissioner of Education |
Information about appeals to the Commissioner of Education is available on the State Education Department Office of Counsel website at www.counsel.nysed.gov. The site contains decisions from 1991 to date. New decisions are added as they are issued. Recent significant decisions issued by the Commissioner in appeals brought before him pursuant to Education Law §310 include the following: Appeal of McColgan, et al., 47 Ed Dept Rep ___, Decision No. 15,650, dated August 31, 2007. The Commissioner sustained in part petitioners’ appeal of the actions of the Board of Education of the Lawrence Union Free School District (“respondent”) to reduce distance eligibility for student transportation and to use District funds for pre-kindergarten (“pre-k”) transportation, subject to specific limitations. The Commissioner determined that respondent properly exercised its authority by requesting that the voters approve a change in mileage limitations for transportation. The Commissioner also determined, however, that absent statutory or regulatory authority such as transportation for the “universal pre-k” program pursuant to Education Law §3602-e, respondent had no authority to use district resources to provide pre-k transportation. Appeals of Gorsky and Burbank, et al., 47 Ed Dept Rep ___, Decision No. 15,658, dated August 31, 2007. The Commissioner dismissed petitioners’ consolidated appeals of the actions of the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of Ithaca (“respondent”) regarding transportation of nonpublic school students. Petitioners are parents of children who live within 15 miles of the nonpublic school they attend. Respondent transports petitioners’ children to its high school, where they transfer to a second bus which takes them to their respective nonpublic schools. Petitioners argued, among other things, that Education Law §3635 requires that their children be transported directly to and from their nonpublic schools. The Commissioner found that the respondent’s plan utilized a “centralized transfer point”, at which petitioners’ children simply change buses, as opposed to a “centralized pick-up point”, which Education Law §3635(1)(b) authorizes for students who live too far away from a nonpublic school to otherwise qualify for transportation. Accordingly, the Commissioner determined that respondent’s use of a “centralized transfer point” alone does not violate Education Law §3635. News from the Senior Deputy Commissioner Board of Regents
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