NYS clarifies school regionalization is voluntary after Long Island outcry
Levittown Superintendent Todd Winch said the changes voted on Monday "address most of the concerns that we have" with the regionalization plan. Credit: Brittainy Newman
State education officials on Monday took a step back from a controversial push for regionalization of school services as they sought to convince skeptical parents, educators and others that any changes would be voluntary for local districts, not forced.
By unanimous vote, a committee of the state's Board of Regents agreed Monday afternoon to change the language of a new state regulation in order to confirm that regionalization would be voluntary and that districts would have the option of not participating in the planning process.
The idea behind regionalization is to help local districts share with neighboring systems the cost of sports teams, advanced high school courses and other programs, whenever individual districts cannot afford such programs on their own. Supporters have said sharing would be especially useful for any districts experiencing losses in state financial aid.
The Regents' initial approval of a regionalization plan in September sparked a backlash from parents and schools fearful of state intervention.
State officials have emphasized, however, that sharing will not be expanded at the cost of local control by elected school boards and the administrators that boards appoint.
"We're going to prove to folks that we're not going to be heavy handed," said Jeffrey Matteson, the state's senior deputy commissioner for education policy, as he spoke to Regents on Monday afternoon.
Previous regulatory language stated that regional BOCES superintendents shall "compel" districts to revise any parts of their regionalization plans that do not comply with state goals. Monday’s change has BOCES chiefs "request" such revisions.
Another amendment aims to reassure local school officials that regionalization will be voluntary — a point already made by state education officials in public statements. The amendment states, in part, that "a school district may elect not to participate in the development of a regionalization plan." In such cases, district officials would be required to report their decision to the state Department of Education.
The 17-member Regents board sets much of the state’s education policy. The approved regulation, with changes, is due to take effect Dec. 24.
On Long Island, some local school officials voiced relief over the Regents' move to amend regionalization rules.
"I think the changes that they're considering address most of the concerns that we have," said Todd Winch, superintendent of Levittown schools.
Levittown recently joined 27 other Island districts in sending a joint letter to school boards and administrators condemning the state's original regionalization plan.
In a phone interview in advance of the Regents' committee vote, Winch expressed doubt that further regionalization would save substantial money, given that many districts already share programs at the local level. Levittown, for example, has shared a swim team with the East Meadow district for more than a decade and is working with other districts to support a girls' wrestling team, Winch said.
"We do those things all the time without a directive from the state Education Department," said the Levittown school chief.
Some officials in other districts still have concerns, however. Joe Monastero, superintendent of Cold Spring Harbor schools, said he still had questions as to whether an individual district would be obliged to participate in a regional plan developed by other systems.
"We want to make sure we retain local control in decision-making by boards of education and superintendents over their districts," Monastero said.
One parent leader in the region, Jeanette Deutermann, of Bellmore, agreed that shared school services are already an established fact on the Island. Deutermann recently contacted Newsday to say she had recently conducted an informal online survey of parents and educators, and had been given the names of 14 districts that shared costs of some sports teams or of other programs such as robotics and summer-school classes.
"Many of our districts are already successfully sharing resources and partnering with neighboring districts," she said.
Deutermann is the chief organizer of Long Island Opt-Out, a regional network of parents and educators primarily focused on what they regard as the overuse of standardized tests. Deutermann said she decided to survey network members on the separate issue of regionalization after getting calls from some members seeking information on that issue and the state's involvement.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
