GISNY NEWSLETTER SPECIAL EDITION July 24, 2019Important Message from Head of School
Re: New York State Department of Education (NYSED) & Board of Regents New Proposal to Regulate Independent School Curriculum
Dear Members of the German International School New York Community,
I am writing today to ask you to help us with a matter that could directly affect all New York independent schools.
Last year NYSED proposed regulations to use "substantial equivalent" instruction as a vehicle to delegate the direct oversight of our school to the local public school superintendent and local board of education. In April, NYSED regulations of nonpublic schools were struck down in court because NYSED did not follow proper state law requiring a notice and comment period prior to issuing new regulations. On Wednesday, July 3, NYSED now issued new regulations of nonpublic schools and established a public comment period through September 2nd.
This proposed regulatory change could in effect allow oversight of our educational program by the local public school superintendent and the local board of education, and would thus create additional layers of complexity and limit our possibilities to implement the curricular requirements from Germany. For various reasons, we believe that this step is unnecessary or even counterproductive as it might potentially hamper our ability to develop curriculum and determine who is best suited to teach this curriculum. To allow us to continue our successful program, I kindly ask that you take a few minutes out of your summer break to formally submit a comment to the New York State Education Department (NYSED).
German International School New York is part of a network of 140 German schools abroad and accredited by the Permanent Conference of the Department of Education of the Federal Republic of Germany. GISNY is also a registered high school in the State of New York as well as an independent school accredited by the New York Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS). That makes GISNY one of approximately 200 schools in New York State accredited by NYSAIS; all independent schools have or are in the process of asking their community to write to NYSED to object to any change in regulations and preserve the independence of independent schools.
Therefore I would like to encourage all members of our community who would like to participate to formally submit a comment in support of amending the regulations and to include a statement that all NYSAIS accredited schools are already substantially equivalent. Please copy/paste the text below into your email window, sign your name and send it out as soon as possible. All comments MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 2, 2019.
Thank you for your assistance with this critical issue. With all of our voices heard, we hope our collective influence ultimately will compel NYSED to revise the regulations to allow GISNY to continue to fulfill its mission to our students and their families.
Best regards, Lars Hierath Head of School
GISNY eNewsletter Sonderausgabe - WICHTIG
Betrifft: New York State Department of Education (NYSED) & Board of Regents Neuer Antrag zur Regulierung der Curricula unabhängiger Schulen
Daher möchte ich auch alle die Mitglieder unserer Schulgemeinschaft, die teilnehmen möchten, bitten, formell einen Kommentar zur Änderung der Vorschriften abzugeben und eine Erklärung beizufügen, dass alle von NYSAIS anerkannten Schulen bereits im Wesentlichen gleichwertig sind. Bitte kopieren Sie den untenstehenden Text und fügen ihn in Ihr E-Mail-Fenster ein,
Mit freudlichen Grüßen
To view the NYSED regulations, please click here. https://www.dos.ny.gov/info/register/2019/jul3.pdf
=========SAMPLE TEXT FOR EMAIL==========
TO: seregcomments@nysed.gov; Regent.Johnson@nysed.gov; regulations@nysais.org; Regent.Cottrell@nysed.gov; Regent.Norwood@nysed.gov; Regent.Reyes@nysed.gov ; Regent.Young@nysed.gov
Re: New Proposed NYSED Regulation to Determine "Substantial Equivalency" at Independent Schools
Dear Ms. Coughlin and the Honorable Regent Johnson,
I am submitting this letter during the public comment period regarding NYSED's proposed regulations. I am opposed to the new regulations.
We chose to send our child(ren) to German International School New York for many reasons, not the least of which is that we believe the school's mission and policies meet our family's needs better than local public schools. To allow administrators of the White Plains School District to oversee German International School New York is unacceptable. Our school is accredited by NYSAIS and undergoes a lengthy evaluation process by NYSAIS on a regular basis. Fair and impartial reviews, such as the NYSAIS accreditation our school undergoes every few years, are vastly superior to what locally elected officials or their designees could hope to accomplish.
German International School New York not only meets the standards for substantial equivalence, it far exceeds those margins. There is no need for our school to be re-reviewed. I propose schools accredited by NYSAIS be excused from the review process and the local public school district administration and board of education not have direct oversight of our school.
Sincerely, Your name German International School New York White Plains, NY
German International School New York 50 Partridge Rd White Plains NY 10605 914 948 6513 |