Locust Valley board drafts and approves six resolutions to send to state school board association

The Locust Valley Central School District Board of Education approved six resolutions Tuesday for submission to the New York State School Boards Association (NYSBA). Each resolution drew unanimous support from trustees during discussion and a show-of-hands endorsement.

Why it matters: Resolutions to the state association are a standard way for districts to request state-level policy changes or advocacy. Several of the topics raise funding and legal issues that trustees said have practical implications for districts statewide.

The six resolutions (as discussed and endorsed):

1) Advocate for creation or expansion of Title I–style or comparable state funding to cover out‑of‑district summer camps and transportation costs for special‑education students whose needs are not met by the district’s extended‑year programs. Rationale: year‑round services can prevent regression for some students and current extended‑year offerings do not meet all needs.

2) Advocate for substantial increases in state reimbursement rates and reform of the excess cost aid formula for out‑of‑district special‑education placements, and establishment of emergency/contingency aid for districts facing year‑over‑year spikes in placement costs. Rationale: trustees described current aid formulas as antiquated and inadequate for districts with large mandated placement costs.

3) Advocate to state and federal authorities (including NYSED and USDA) for reinstatement of whole milk as an allowable option in school breakfast and lunch programs. Trustees said studies support the nutritional value of whole milk for growing children and suggested state support could also help regional dairy farmers.

4) Advocate for restoration of a religious exemption to vaccine mandates for school attendance so families with sincerely held religious beliefs are not excluded from educational services, the resolution said; trustees characterized New York as among a small number of states without such an exemption.

5) Advocate for repeal or suspension of any statewide electric school-bus mandate until a full feasibility study is completed for every district, including infrastructure readiness and sustained state funding for full implementation; provide alternative compliance paths for districts with geographic, financial or utility constraints. Rationale: trustees described the mandate as an unfunded requirement that is impractical for districts at the “end of the grid.” One board member urged a concise resolution that calls for abandonment of the mandate.

6) Advocate for regulatory changes to allow up to 30 minutes of daily recess time to count toward required elementary instructional minutes, arguing that recess supports student health and mental‑health goals yet currently is not counted as instructional time.

Votes and next steps: Board members expressed unanimous support during a show-of-hands for submitting each resolution to NYSBA before the association deadline; the meeting transcript records each resolution receiving a favorable, unanimous response. The administration and board will submit the package of resolutions to NYSBA for consideration and outreach to other districts.

Attribution and scope: The summaries and rationale above are drawn from remarks by Board member Lauren Themis and other trustees during the meeting. The resolutions request state‑level action and do not change district policy on the listed subjects.

Background note: Trustees discussed related operational constraints — for example, legal limits on district payments for out‑of‑district programs and utility and siting constraints for electric buses — as part of the rationale for their requests to the state.