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Parent urges district to keep life-skills students in session during Regents; district says adjustments will be communicated
Summary
A parent told the board that life-skills students are left out of school during Regents weeks, creating caregiving and service access problems; district officials said changes made last year provide extended school-year options and staff will follow up and communicate specific plans to families.
A parent of a life-skills student told the South Colonie Central School District board that current scheduling around Regents exam weeks removes critical routines and places heavy burdens on families who cannot access support services when school is not in session.
Kimberly Maroney said her daughter, a life-skills student, does not participate in Regents assessments and that being out of school Jan. 20–23 and during the June Regents weeks disrupts daily routines and forces parents to miss work. She said families who rely on certain state programs cannot access supports when the district treats those days as a school day, and urged the board to review the district practice and provide a plan before June.
"These kids thrive on structure and routine," Maroney said. "This decision seemed to be a top-down approach versus a shared decision making, which concerns me because I don't think input was taken from the parents at all." She asked the district to reconsider and to communicate options earlier.
Superintendent (identified in the transcript as "Doctor Carey") responded that the district made changes last year for the June Regents period and that similar adjustments are anticipated; he said life-skills students will have extended-school-year options and that staff will message those plans to families and follow up individually.
What happens next: Superintendent staff said they will follow up with Maroney and other families directly and provide messaging to the wider community with details about extended-school-year scheduling and supports ahead of the June Regents period.
