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Visiting superintendent outlines regionalization plan focused on career pathways, shared services and inclusive special education
Summary
Lily Talcott, a regional superintendent, presented the New York State regionalization plan emphasizing student learning, career and technical programs, inclusive special-education placements and a regional early-college catalog; she described local pilots and nine action items to coordinate services across districts.
Lily Talcott, who identified herself as a district superintendent, told the Trumansburg Central School District Board that New York State’s push for regionalization centers on student learning and shared resources.
"At the heart of regionalization is really learning — student learning and student experience," Talcott said, describing a Portrait of a Graduate framework used to align regional work. She said the regional plan was submitted Oct. 1 and listed three broad priorities: career pathways, shared operations and inclusive special education.
Talcott described concrete pilots that grew out of the regional work. A BOCES-run machining and manufacturing CTE class at Candor High School opened quickly after districts pooled resources; 13 students from around the region were enrolled, she said. She also said an inclusive classroom serving younger students with significant communication needs opened in Lansing and is staffed by TST BOCES employees so students from multiple districts can attend without segregating services.
Talcott said the region is developing an early-college catalog of dual-enrollment courses so students across participating districts can access the same college-credit opportunities. She also listed nine plan items the region endorsed, including establishing a Regional Transportation Advisory Council, creating a regional program inventory, expanding inclusive special education placements, aligning career development with local workforce needs, and holding joint board sessions at least annually.
Board members asked about operational pitfalls. Talcott acknowledged multiple logistical challenges, citing different bus start times, contract variations and driver classifications as examples that the transportation council must address. On extended-age services for students with disabilities, she referenced a policy she described as "FAPE 22," saying it extends entitlement "until the day before their 20th birthday" and that advocates are pressing for funding to continue services into age 21–22; she emphasized the need for funding to implement the expanded services.
Talcott framed regionalization as building on existing programs rather than creating many new positions: "We were basically taking everything that was already existing and repurposing it to create more opportunity for young people," she said.
The board did not take formal action on the regional plan at this meeting; Talcott said some districts in the region had not yet signed on and that the presentation was an update.
The board thanked Talcott and noted the district’s interest in continuing conversations about shared programming and transportation.
