Checking Up On Your SLT

Now that the Open Meetings Law has been confirmed for School Leadership Teams, parent and school leaders should be monitoring their teams to make sure they are focused on the development of the CEP and their budget responsibilities. They should drop in on teams unannounced and observe what is happening. Chances are you will find that teams are not engaged in their duties and unaware of their responsibilities due to lack of training. When you observe, remember to pick up the agenda for the meeting. You also have a right to receive the minutes of the meeting. By these means, we can pressure principals to develop functioning SLTs according to law. However, the question is,do parents and school leaders realize the importance of functioning SLTs in school governance? James Calantjis sltsupport.blogspot.com -----Original Message----- From: 'Leonie Haimson' leoniehaimson@gmail.com [nyceducationnews] To: Nyceducationnews@Yahoogroups.com Cc: changethestakes-open-forum ; cts-internal Sent: Mon, Nov 14, 2016 5:08 pm Subject: [nyceducationnews] What's the story on School Leadership Teams and their meetings? A fact sheet for parents and members of the public. https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2016/11/whats-story-on-school-leadership-team.html Leonie Haimson Executive Director Class Size Matters 1 24 Waverly Pl. New York, NY 10011 phone: 212-529-3539/917-435-9329 leonie@classsizematters.org www.classsizematters.org

New SLT Open Meetings Policy

DOE Sets New School Leadership (SLT) Policy New Policy for SLT Meetings All schools Workflow Subcategory: Family/Community Engagement Recently, the New York State Appellate Division issued a decision ruling that School Leadership Team (SLT) meetings must be open to the general public and comply with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law. Effective immediately, SLTs must allow members of the general public and the press to be admitted to their meetings, in addition to members of the school community. If certain confidential topics are discussed, the SLT should go into “executive session,” meaning that the SLT should move to a private room (out of earshot of the public and the press). During the next few weeks, principals will receive training from their Senior Field Counsel on how to comply with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law. Training will include directions for complying with the following requirements: Public Notice of Meetings: Public notice of the time and place of SLT meetings must be provided at least one week prior to the meeting. Notice must also be given to the news media and posted in one or more public locations, including on the school’s website, at least 72 hours before the meeting. Disclosure of Minutes: The SLT should prepare minutes of topics discussed at SLT meetings, including any proposals or items decided upon through consensus. Upon request, minutes shall be made available to the public in accordance with the provisions of FOIL within two weeks from the date of the meeting. Minutes that are taken during executive sessions should include the date and consist of a record or summary of any determination or final action that is taken. Upon request, minutes from the executive session shall be made available to the public in accordance with the provisions of FOIL within one week from the date of the meeting. § Executive Session: SLTs should go into executive session and remove themselves from the public meeting to discuss certain confidential topics, such as School Safety Plans, preparation or administration of examinations, current or future investigations, or proposed or pending litigation. If you have questions about this policy and these procedures, please contact your Senior Field Counsel.

NY Appellate Court Affirms School Leadership Team Meetings are Open to the Public

NY Appellate Court Affirms School Leadership Team Meetings are Open to the Public In a rebuke to the NYC Department of Education, which began closing School Leadership Team (SLT) meetings to the public in 2013, a New York appellate court has found that closing the meetings violates the state’s Open Meetings Law. In a decision released today, the New York Appellate Division, First Department found for the petitioner, Michael P. Thomas, and the intervenors, Public Advocate Letitia James and Class Size Matters, that SLT meetings must be open to the public. Contrary to the DOE’s claims, the Court held that SLTs are governmental bodies that have decision-making authority under state law. The SLT helps formulate "school-based educational policies" and ensure that "resources are aligned to implement those policies,” wrote the Court. Thus, SLT meetings must be subject to the Open Meetings Law. The Court rejected DOE’s contention that SLTs, composed half of school staff and half parents, have only advisory powers and thus their meetings could be closed. On March 17, 2014, retired teacher Michael P. Thomas asked the Chair of the SLT and the Principal Linda Hill of IS 49 on Staten Island to attend their meeting. The Chair invited him but later rescinded her invitation, and barred him from entering the meeting when he arrived at the school on April 1, 2014. On May 17, 2014, Mr. Thomas commenced an article 78 proceeding, and the Public Advocate and Class Size Matters subsequently intervened on behalf of parents and the public at large, represented pro bono by Advocates for Justice and New York Lawyers for Public Interest. On April 21, 2015, Supreme Court Judge Peter Moulton ruled that "SLT meetings entail a public body performing governmental functions," and thus are "subject to the Open Meetings Law." He concluded that “the proper functioning of public schools is a public concern, not a private concern limited to the families who attend a given public school." Chancellor Carmen Farina instructed principals to ignore this decision, and filed a Notice of Appeal on May 22, 2015. The Appellate Court heard arguments from both sides on January 21, 2016. Upon learning today that he had won the case, Michael P. Thomas said, "It was a long wait, but well worthwhile to read the court’s decision. Opening SLT meetings will allow the public to observe first-hand the effects of problems plaguing our schools, including underfunding, overcrowding, and poor budgetary priorities. The Court's affirming that SLTs are more than advisory in nature demonstrates that these bodies have real decision-making power. Unfortunately, in too many cases, principals have improperly usurped the power given to SLTs in state law. Hopefully, the Court's decision will be the first step in helping to resolve the many problems in our public schools." “Today’s ruling is a victory for parents, students, educators and all of us who believe in transparency and accountability at the Department of Education,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “After years of having their voices drowned out in the school system, parents are being heard again. Important decisions about our schools must be made in sunlight with input from parents and teachers.” “We are delighted that the First Department confirmed in a unanimous opinion the public’s right to attend these very important School Leadership Team meetings,” said Laura D. Barbieri, of counsel to Advocates for Justice Legal Foundation, representing the Public Advocate Letitia James, and Class Size Matters. “The Department of Education must comply with the Open Meetings Law and can no longer exclude the media or concerned citizens who have a right to know what is going on in their neighborhood public schools.” Said Rachel Spector, Director of the Environmental Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which represented Class Size Matters: “The court’s decision affirms that when public schools make decisions, they must be transparent: public schools cannot act in secret. We are pleased that members of the public can now attend School Leadership Team meetings without fear of being turned away at the door. This is an important step forward and serves as a reminder to the Department of Education that community participation is crucial to the success of New York City public schools." “The law is crystal clear that School Leadership Teams are public bodies, with an important governmental role to play. Parents and the public have a crucial stake in SLT decisions, when it comes to class size, the use of technology, or any other school-based policies. Both the Supreme Court and now the Appellate Court have ruled that these meetings must be open to the community at large. Any attempt by the DOE or principals to ignore this decision, subvert it or appeal to a higher court would be unwise, would further delay the public interest and would waste precious taxpayer funds that are far better used in improving our schools,” concluded Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters. The Appellate Court’s decision is posted here: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2016/2016_06989.htm Additional background on School Leadership Teams, along with a timeline and links to legal briefs and news articles, is posted here: http://www.classsizematters.org/parent-empowerment/

There is no grass root support for reforming School Leadership Teams among parents, teachers, educators, politicians, etc. This has been a missed opportunity to really involve parents and teachers in the school governance process through shared decision making. The NYCDOE has been successful in undermining the authority of Teams under the law to develop the school's CEP and to be actively involved in the school budget process. If anyone would like to contact me, please do so at calantjis@aol.com. James Calantjis

SLT Biennial Survey for Members of SLTs - Give honest feedback

Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council Biennial SLT Survey deadline extended until next Wednesday! The deadline for completing the Biennial SLT survey was extended until Wednesday, December 23rd. If you are a member of your School Leadership Team and didn't have a chance to complete the survey, please take a moment to fill it out -- and let other members of your team know about the extension as well!. We are also asking that all Presidents' Council presidents pass this email along to their memberships. As a reminder, the Biennial SLT Survey takes place every other year. Responses are completely confidential. Although the survey asks for your school, this is a check to ensure you have the correct district and is not required. The final report includes only district level results and is used by your District Leadership Teams to help them understand how SLTs are functioning in your districts and to help them better target their training. So please complete the survey honestly. If you are a member of your SLT and have not received a link -- either from FACE or from your school -- you should contact your school principal, your parent coordinator, or your district Parent Leadership Coordinator (formerly DFA). If you are a member of your high school SLT, please contact your principal, your parent coordinator, or your superintendent's Parent Leadership Coordinator. If you have any problems completing the survey, please let FACE know! Thanks for helping to improve our schools!

DOE information regarding current Comprehensive Educational Plans (2015-2016)

Please note that SLTs should be working on creating the CEPs for the 2016-2017 school year by doing needs assessments and setting yearly goals and action plans. In the Spring, the budgets should be aligned with the CEPs. Regards, James Calantjis Address Remaining Feedback and Prepare Your School/Comprehensive Educational Plan (S/CEP) for Posting on Your School’s Website All schools / Deadline: October 30; Event: November 20 As noted in the October 20 edition of Principals’ Weekly, if you have not already done so, you should review and address any remaining reviewer feedback for your School/Comprehensive Educational Plan (S/CEP) by October 30 so that your superintendent can approve your final plan. For Struggling or Persistently Struggling schools that are in receivership, note that this includes Community Engagement Team recommendations and feedback from your public hearing, where applicable. In order to address reviewer feedback, you should update your plan using the online document editor in the iPlan portal. Once you have updated your plan, you should prepare it for posting on your school’s website following these steps (click here for additional guidance): § Click “save” to save your plan so that members of your school community who you have provisioned as designees can view updates. § Click “create new version” to back up the plan in the iPlan portal. § Click “update for review” so that your updated plan can be viewed by your superintendent. Please note that the original deadline for your superintendent to approve your final S/CEP has been extended to November 13 (from October 30); you will receive an email from iPlan support once your final plan has been approved. Note that your final S/CEP will be combined with your school’s Title III application (if applicable), Language Allocation Policy (LAP), and Language Translation and Interpretation Form (LTI) before it is posted on your school’s public website beginning on November 20 (extended from November 13). For more information on provisioning designee(s) at your school via the iPlan portal, click here. For technical assistance with iPlan, email cep-iplansupport@infusion.com. For other questions, contact the School/District Improvement Liaison (SDIL) for your district. Go back to the top Ensure Teacher Leaders are Staffed in Gal

SLT End of Year Principal Evaluation

SLT Chancellor's Regulation A-655 mandates that SLTs complete a principal evaluation form concerning the extent of shared decision making during the school year in the creation of the CEP and alignment of the budget. I am hearing that the DOE is neglecting this requirement from SLTs. The evaluation form can also be found in the A-655 Regulation. The Superintendent is sent the evaluations when completed my members. SLTs should make sure thay print out the forms and have members honestly complete them to provide a measure of accountability concerning the functioning of their teams.