Every school board in New York will soon be required to have one nonvoting student representative. Gov. Hochul recently signed a bill requiring every school district to have an ex officio student school board member seated by July 1, 2025.
James Montalto, Public Relations Director for the William Floyd School District says, “The district strongly believes in encouraging student civic responsibility and provides that through various opportunities such as the award-winning Youth & Government program and partnering with students to engage our elected officials at the Longwood Legislative Breakfast each February.
“This new legislation will provide a student leader with an up-close look at the local governance process within their own school district. At this point, the Board has had very preliminary discussions about the implementation. We will be able to share more information as the next school year approaches,” Montalto added.
Student school board members would not be empowered to vote or attend executive sessions. Nor would they be able to attend any meeting or hearing that is not open to the public (e.g., student disciplinary hearings and special education placement hearings).
Currently, about a third of New York’s 700 school districts have non voting student board members, according to a poll done by the New York State School Board Association (NYSSBA). The remainder must comply by the beginning of the next school year.
Bob Vecchio, Executive Director of the Nassau Suffolk School Boards Association, says, “While we always advocate for local control and decision-making as opposed to a statewide mandate like this, we do believe this is something that could benefit governance teams for school districts. To bring the student voice to the table when discussing policies that could directly impact them could prove invaluable to Boards as they deliberate those policies.”
Some Suffolk County School Districts already have a student representative and those students report excellent experiences and that they feel they are heard by the adults and that they think they do add to the discussion with a student voice.
Hazel Cohas is a senior at Ward Melville High School in the Three Village Central School District. She is also the student government president and the student representative on the board of education for the district.
Cohas says her experience as the student representative has been a positive one and she would recommend it to other students.
“Our senior government president is automatically the person that goes to our Board of Education meetings and connects with the principal and our school board. That's a lot of extra work, but I have learned a lot,” says Cohas.
When asked if she feels that the other adult board members give her space to be heard, she said, “Absolutely, I feel they respect me. I really do have my own spot up there and there's a whole section every meeting on the schedule for me to talk. I give a report and add in any feedback I get from other students. I definitely do feel like I have time to express the student's point of view.”
Cohas was asked if there have been any contentious issues where adult policy and student wants were at odds. She said, “Although we have had a few policy changes in our school that could have gone badly such as these new cell phone bans and storage boxes, they have gone really well so far. Last quarter we got a report back on how this policy was well in our school.
“I think it's the one role where you really feel like you're making a difference in the school. Especially getting to go to the Board of Ed meetings and taking the concerns of my fellow students to those in authority. It's not it's been a courtesy effort – they really do listen and pay attention to the issues I bring with me to the meetings,” says Cohas Sachem Central School District currently has two student Board of Education members, one from each high school.
Sachem Superintendent Patricia Trombetta said, “Student Board Members allow us to hear directly from the students what is happening in the buildings and the opportunity to hear about all the wonderful activities that take place. It also allows us to hear the student’s perspective on issues that directly affect them.”
State Senator Shelley B. Mayer, the sponsor of the legislation, said, “I am extremely pleased that my bill to require school districts and BOCES to appoint at least one student ex officio school board member has been signed into law by Governor Hochul. School boards shape the educational experiences of students, but they do not always include the voices of the students they serve. This legislation will give students new opportunities to engage with their school community and build habits of civic engagement that will serve them throughout their lives.”
If your child is interested in becoming a school board representative, start thinking about it now, so they can set the stage to meet the requirements and be ready for next year. The law requires that each student board member must be at least one of the following:
• The student body president.
• A student selected by the high school student government.
• A student selected by the high school principal.
• A student selected by the superintendent.
• A student selected by majority vote of the school board.