Office of Instructional Support
In 2014 the Governor signed into law Chapter 328 of the Laws of 2014 entitled the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The purpose of the law is to remove barriers to educational success faced by children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents. On September 12, 2017 the Board of Regents proposed a new Section 100.20 of the regulations of the Commissioner of education to implement the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, hereafter referred to as the 鈥淐ompact鈥.
The law provides for the establishment of a State Commission to facilitate the transition of students of military families, who transfer in and out of New York State schools as a result of such status. After several meetings, the Commission identified certain areas of the Commissioner鈥檚 Regulations which needed to be amended or added to conform with the new law. This memo addresses only those changes that impact students of military families in transition.
Military families are present and have students that attend districts throughout the State. These new regulations apply to all public and charter schools, not only those schools and districts with high populations of military families.
As students of military personnel transfer into and out of public or charter schools in New York it is incumbent upon districts to minimize the stress and barriers to success that a change in school can bring. These students are faced with frequent moves and often transfer schools many times in grades K-12. The following regulation changes adopted by the Board of Regents in September, as well as the changes to the transfer regulations for all students outlined in a separate field memo, will offer these students flexibility in meeting the New York State diploma requirements and hopefully mitigate some of the barriers to on time graduation as a result of their move. The full text of the changes can be found in the听.
The following is a summary of the changes acted upon by the Board that apply only to military students
1.) Education Records:听Districts will accept from an incoming student鈥檚 parent or guardian, an unofficial set of hand carried records. The student must be enrolled and placement decisions must be made in accordance with the information in the unofficial records and then later validated when official records become available. In addition when students leave a New York State school, such school will furnish a set of unofficial records to be hand carried to the accepting school by the student鈥檚 parent or guardian.
2.) Immunizations:听Students of military families shall be given 30 days from the day of enrollment to obtain any required