Attendance and Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
*Please Note: While State Aid provides and references guidance such as this FAQ, Statutes and Regulations, it is up to the district to interpret any guidance provided with the assistance of the district's representatives, experts, counsel, other appropriate SED offices, etc.
Superintendent Days
- Do parent-teacher conferences count as an instructional day?
Education Law §3604(8) provides that up to four superintendent conferences count towards the instructional day minimum. Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 states that the use of superintendents’ conferences are to “provide staff development activities that are related to implementation of the new high learning standards and assessments, general staff orientation, curriculum development, in service education, or parent-teacher conferences.”
- If a district provides instruction for part of the day and a parent teacher conference for another part of the day, does the district need to report the day as a superintendent’s conference day?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 provides a district may count up to four “average scheduled hours for a school day” towards instructional hours in a given school year. Education Law §3604(8) allows for up to four superintendent conferences to count towards the 180-day minimum. Districts may hold superintendent conferences in excess of these prescribed maximums, but they will not count towards either the annual hour or day minimums.
- How many hours does each Superintendent Conference Day count towards the annual hour requirement?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 provides “that the average scheduled hours for a school day based on the school calendar (e.g., 5 hours for elementary, 5.5 for secondary) shall be considered one superintendents’ conference day authorized pursuant to Education Law §3604(8) and a district may use up to the product of four such hour amounts in a given school year, and provided that such conferences occur on days when the regular day schools of the school district may legally be in session, and provided further that such conference days may not be scheduled for routine school administrative matters such as the grading of assignments, the preparation of pupil assignments, record-keeping, or the preparation of lesson plans.”
- Can Superintendent’s Conference Days be split into half days, and do they still count?
Education Law §3604(8) provides that districts “may elect to use one or more of such allowable conference days in units of not less than one hour.” No more than four such days may be counted towards the 180-day minimum, but the hours may be subdivided further. If Superintendent Conference Days are subdivided into partial days and a district elects to provide instructional hours for another portion of the Superintendent Conference Day(s), each day may only be counted as one session day toward the 180-day minimum (i.e., the district may count the day towards the 180 day requirement as either a Superintendent Conference Day or an attendance day, but not both).
- Can a district hold Superintendent Conference Days prior to the first day of school?
Education Law §3604(8) allows districts to schedule superintendent conferences in the last two weeks of August, subject to collective bargaining requirements.
- How many Superintendent Conference Days may count towards the 180-day minimum requirement or towards the hourly minimum requirement? For example, could a district provide 176 days of students in the building, then four Superintendent Conference Days to equal 180 total days?
Education Law §3604(8) allows for up to four Superintendent Conference Days to count towards the 180-day minimum. With regard to the hourly minimum requirement, Commissioner’s Regulation 175.5(h) allows a district to count up to four times the "average scheduled hours for a school day" per year. Districts may hold superintendent conferences in excess of these prescribed maximums, but they will not count towards either the annual hour or day minimums.
- Do professional development activities and parent-teacher conferences count as instructional hours?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 provides superintendents’ conferences may be used to “provide staff development activities that are related to implementation of the new high learning standards and assessments, general staff orientation, curriculum development, in service education, or parent-teacher conferences… provided further that such conference days may not be scheduled for routine school administrative matters such as the grading of assignments, the preparation of pupil assignments, record-keeping, or the preparation of lesson plans.”
- Can a district schedule a half day, without a Superintendent’s Conference Day, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving?
The September 2018 amendments to Commissioners Regulations §175.5 replaced daily minimums of 5.0/5.5 hours with annual minimums of 900/990 hours. Provided the district meets the annual hour and day minimums, the district may schedule half-days without impact to aid.
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Early release/Late Arrival & Snow Days
- Should a district include days cancelled due to adverse weather (e.g. snow days) as instructional on the model calendar or in SAMS?
Schools that are not in session due to adverse weather conditions should not report these days as instructional. Note that schools providing remote instruction due to conditions detailed in Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(e)(1) are considered to be in session and may report these days as instructional.
- If there is an early release day or delayed start, does that still count as a full day?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(e)(2) provides information on unscheduled school delays and early releases: “Instructional hours that a school district scheduled but did not execute, either because of a delay to the start of a school day or an early release, due to extraordinarily adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel, destruction of a school building, or such other cause as may be found satisfactory by the Commissioner, may still be considered as instructional hours for State aid purposes for up to two instructional hours per session day, provided, however, that the superintendent shall certify to the Department, on a form prescribed by the Commissioner, that an extraordinary condition existed on a previously scheduled session day and that school was in session on that day.”
- If a district provides remote instruction due to emergency conditions (e.g. snow days), does the district need to provide transportation and other services for charter schools and nonpublic schools that remain open?
The Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(e)(1) details that districts electing to exercise this option "remain in session." Districts that are in session must continue to provide transportation and other required services to charter and nonpublic schools on such days if such schools remain open. The required provision of these services may not be waived, and the efficacy and safety of providing them should be a consideration when opting to convert an in-person instructional day to remote instruction due to a weather or other emergency. Information about transportation services under these conditions may be found at:
-Information about transportation services for charter schools
-Information about transportation services for nonpublic schools
- If a district has a two-hour delay due to weather but the half-day preschool special education program was not cancelled, does the district need to provide transportation for the half-day preschool special education program? What if the district closes due to the weather but the preschool program remains open?
Districts that remain session must continue to provide mandated services to students in programs that "remain in session."
- Is Remote Instruction Due to Emergency Conditions limited to snow and icy conditions?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(e)(1) details that “if a school district would otherwise close due to an emergency, including but not limited to extraordinary adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel, destruction of a school building, or a communicable disease outbreak, the school district may remain in session and provide remote instruction.” Districts will need to “certify that remote instruction was provided in accordance with the district’s emergency remote instruction
plan” so consideration should be given to whether students can fully participate in remote instruction at home during emergencies. For example, home internet may not be functioning during a widespread power outage, and this may limit whether a district can provide remote instruction.
- May a district utilize remote instruction during election day in November?
Yes, as a health and safety measure, school districts may choose, at district option, to pivot to remote instruction on the November general election day and count the day towards the required 180 day minimum for state aid purposes. As with remote instruction under emergency conditions provided under Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(e), if the district chooses to provide remote instruction on the November general election day, the district must report how many instructional hours were provided on such session day and, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, certify that that remote instruction was provided in accordance with the district’s remote emergency instruction plan.
- What type of remote instruction may be counted?
Commissioner’s regulations 100.1(u) defines remote instruction. Instruction that is consistent with the Commissioner’s regulations and district remote emergency instruction plans may be counted towards minimum instructional days and hours.
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Reporting Session Days and Instructional Hours
- Can a district meet the minimum day and hourly requirements with fewer than 180-days?
Only under certain exceptions detailed in Education Law §3604(7). Even if a district meets the hourly requirements with less than 180 days, the law requires public schools are actually in session and taught by qualified teacher(s) for not less than 180-days. The two exceptions to this day requirement under this law are (i) scheduled session days where the superintendent was required to close schools due to a properly executed declaration of a state or local state of emergency or (ii) up to five extraordinary conditions days that requires exhaustion of vacation days.
- Is a district eligible for additional funds if the district provides more than 180-days of session and/or the minimum hour requirement?
Education Law §3604(7) and Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 provide for a reduction in foundation aid for falling below these minimums, neither provides for additional funds for exceeding the minimums.
- Does a district need to complete the 180-day calendar for each of the schools in the district?
Districts are required to report the instructional days and hours within SAMS on a summary table. The State Aid Office has provided Excel calendar templates to ensure district calculations are correctly calculated and consistent across the state. Districts must preserve calendar level information. Session day and instructional hour calculations will be subject to claim verification in the spring and must be provided to the State Aid Office upon request.
- If a district has a discrepancy between the 180-day calendar and what is reported on SAMS Form A Schedules A2 & A4 (which totals on Schedule A5), what should the district do?
Districts will need to compare their 180-day calendar to their attendance reports to determine and analyze any discrepancies.
Please check the semester count of days on the calendar by placing your cursor in column B, starting at the top, and dragging down to the bottom of each subsection (between holidays). The count of days with instructional hours entered will appear on the very bottom of the Excel application (Average & Count). Do this for each section of the calendar until the semester end date and add those values up to determine if the instructional days reported on the 180-day model calendar equal what the district’s attendance software is reporting for Schedules A2 & A4.
Please compare Schedules A2 & A4 (and the totals on Schedule A5) with all 180-day calendars to see where there is a discrepancy. Please provide a general edit response explaining any discrepancy, or review and revise the submitted information. Please note for Form A, the revision would need to be completed in the Revision data menu; for the 180-day summary table, it can be changed in Official data.
- How many weekly hours must be provided to allow for a half-day of instruction?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 does not require a minimum number of hours within a single week or on a single day. Districts may hold any number of partial days of any length, so long as they meet the annual aggregate minimum instructional hours and 180-days of session.
- Under the new regulations, is a district still able to utilize “shortened session” half days if the district still meets a weekly hour requirement?
Under Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 the shortened session weekly provision no longer applies. There is no longer any requirement for meeting a minimum number of hours within a single week or a daily minimum, instead there is now the annual hour requirement of 900/990 instructional hours. Districts may hold any number of partial days of any length, so long as they meet the annual aggregate minimum instructional hours and 180-days of session.
- How should a district report the instructional hours for a school that includes one or more grades from K-6 and 7-12?
Under Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5, grades K-6 and 7-12 are subject to different minimum instructional hour requirements (900 and 990 instructional hours, respectively) and Regents Examination schedule provisions. The school will need to be reported twice, one for any grades in K-6 and one for 7-12. Grades with a different number of instructional hours or days should also be reported separately.
- If a district is only one hour short of the hourly minimum for the full year, how much is the short session deduction? What if the district is short seven hours?
Education Law §3604(7) provides for the “short session deduction” calculation on a day basis, 1/180th for each day short. Commissioner's Regulation §175.5(j) provides that deficiencies in hours should be rounded up to the next whole day. Therefore, if a district is only one hour short for the full year, the district’s short session deduction for a 1-hour shortfall would still be 1/180th of Foundation Aid for the base year. Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(j) also details how many hours equals one day for the purpose of calculating a short session deduction and the number of hours varies depending on the grade level. If a district is short seven hours, the short session deduction would be 2/180th of Foundation Aid for the base year.
- If a district has a small cohort of students who opted to attend virtually for the majority of the school year, how should the district report this group on the 180-Day Calendar?
Minimum instructional days and hours are reported at a building level, not a student or class level. Districts should only report typical schedules offered to all students. Customized schedules utilized by a subset of students should not serve as the basis for calculating session days or instructional hours for 180-Day Calendar purposes. For example, if a district provided a standard schedule for most students, and a fully remote option with parental consent to meet the educational needs of the students, the district should not report the fully remote option on the 180-Day Calendar.
- Is there a minimum number of hours required for a full instructional day? Is there a minimum attendance percentage required for a full instructional day?
No. Commissioner’s Regulation 175.5(b)(2) provides that “‘Session day’ shall mean a day on which school sessions may be legally held and on which instruction was provided to students.”
- What proportion of students must attend to count as instructional time and a session day?
Absences do not impact the ability of the district to meet the minimum instructional hour and 180-day requirements. Attendance rates may impact certain other state aid formulas. Please consult the State Aid Handbook for more information.
- When authorized, does virtual or remote instruction count towards the 180-day requirement? What instructional modalities count towards the 180-day and 900/990 hour minimum?
The annual instructional day and hour requirements do not specify a specific instructional modality. Instruction may be counted towards these minimums so long as the instruction is authorized, and consistent with Commissioner’s Regulations (such as §100.1(a), §100.1(u), and §100.5(d)) and district remote instructional plans. The minimum day and hour requirements also do not specify educational standards. These standards are provided by Commissioner’s Regulations and the Office for Curriculum and Assessment.
- If a district provided 180-days of instruction for students AND received a waiver of the 900/990 hourly penalty, will a district receive a short session deduction applied against Foundation Aid as a result of the reporting process?
Education Law §3604(7) requires 180-days of instruction. Commissioner's Regulation §175.5 requires 990/900 instructional hours. Districts that accurately report 180-days of session and have either provided 990/900 instruction hours OR secured a waiver from the instructional hour minimum penalty, will not be subject to a short session deduction. State Aid will have a claim verification process to verify session days and instructional hours as reported by districts, so please ensure the information is complete and available.
- If a district is not able to meet the 900/990 hour requirement due to COVID, will the district be penalized with a short session deduction?
Waivers from the minimal annual aggregate instructional hour requirement have been available under 8 NYCRR 175.5(n)(2) under certain conditions for the 2019-2020 through 2021-2022 school years. Please review this regulation to determine current availability of these waivers. If a waiver is available, the application is contained in SAMS Form A 180 Day Calendar Form set.
- If one building is short a session day, but the remainder of the district is not, how is the short session deduction applied for the district?
Where building level schedules differ, short session deductions are pro-rated by enrollment for each building.
- If one grade level is short a session day, but the remainder of the grade levels are not, how is the short session deduction applied?
Where grade level schedules differ, short session deductions are pro-rated by enrollment for each grade.
- How should a district count instructional hours spread across different modalities for purposes of state aid reporting?
Instruction must be consistent with 8 NYCRR 101.1 and districts must rely on adopted policies and practices to determine the number of remote instructional hours provided to students, particularly in context with remote asynchronous instruction.
- If a district provides physical education classes after lunch, when recess would normally be given, will those hours count as instructional?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(b) provides that “[instructional] hours shall not include periods of time where instruction and/or supervised study time is not provided to students, such as lunch or recess.” Physical education provided by a certified teacher that is consistent with the physical education standards and Commissioner’s Regulations §135.4 is instruction and should be counted as such.
- If a district offers breakfast to all students in certain grades or school buildings, are those hours the same as lunch (and not considered to be instructional)?
Under Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(b), if students receive instruction or supervised study time while eating breakfast offered in a “grab-and-go” or vending style, the time may be reported as instructional.
- If a subset of students are eating lunch or at recess during a period when other students are in class, how do those hours count?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 provide that an instructional hour is the amount of time during which students are receiving instruction from a certified teacher or supervised study time. Districts may report the average instructional time offered to a student registered in the district.
- If a separate homeroom period in the morning includes time for announcements and taking attendance, does that time count toward the instructional hours?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 provide that an instructional hour is the amount of time during which students are receiving instruction from a certified teacher or supervised study time. Homeroom may be counted as instructional if used as supervised study time.
- New York State’s minimum graduation credit regulations require a different number of hours than what is required by Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5. Can a district use the smaller number of hours to be compliant with both regulations?
The minimum graduation requirements and the minimum instructional time for State aid purposes are two separate requirements and both must be met.
- How should a district report instructional time for classes, grades, or schools on a field trip? Does the nature of the field trip matter?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 provide that an instructional hour is the amount of time during which students are receiving instruction from a certified teacher or supervised study time.
- If a district sometimes invites outside experts to give guest lectures to a class, and if those experts are not certified teachers, is the time for that class still considered instructional?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 provide that an instructional hour is the amount of time during which students are receiving instruction from a certified teacher or supervised study time. The definition of instructional time is not intended to preclude districts from using class time in this manner occasionally.
- Should students in remote instruction be included in aggregate attendance on schedules A2 and A4 within the State Aid Management System?
Students not receiving instruction may not be included in aggregate attendance, whether due to mandatory quarantine or other reasons. Students receiving remote instruction, for whom attendance is taken, should be reported under aggregate attendance. Aggregate attendance is the number of students actually attending school on a given day, and is used to calculate average daily attendance. Average daily attendance serves as the basis for pupil counts used in all state aid ratios, such as the state sharing ratio and building aid ratio. Average daily attendance will be lower for districts that do not provide remote instruction for students at home due to illness or quarantine than districts that do. A decline in average daily attendance may negatively impact state aid ratios in the coming school year. Please consult the State Aid Handbook for more information.
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Extraordinary Condition Days & State of Emergency Days
- If a State of Emergency is announced after a superintendent closed buildings due to weather conditions, how should the district report the day (as a closure or a day closed due to an emergency declaration)?
Education Law §3604(7) provides that the Commissioner may disregard a short session reduction for “any day or days on which session had been previously scheduled but the superintendent was required to close the school or schools due to a properly executed declaration of a state or local state of emergency pursuant to article two-B of the executive law.” If the superintendent “was required to close the school or schools due to an [emergency declaration],” the sequence of the superintendent or executive action is not relevant. Information on the process of claiming these days is available in the Directions for Schedule A-8 (Extraordinary Condition Days and State of Emergency Days)
- What happens if a district did not meet the 900/990 hourly requirement, but has been approved for one or more extraordinary condition/state of emergency days? How will this impact their hours reported?
If a district has not met the 900/990 hourly requirement but has been approved for one or more extraordinary condition/state of emergency days, then the district may count their average length session day multiplied by the number of extraordinary condition /states of emergency days that were approved. For example, if a school district is short 2 session days, with an average length of a session day being 5.5 hours, and they apply and are approved for 2 extraordinary condition days, then the district would be able to claim 11 additional hours towards the hourly requirement (5.5 average session day hours multiplied by 2 approved extraordinary condition days = 11 hours).
- When should a district send in required documentation of a closure required by an emergency declaration?
Where possible, districts are encouraged to use additional days built into the calendar to handle closures first. If the district is not short 180 days, no documentation needs to be collected and sent. If the district is short of 180 days at the end of the school year due to the closure required by an emergency declaration, state aid recommends sending the required information when claiming the days on schedule A8.
- If a district receives an emergency declaration (Statewide or local) impacting a scheduled day of session, how should the district determine whether the declaration requires the Superintendent to close school(s)?
Districts should consult local counsel and the Directions for Schedule A-8 (Extraordinary Condition Days and State of Emergency Days) for guidance determining whether an emergency declaration requires the closure of school(s).
- If a district has a three-hour delay, or if a district has to dismiss students three hours early because of weather, do those hours still count toward the minimum?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(e) provides that “up to two instructional hours per session day” may be considered instructional if the district “scheduled but did not execute, either because of a delay to the start of a school day or an early release, due to extraordinarily adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel, lack of electricity, destruction of a school building, or such other cause as may be found satisfactory by the Commissioner.” Any time in excess of the two hours provided by regulation, where students were dismissed due to the aforementioned conditions, should not be considered as instructional.
- If a member of a district’s staff or a student has passed away, and the district chooses to close school on the day of the funeral so that students and faculty may attend, can the district still count that day and hours?
Districts have broad latitude to determine school schedules and may choose to close school without providing instruction. This would be treated like any other day in which the school is not in session.
- If a district has lost more days than expected due to adverse weather conditions, can a district extend the calendar and the remaining days of session rather than cancel a scheduled vacation day?
Education Law §3604(7) requires 180-days of instruction. Commissioner's Regulation §175.5 requires 990/900 annual instructional hours. Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(b)(2) provides that districts may schedule session on “any day, excluding Saturdays and legal holidays pursuant to Education Law §3604(8), from the first day in which attendance may be required pursuant to Education Law §3205(1)(c) until the end of the school year, plus superintendents’ conference days.” Districts have broad flexibility in how to meet both requirements.
- One school in our district had to close for over a week, we had no heat, while we waited for boiler parts to come in. We understand we may be able to claim these days as Extraordinary Condition Days. Could you explain what we need to do?
Education Law §3604(7) requires 180 days of instruction, and provides that the Commissioner may disregard up to five days if the closure was due to extraordinarily adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel, lack of electricity, natural gas leakage, unacceptable levels of chemical substances, a credible threat to student safety as reasonably determined by a lead school official or the destruction of a school building either in whole or in part, or such other cause as may be found satisfactory by the Commissioner if the district cannot make up such days by using all scheduled vacation days which occur prior to the last scheduled Regents examination day in June (K-6) or before the last scheduled Regents exam day in June (7-12). These days would be reported on Form A, Sch A-8, a valid link to the school year calendar will also need to be entered. Further documentation may also be requested. This section of law also provides that “scheduled vacation days” means “days on which the schools of the district are not in session and for which no prohibition exists in subdivision eight of this section for them to be in session.”
- What steps must districts take when they must close one or more school(s) for an emergency or unplanned reason?
As outlined in the Report of School Closure and Reopening memo, pursuant to Education Law §215 and Commissioner’s Regulation 155.17(f), each superintendent of a school district, BOCES, the chancellor of the City School District of the City of New York, and each charter school leader must notify the Commissioner immediately when the emergency plan or building-level school safety plan is activated resulting in the closure of a school building, using the Report of School Closure via the SED Monitoring application in the NYSED Business Portal. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, closures deemed necessary through consultation with the local health department and the New York State Department of Health due to an outbreak of an infectious disease in the school community; closure due to threat of violence or harm to the school or school community; closure due to a water main break and Snow Days/Adverse Weather Conditions. (See questions above.)
When it is determined that it is safe to continue session, including when a school determines to return to hybrid or fully in-person instruction, each superintendent of a school district, BOCES, the chancellor of the City School District of the City of New York, and each charter school leader shall notify the Commissioner via the Report of School Re-Opening.
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Scheduling Session Days
- Is the term ‘school year’ defined in terms of first and last day?
Education Law §2(15) states, “The term ‘school year’ means the period commencing on the first day of July in each year and ending on the thirtieth day of June next following.” For example, 7/1/2022 through 6/30/2023.
- Can students be in session before Labor Day? What about before September 1?
Education Law §3205(1)(c) provides that students are required to attend full time instruction beginning with the first day of September in which school is in session. Instruction provided before students are required to attend cannot be counted towards the instructional minimum requirement of 180-days. Per Commissioner's Regulation §175.5(h), districts may hold superintendent's conference days in the last two weeks of August. Up to four of these superintendent's conference days will count toward the 180-day requirement.
- Can students be in session after Rating Day?
Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5(b)(2) provides that districts may schedule session on any day, excluding Saturdays and legal holidays pursuant to Education Law §3604(8), from the first day in which attendance may be required pursuant to Education Law §3205(1)(c) until the end of the school year, plus superintendents’ conference days. This allows for any non-holiday weekday from September 1 through June 30 on which instruction is provided to be counted, including days after Rating Day.
- How many Superintendent’s Conference Days can we hold after Rating Day?
Neither law nor regulation imposes a limitation on the number of Superintendent’s Conference Days after Rating Day. Districts may hold as many Superintendent’s Conference Days after rating day as allowed by their collective bargaining agreement and school calendar, subject to the limitations in Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5 and Education Law §3604(8) that no more than four such days will count towards the minimum instructional requirements.
- When a holiday falls on the weekend, when must a district close school in observance?
General Construction Law §24 provides rules for holiday observance. This section stipulates that any holiday that falls on a Sunday is observed on the Monday immediately following the holiday, except Flag Day. However, no similar provision exists for holidays that fall on a Saturday to be observed on a Friday.
- If Flag Day is a Legal Holiday and it is the second Sunday in June, then should the following (next day) Monday be a holiday?
General Construction Law §24 specifically exempts Flag Day from being observed on any other day.
- What does the Lunar New Year Law do, and when does it take effect?
An amendment to Education Law §3604(8), which takes effect on July 1, 2023, prohibits school districts in New York State from holding session on the first day of the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the preceding calendar year, known as Asian Lunar New Year. While this law does not add Lunar New Year to the list of legal holidays as defined in General Construction Law §24, school districts are prohibited from holding session. Asian Lunar New Year Guidance
- Can session be held on Lunar New Year, a legal holiday, or the weekend?
Education Law §3604(8) provides that "no school shall be in session on a Saturday, the first day of the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the preceding calendar year known as Asian Lunar New Year, or a legal holiday, except general election day, Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday, and except that driver education classes may be conducted on a Saturday.”
- If Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday, must it be observed on a Monday?
No. General Construction Law §24 establishes state holidays and provides for Monday observance when holidays fall on Sunday. The new law prohibits school on Lunar New Year but does not add it to the list of holidays under GCN §24. Therefore, Monday observance is not required.
- Are districts required to close on Juneteenth?
Education Law §3604(8) provides that, no school shall be in session on a legal holiday, except general election day, Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday. General Construction Law §24 provides the list of public holidays including New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Therefore, districts should treat Juneteenth as they do the other public holidays listed in GCN §24.
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Regents Examinations & Local Examinations
- If a district has a building that houses grades 7-12 and the district releases the 7th and 8th graders on Regents Examination Days, how should the district count the hours?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides that “[if] grades seven through twelve are housed in the same building, school district officials may excuse the students from any grade level for which an Examination is not being offered if their class schedules are disrupted by the Regents Examination schedule and if staff are needed to properly administer such Examinations.” During days on which Regents Examinations and Locally developed Checkpoint A and B World Language Examinations are administered only, districts may release students in grade levels that are not subject to Regents Examinations from buildings that house high school students if the staff are needed to administer the Examinations and the presence of those students would present a disruption to the tests.
- If a district has only one single building with all grades from kindergarten through twelve, and if the annual hour requirements for grades K-6 have been met, are K-6 students still required to be in session during Regents week?
Education Law §3604(7) requires 180-days of instruction. Commissioner's Regulation §175.5 requires 990/900 annual instructional hours. If both minimum requirements are met, districts have the flexibility to cancel session or provide early dismissal. Districts may not cancel session and count the day or time as instructional.
- Can a district schedule a half day, without a Superintendent’s Conference Day, for elementary grades during Regents Week in June?
Education Law §3604(7) requires 180-days of instruction. Commissioner's Regulation §175.5 requires 990/900 annual instructional hours. If both minimum requirements are met over the course of the school year, districts have the flexibility to cancel session or provide early dismissal without incurring a short session deduction.
- Is Rating Day considered a student session day or a Superintendent’s Conference Day?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides that “[for] only the grade levels sitting for a Regents Examination, a district may schedule the average number of instructional hours it provides on non-Examination days for days on which Regents Examinations or Rating Day(s) are held.” Rating Day only counts as instructional for other grades if instruction is provided.
- If a Regents Examination is canceled, is a district still able to claim the Regents Examination Day?
For state aid purposes, the days on which the Regents exams were previously scheduled to be held will operate like any day during the school year without a Regents exam. Instructional time will count towards the minimum hourly requirement and session days will count towards the statutory 180 day minimum. Districts planning to excuse grades seven through twelve on these days may continue to do so, provided that the district meets the 180 day and minimum hourly requirements exclusive of this time.
- If a district schedules a Regents Examination, has the teachers at work and assigned to proctor the Examination, but no students sit for the Examination, does the day count towards instructional hours?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides that “a district may schedule the average number of instructional hours it provides on non-Examination days for days on which Regents Examinations or Rating Day(s) are held”. Administering a Regents Examination takes planning and preparation. This includes registering students and procuring RIC-provided answer sheets for students for Regents Examinations in advance of the Examination administration date. If the school has not registered and prepared to have identified students participate in a Regents Examination, then the school will not be allowed to treat this as a “Regents Day.” If the school reasonably expects to have students take a Regents Examination, has teachers assigned and reporting to their assigned Examination room at the designated time and day, the school will not be penalized if none of the registered students appear on the day of testing for the Examination.
- If a district has local testing during Regents Examination week, how should the district count the time?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i)(4) provides that “[t]ime spent on session days where other assessments are administered may count toward the annual minimum instructional hour requirement provided such assessments are administered by a certified teacher, attendance is taken, and students not sitting for such assessments receive instruction during such time. Grade levels that are excused from instruction on such days may not have this time count toward the requirement.” If a district has local testing or provides instructional hours during a Regents Day, the district may only count one session day toward the 180-day minimum (i.e., the district may count the day towards the 180 day requirement as either a Regents Day or an attendance day, but not both).
- Certain Regents Examinations may be taken by students from multiple grades. How many students from a grade must take a Regents Examination to count as a “grade [level] sitting for a Regents Examination”?
No specific minimum number or proportion of students must sit for an exam. If enough students from a grade level sit for the Regents Exam to disrupt the class schedule, the grade is considered to be “sitting for a Regents examination” under Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i)(1).
- During a Regents Examination, what grades not sitting for the Examination must receive instruction?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides “If grades seven through twelve are housed in the same building, school district officials may excuse the students from any grade level for which an examination is not being offered if their class schedules are disrupted by the Regents Examination schedule and if staff are needed to properly administer such Examinations.”
- How many hours of instruction can a district count for a Regents day with one Examination versus two Examinations (Regents days may have one or two Examinations)?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides “For only the grade levels sitting for a Regents Examination, a district may count the average number of instructional hours it provides on non-examination days for days on which Regents Examinations or Rating Day(s) are held, and have such hours count toward the annual minimum hourly requirement.” The regulations do not require that multiple Examinations must be held on the same day to qualify.
- Do grades K-6 need to be in session on Rating Day?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides that “only the grade levels sitting for a Regents examination, a district may schedule the average number of instructional hours it provides on non-examination days for days on which Regents examinations or Rating Day(s) are held.” Grades that did not sit for a Regents Examination must receive instruction on Rating Day if the hourly and daily minimums have not yet been met, to count towards the minimum requirements.
- In the 180-day calendar spreadsheet the Regents days (secondary) populates the minutes with a number for a normal instructional day. Can a district claim up to 6 hours a day for those days rather than be limited to the normal instructional day length?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i) provides that districts may claim “the average number of instructional hours it provides on non-Examination days for days on which Regents Examinations or Rating Day(s) are held, and have such hours count toward the annual minimum hourly requirement.”
- Do local or other examinations and assessments count towards the minimum instructional hours and session days?
Commissioner’s Regulations §175.5(i)(4) provides that “[t]ime spent on session days where other assessments are administered may count toward the annual minimum instructional hour requirement provided such assessments are administered by a certified teacher, attendance is taken, and students not sitting for such assessments receive instruction during such time. Grade levels that are excused from instruction on such days may not have this time count toward the requirement.”
To count days on which local or other assessments are offered towards the minimum instructional requirements, all students must be engaged in instruction or assessment administered by a certified teacher and attendance must be taken.
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Charter Schools
- Are charter schools subject to the session day and hourly requirements?
The guidance from the Office of State Aid is specific to state aid purposes for school districts and is not department-wide policy for all educational institutions. Education Law §3604 is titled “Conditions under which districts are entitled to apportionment” and Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 is titled “Minimum instructional hours and use of superintendents’ conference days for State aid purposes.” Education Law §2851(2)(n) requires that charter schools “shall provide at least as much instruction time during a school year as required of other public schools.” For information about minimum instructional hours as they apply to charter schools, please refer your school’s charter and/or contact your authorizer.
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Nonpublic Schools
- Are nonpublic schools subject to requirements for reporting instructional time?
Nonpublic schools are not required to report instructional time to the New York State Education Department, unless it is in support of a claim for reimbursement for the costs of mandated services. If you have questions about claiming for those costs, please contact the Office of Grants Management.
- Are approved private schools serving students with disabilities subject to requirements for reporting instructional time?
The guidance from the Office of State Aid is specific to state aid purposes for school districts and is not department-wide policy for all educational institutions. Education Law §3604 is titled “Conditions under which districts are entitled to apportionment” and Commissioner’s Regulation §175.5 is titled “Minimum instructional hours and use of superintendents’ conference days for State aid purposes.” Private special education providers should reach out to the Office of Special Education for guidance.
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Prekindergarten
- What hourly requirements apply to prekindergarten students in the Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) program or other state funded prekindergarten programs?
Section 3604 of Education Law is specific to apportionment of state funds under section 3602 of Education Law and is not applicable to prekindergarten students. Education Law §3602-e includes requirements for the Universal Prekindergarten program. For more information about the laws and regulations that apply to prekindergarten instructional time requirements, please contact the Office of Early Learning.
