(c) Appointment. (1) . . .

(2) From the applications submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subdivision, the Board of Regents delegates to the commissioner the authority pursuant to Education Law § 211-c(1) to designate a pool of eligible individuals to serve as distinguished educators. Individuals [in the pool] shall serve [a maximum of] in the pool for three years, provided that an individual's service in the pool may be renewed [for an additional year] annually upon submission of evidence of ongoing professional development.

(3) From the pool of distinguished educators designated pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivision, the commissioner shall appoint distinguished educators who have expressed their willingness to assist low performing districts in improving their academic performance, pursuant to the following:

(i) The commissioner may appoint [a distinguished educator as a consultant] one or more distinguished educators as consultants to a school district [or] and/or assign such distinguished educator(s) to school(s) within such district:

(a) when such district has one or more schools designated as a priority school or focus school pursuant to section 100.18(g) of this Part and/or identified as persistently lowest achieving and placed under registration review pursuant to section 100.2(p)(9) and (10) of this Part, and [are at risk of closure for failure to make satisfactory progress under Federal and State accountability standards] failed to achieve adequate yearly progress for four or more years; and/or

(b) as a member of a joint intervention team pursuant to Education Law section 211-b(2)(b) and as provided in section 100.18(g)(2)(v) and (l)(2) of this Part.

(ii) The distinguished educator shall be appointed for a one-year term and, upon satisfactory annual evaluation pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section, may be reappointed for one or more additional one- year terms.

(iii) . . .

(iv) . . .

(v) . . .

(d) Roles and responsibilities.

(1) . . .

(2) School districts.

(i) The school district to which a distinguished educator is appointed shall cooperate fully with an appointed distinguished educator. Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited, to:

(a) providing the distinguished educator with a space to work and a district email address to be used for official correspondence;

(b) placing on the district website, reports of the distinguished educator and contact information for the distinguished educator;

(c) providing the distinguished educator with an opportunity to present a report to the board of education at least quarterly on the implementation of the improvement efforts of the district and/or any schools to which a distinguished educator is assigned; and

(d) promptly scheduling meetings with district personnel as requested by the distinguished educator.

(ii) . . .

(iii) . . .

(iv) . . .

(v) . . .

(vi) . . .

(f) Reporting requirements. Within [45] forty-five (45) days of appointment to the school district, a distinguished educator and the district shall work collaboratively to develop an action plan outlining [his/her] the goals and objectives for the district and the distinguished educator for the ensuing school year [and shall also submit such action plan to the commissioner or his or her designee for approval]. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, an outline of the goals and objectives the district is responsible for achieving and the technical assistance the distinguished educator will provide in order to support the district in achieving its goals and objectives. The distinguished educator shall submit such action plan to the commissioner or his or her designee for approval. Upon approval, the distinguished educator shall provide a copy of the action plan to the school district. The distinguished educator shall also submit quarterly reports to the commissioner or his or her designee in a form prescribed by the commissioner.

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on May 7, 2014, nonsubstantial revisions were made to section 100.17(c)(i) and (ii) to correct certain underlining and bracketing errors.

The above revisions do not require any changes to the previously published Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis and Rural Area Flexibility Analysis.

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on May 7, 2014, nonsubstantial revisions were made to section 100.17(c)(i) and (ii) to correct certain underlining and bracketing errors.

The proposed amendment, as so revised, modifies criteria for appointment, roles, responsibilities, protocols and procedures of Distinguished Educators appointed to a school district or charter school pursuant to Education Law sections 211-b or 211-c. The revised proposed amendment will not have a substantial adverse impact on job or employment opportunities. Because it is evident from the nature and purpose of the revised proposed amendment that it will have no impact on jobs or employment opportunities, no further measures were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one has not been prepared.

As a rule that requires a RFA, RAFA or JIS, this rule will be initially reviewed in the calendar year 2017, which is no later than the 3rd year after the year in which this rule is being adopted.

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on May 7, 2014, the State Education Department received the following comment:

COMMENT:

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts and Assemblyman Sean M. Ryan submitted comments objecting to the provisions in the proposed rule that permit the appointment of multiple distinguished educators to specific schools, as beyond the statutory authority afforded in Education Law § 211-c, which speaks only to the appointment of a distinguished educator to a school district and not to a specific school. In addition, both the Conference and Assemblyman Ryan shared concerns over the fiscal burdens that could result from multiple distinguished educator appointments to a single district.

DEPARTMENT RESPONSE:

The Department disagrees with the comments and believes that the statute permits the appointment of multiple distinguished educators as well as the assignment of such appointed distinguished educators to specific schools. In addition, the Department believes that because districts that meet the criteria for appointment of distinguished educators receive additional funding, such as Contract for Excellence and Section 1003(a) and (g) Title I School Improvement Grants, to support their school improvement efforts, the appointment of a distinguished educator does not place an undue fiscal burden upon the district. No change in the regulation is necessary.