Viva88

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Viva88Law requires the Commissioner of Education to appoint monitors to the East Ramapo Central School District (ERCSD), Hempstead Union Free School District (HUFSD), Rochester City School District (RCSD) and Wyandanch Union Free School District (WUFSD). All monitors are consultants to these districts, which are responsible for paying the salaries of the monitors as well as for the reasonable and necessary costs of a monitor’s work.Ìý

Under the direction and oversight of the Deputy Commissioner of P-12 Operational Support, and with support from his team, in general, the monitors have responsibility for fiscal oversight of the districts. In the case of the ERCSD, the HUFSD, and the RCSD, the monitors are also responsible for academic plan oversight.ÌýÌý

Monitors for the ERCSD, the HUFSD, and the WUFSD worked with the boards of their districts to develop proposed financial plans for the 2020–2021 school year and the four subsequent school years. In HUFSD and RCSD the monitors also developed academic plans for the same time period.Ìý These plans were required to be approved by the Commissioner and are updated annually.

In the case of the ERCSD, the monitors worked with the board of education to develop a long-term strategic academic and fiscal improvement plan, which was approved by the Commissioner and is revised annually.

Among the responsibilities of the monitors for each district are to:

• Serve as a non-voting ex-officio member of the board of education.
• Assist the board in adopting a conflict of interest policy that ensures board members and administrators act in the district’s best interest.
• Ensure that the budget is balanced and consistent with the district’s long-term financial plan.
• Provide semiannual reports on the academic, fiscal, and operational status of the district, except for the WUFSD, where the report is limited to fiscal and operational issues.
• Assist in resolving any disputes and conflicts between the superintendent and the board and among members of the board.
• Disapprove travel outside the State paid for by the district;Ìý
• Recommend cost saving measures including, but not limited to, shared service agreements; and
• Notify the commissioner and board in writing regarding violations of the academic or financial plan.

The ERCSD monitors have the additional authority to:Ìý

• Override proposed or adopted resolutions or submit resolutions for adoption by the board of education in the event that the district is in violation of law or regulation or taking actions inconsistent with the approved long-term strategic academic and fiscal improvement plan.
• Approve or disapprove the appointment of a superintendent.
• Mandate that board of education members, the superintendent, and/or other school district officers undergo up to 15 hours of training per year.Ìý

The monitors currently assigned by the Commissioner to these districts are as follows:

For more information on State Monitors, please e-mail us at State.Monitors@nysed.gov.