New York has opened public comment on proposed education regulations that would revise how persistently struggling schools enter superintendent or independent receivership under the state’s ESSA accountability system. The plan would create a more gradual support structure, change intervention timelines, strengthen community engagement, and update exit requirements.
Editorial Note
This article examines proposed amendments to Sections 100.19 and 100.21 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The proposal would revise how New York identifies, supports, and intervenes in public schools experiencing persistent academic difficulty.
The New York State Education Department presented the proposal to the Board of Regents’ P–12 Education Committee on July 13, 2026. The matter was presented for discussion and did not require Board action at that meeting. A Notice of Proposed Rule Making was published through the July 29 New York State Register, beginning the formal public-comment process.
The proposal has not been permanently adopted. NYSED anticipates returning it to the Board of Regents in November 2026 after the 60-day public-comment period. If adopted under the current timetable, the permanent rule would become effective November 25, 2026. The language and implementation date may change before final adoption.
New To Education previously examined the broader policy proposal before formal rulemaking began. This article focuses on the July 29 rulemaking milestone and what the proposed regulations would mean if adopted.
Formal Rulemaking Has Now Begun
New York has moved its proposed school-accountability and receivership changes from a Regents policy discussion into the formal rulemaking process.
The July 29 edition of the New York State Register is now available. The State Register serves as the official publication for proposed, revised, emergency, and adopted rules from New York agencies. Publication begins the period during which members of the public and affected organizations may submit comments on the proposed amendments.
The proposal would amend Sections 100.19 and 100.21 of the Commissioner’s regulations. Section 100.19 addresses superintendent and independent receivership, while Section 100.21 governs New York’s school and district accountability system under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.
The rulemaking does not represent final approval.
It allows educators, districts, school boards, unions, families, advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders to examine the proposal and submit comments before the Regents consider permanent adoption.
New York Wants Receivership to Fit Its Revised ESSA System
New York has been revising its ESSA accountability model through what the department calls the Restart, Rebuild, and Reimagine phases.
The federal government approved amendments to New York’s ESSA state plan in January 2025. Those changes apply to accountability determinations beginning with the 2025–26 school year, based on results from 2024–25. The Board of Regents permanently adopted related regulatory amendments in June 2025.
The July 2026 proposal addresses how receivership should operate inside that revised accountability system.
NYSED says the purpose is to create a rigorous tiered support structure that builds leadership, strengthens core instruction, encourages student connectedness and belonging, and improves family and community partnerships.
Receivership would remain a serious intervention.
The difference is that schools would move toward it through a more clearly defined sequence connected to their ESSA status.
Schools Would Move Through Four Levels of Support
Under the proposal, schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement would move through a tiered model:
CSI-A, followed by CSI-B, followed by School District Superintendent Receivership, and then, in the most persistent cases, Independent Receivership.
The model is intended to create escalating intervention rather than treating receivership as a separate accountability category.
A school would initially receive support under CSI-A. Continued identification could move it into CSI-B. A school that met the CSI-B identification criteria and then met the applicable identification criteria again during the next CSI identification year could enter superintendent receivership.
This gives districts an opportunity to address problems before the superintendent receives expanded receivership authority.
It also creates a longer period during which students may remain in schools that have not yet produced sufficient improvement.
The policy challenge is balancing meaningful time for reform against the educational cost of allowing weak outcomes to continue.
Superintendent Receivership Would Become Part of the Tiered Model
The proposed amendments would replace older terminology tied to “failing” or “struggling” schools with language identifying a school as being under School District Superintendent Receivership.
In superintendent receivership, the district superintendent serves as the receiver and gains specified authority to implement the school’s intervention plan.
The school remains within the district, but the superintendent’s responsibilities become more directly connected to correcting persistent weaknesses.
The proposal provides that, beginning with the updated system, districts would generally continue operating a school under superintendent receivership for at least two school years when an approved intervention plan containing rigorous performance metrics and goals is in place.
That minimum period may give reforms time to develop.
It also makes the quality of the intervention plan extremely important. A plan that lacks resources, clear responsibilities, or realistic measures could consume additional years without creating meaningful change.
Independent Receivership Would Be Reserved for More Serious Cases
Independent receivership would remain the strongest form of intervention contemplated by the proposal.
The proposed definition would include a school under superintendent receivership that has met CSI identification criteria for eight or more consecutive years. It could also apply when a school fails applicable exit requirements and fails to demonstrate required improvement during years seven and eight, or during any two consecutive years afterward.
The commissioner could also determine that a more rigorous intervention is needed to support continuous improvement.
That final provision gives the commissioner discretion to escalate intervention even when a school’s circumstances do not fit neatly into a single timeline.
The proposal therefore does not establish one automatic rule stating that every school enters independent receivership precisely after eight years.
Several legal and performance conditions could support the designation.
The Proposal Changes How Independent Receivers Would Be Selected
The amendments would revise the process for choosing an independent receiver.
Instead of selecting from a department-maintained list of approved receivers, a district would choose a candidate who meets minimum qualifications established by NYSED.
The district would then submit evidence demonstrating that the proposed receiver satisfies those requirements. The appointment could move forward only after the commissioner grants final approval.
This approach may give districts a larger role in identifying a receiver who fits the school’s circumstances.
It also places responsibility on NYSED to establish meaningful minimum qualifications and evaluate candidates carefully.
An independent receiver would need more than general administrative experience. The position may require expertise in curriculum, school leadership, labor relations, budgeting, community engagement, data analysis, special education, multilingual education, and organizational reform.
School Intervention Plans Would Become the Central Document
The proposal would replace the phrase “Department-approved intervention model or comprehensive education plan” with the more direct term school intervention plan.
The change is partly terminological, but it supports NYSED’s effort to create a unified improvement structure.
The intervention plan would identify the problems that led to the school’s designation, establish performance expectations, describe strategies for improvement, and guide decisions made under receivership.
The plan should allow families, employees, district leaders, and state officials to determine what the school promised to change and whether those changes occurred.
Its value will depend on implementation.
A detailed plan cannot improve a school unless it is supported by qualified leadership, stable staffing, appropriate instructional materials, student services, professional learning, funding, and consistent monitoring.
On-Site Performance Reviews Would Be Formally Defined
The proposal would add a definition for a “performance review.”
NYSED describes this as an on-site evaluation conducted by the department in collaboration with the school receiver to determine whether the school is making progress consistent with its intervention plan.
This could strengthen oversight by examining what is happening inside the school rather than relying entirely on submitted documents and annual test results.
A meaningful on-site review can examine classroom instruction, leadership practices, curriculum implementation, staff capacity, student supports, school climate, and family engagement.
The process should also distinguish between poor implementation and an intervention strategy that was flawed from the beginning.
Schools should not be held responsible for outcomes without examining whether the district and state delivered the resources and support included in the plan.
Community Engagement Teams Would Receive More Time to Form
The proposal would change the deadline for establishing a community engagement team from 20 business days to 45 business days after a school receives a receivership designation.
The team would be expected to provide recommendations and assess the school’s progress at least four times each year.
Allowing more time may help districts recruit participants thoughtfully and organize a functioning team.
It may also delay community participation during the early period following designation.
The quality of engagement will matter more than the number of meetings alone.
Families and educators should receive understandable information, meaningful access to decision-makers, and evidence that their recommendations were considered. A team that exists only to satisfy a procedural requirement will do little to rebuild trust.
Public Notice Must Be Clear and Accessible
Receivership affects leadership, instructional priorities, improvement plans, community participation, and potentially the authority exercised over school operations.
Families need direct and understandable notice when a school enters that status.
The proposed regulations continue extensive public-notice and community-engagement provisions. They also update how annual meetings or hearings and engagement procedures operate under the revised terminology and accountability structure.
Communication should explain what status the school has received, why it received it, which interventions will follow, and what conditions must be met to exit.
Translated information and accessible communication are particularly important in communities serving multilingual families or people with disabilities.
A technical notice that simply identifies a regulatory category without explaining its practical effect does not provide meaningful transparency.
Exit From Intervention Would Require More Than a New Label
The proposal would revise the exit criteria for schools at different stages of the accountability and receivership model.
A school would generally need to stop meeting the identification criteria associated with its current intervention level. It would also need to demonstrate improvement beyond the performance level that caused the designation.
For certain high schools, graduation-rate requirements would remain especially important. A school identified because its graduation rate fell below the applicable federal standard would need to demonstrate sufficient improvement before exiting the support model.
This approach is intended to prevent schools from leaving intervention merely because of a technical change in classification.
The state wants evidence that the school has actually improved.
The challenge will be ensuring that exit standards are demanding enough to protect students but clear enough that schools can understand what they must accomplish.
The Proposal Would Apply Beginning With the 2026–27 School Year
The updated procedures are designed to begin in the 2026–27 school year using results from the 2025–26 school year.
The proposal states that the commissioner would preliminarily identify schools under superintendent or independent receivership on December 10, 2026, and in each school year afterward, based on the regulatory criteria.
That timeline makes the current rulemaking more than a long-range policy discussion.
If adopted, the revised framework could begin affecting school designations and interventions during the upcoming academic cycle.
Districts with schools already receiving comprehensive support should review the proposal now rather than waiting for November.
They need to understand where their schools may fall within the tiered system and whether existing improvement plans, engagement practices, and data systems satisfy the proposed requirements.
Earlier Support Must Be More Than a Delay
A tiered model can create a more thoughtful improvement process.
Schools often need time to implement curricula, recruit staff, strengthen leadership, improve attendance, provide student services, and rebuild family trust.
Repeatedly replacing programs and administrators before reforms have time to work can create instability.
However, the new CSI tiers must represent genuine increases in support.
A school should not remain in CSI-A or CSI-B while receiving nearly the same resources, staffing, and technical assistance that failed to produce improvement previously.
Additional time should come with stronger intervention, clearer expectations, and measurable responsibilities for both the district and NYSED.
Without those elements, a scaffolded system could become a slower route to the same result.
Students Experience Delays Differently From Policymakers
School-improvement systems operate across several years.
Students experience education one grade at a time.
A child may spend most of elementary school inside a building undergoing repeated planning, review, and intervention. A high-school student may graduate before a long-term reform reaches its intended results.
That does not mean the state should impose independent receivership immediately whenever test scores fall.
It means every year of additional support must be treated as consequential.
The state and district should be able to explain what will change during that year, what resources will be provided, how progress will be measured, and what action will follow if improvement does not occur.
A timeline that makes sense administratively may still represent a large portion of a student’s education.
Accountability Must Extend Beyond Teachers and Principals
Schools do not operate independently from their districts and communities.
Persistent academic difficulty may be connected to unstable leadership, teacher vacancies, weak curriculum, insufficient special-education services, chronic absenteeism, transportation problems, unsafe conditions, poverty, housing instability, or limited access to healthcare and mental-health support.
Teachers and principals should be accountable for their responsibilities.
District and state leaders must also be accountable for the systems and resources under their control.
A receiver cannot correct every problem through authority alone.
The success of the proposed model will depend partly on whether NYSED and districts provide the staffing, funding, expertise, and operational support necessary to implement the intervention plan.
Public Comment Can Shape the Final Rule
Publication in the State Register opens a 60-day public-comment period.
Stakeholders may comment on the length of the support tiers, the standards for entering receivership, the criteria for appointing independent receivers, community-engagement requirements, intervention plans, exit standards, and the support NYSED should provide.
The public-comment process does not guarantee that every requested change will be adopted.
It creates a formal record that the department and Regents can consider before permanent action.
Because the full proposal is more than 100 pages, districts, unions, school boards, community organizations, and education attorneys may need to review the complete text rather than relying on summaries.
The most useful comments will identify specific regulatory language, explain the likely effect, and recommend a practical alternative where appropriate.
The Regents Have Not Yet Adopted the Amendments
The July 13 presentation was a discussion item.
The P–12 Education Committee report listed the proposal under matters not requiring Board action. Department staff explained the planned scaffolded approach and adjustments to the timeline for entering superintendent receivership, but the Regents did not permanently adopt the rule at that meeting.
NYSED anticipates bringing the proposal back for permanent adoption at the November 2026 Regents meeting.
If approved under the current schedule, it would become effective November 25.
Until then, the proposal should be described as pending.
Districts may prepare for its possible implementation, but they should continue monitoring for revisions and final action.
New To Education and the Need for Balanced Accountability
Students should not remain indefinitely in schools that consistently fail to provide strong instruction and meaningful opportunity.
Accountability is necessary.
Labels, plans, and receivership designations do not improve schools by themselves.
Schools also need effective leadership, stable staffing, appropriate curriculum, student support, community trust, clear goals, and sufficient resources.
New York’s proposed system attempts to create a more gradual path from initial comprehensive support to superintendent and independent receivership.
Its success will depend on whether each stage produces actual improvement rather than another layer of terminology.
A gradual intervention system can be fair and effective.
It cannot become an excuse for allowing another group of students to pass through a struggling school without receiving the education they deserve.
Key Takeaways
New York formally opened rulemaking on July 29 for proposed amendments to Sections 100.19 and 100.21 of the Commissioner’s regulations.
The proposal was presented to the Board of Regents’ P–12 Education Committee on July 13 as a discussion item. It was not permanently adopted at that meeting.
The proposed framework would move schools through CSI-A, CSI-B, School District Superintendent Receivership, and potentially Independent Receivership.
Superintendent receivership would generally follow continued identification under the CSI system.
Independent receivership could apply to schools meeting CSI criteria for eight or more consecutive years, schools failing applicable exit and demonstrable-improvement requirements, or schools the commissioner determines require stronger intervention.
The proposal would revise terminology, intervention plans, performance reviews, community-engagement procedures, receiver selection, and exit requirements.
The updated system would begin with the 2026–27 school year using 2025–26 results.
The commissioner would preliminarily identify receivership schools on December 10, 2026, and annually afterward if the proposal is adopted.
NYSED anticipates seeking permanent adoption in November, with a possible effective date of November 25, 2026.
FAQ
Has New York adopted the new receivership regulations?
No. Formal rulemaking has begun, but the proposal has not been permanently adopted.
What happened on July 29?
The proposed amendments entered the State Register process, opening the formal public-comment period.
What are CSI-A and CSI-B?
They are proposed levels within New York’s Comprehensive Support and Improvement model. Schools would move through increasingly intensive support before entering receivership.
Does the proposal eliminate receivership?
No. It integrates superintendent and independent receivership into a larger tiered accountability system.
When could a school enter superintendent receivership?
A school could enter after meeting the CSI-B identification criteria and then meeting the relevant identification criteria again during the subsequent CSI identification year.
Does every school automatically enter independent receivership after eight years?
No. Eight consecutive years of CSI identification is one pathway. Other exit, improvement, and commissioner-determination provisions also apply.
When would the new system begin?
The proposed procedures would begin in the 2026–27 school year using results from 2025–26.
When could the regulations become final?
NYSED anticipates seeking permanent adoption at the November 2026 Regents meeting. The current proposed effective date is November 25, 2026.
Can the proposal change?
Yes. NYSED and the Regents may revise the language after reviewing comments and implementation concerns.
How can the public participate?
Members of the public and affected organizations may submit comments during the formal public-comment period using the contact information included in the official rulemaking notice.
Final Thoughts
New York has now moved from discussing a revised receivership system to formally asking the public to respond.
The proposal offers a more structured path for schools that continue to struggle.
It may give districts more time and support before stronger intervention occurs. It may also make it easier for families to understand how a school moves from one level of accountability to another.
Its greatest risk is delay.
A tiered model is valuable only when each level introduces stronger assistance, clearer expectations, and meaningful consequences.
Students cannot pause their education while institutions spend years deciding whether an intervention worked.
New York must give schools a fair opportunity to improve.
It must also recognize when continued waiting has become unfair to the students those schools serve.
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Sources
New York State Board of Regents — Proposed Amendment of Sections 100.19 and 100.21 Relating to Receivership Under the ESSA Accountability System
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/726p12d1.pdf
New York State Board of Regents — July 2026 P–12 Education Committee
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2026/2026-07/p-12-education
New York State Board of Regents — Report of the July 2026 P–12 Education Committee
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/report/jul-2026/p-12-education
New York State Board of Regents — Comprehensive Support and Improvement Tiered Accountability Support System Presentation
https://www.regents.nysed.gov/sites/regents/files/P-12%20-%20Comprehensive%20Support%20and%20Improvement%20Tiered%20Accountability%20Support%20System%20-%20Sections%20100.19%20and%20100.21%20Regulatory%20Amendments%20Proposal.pdf
New York Department of State — State Register
https://dos.ny.gov/state-register
