Report of Regents P-12 Education Committee to The Board of Regents

Regents Committee on P-12 Education Members
Vice Chancellor Chin, Co-Chair, Regent Catania, Co-Chair, Regent Tilles, Regent Cea, Regent Norwood, Regent Wills, Regent Ferrer, Regent Tanikawa, Regent Rivera, Regent Thomas-Williams

The P-12 Education Committee held its scheduled meeting on December 15, 2025. All members were present. Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., Regent Susan W. Mittler, Regent Adrian I. Hale, Regent Hasoni L. Pratts, Regent Patrick A. Mannion, Regent Brian Krist, and Regent Keith B. Wiley also attended the meeting but did not vote on any action.

MATTERS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

SUNY-authorized New Charter School Applications [P-12 (A) 1] - Department staff presented recommendations regarding three new SUNY-authorized charter schools. NYSED is recommending that the Board of Regents return the applications for the following charter schools due to significant community opposition:

• The Academy Charter School Brentwood Elementary – Approved to open Fall 2026
• The Academy Charter School Brentwood Middle – Approved to open Fall 2026
• The Academy Charter School Central Islip Regional High – Approved to open Fall 2026

This recommendation follows precedent from 2021, when similar opposition led the Regents to return SUNY approvals for other schools for reconsideration.

The committee recommends that the Board of Regents return the proposed charters for The Academy Charter School Brentwood Elementary, The Academy Charter School Brentwood Middle, and The Academy Charter School Central Islip Regional High to the Trustees of the State University of New York for reconsideration, with the following comment and recommendation, “The Regents are unable to make the required findings in accordance with Education Law §2852(2), including, but not limited to, the findings that granting the applications is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of Article 56 of the Education Law. In addition, there is significant community opposition to the proposed schools that must be considered. The Regents encourage the SUNY Trustees to re-examine and consider the comments presented in the SUNY Summary of Findings and Recommendations for these applications, many in opposition to these charter applications, and to provide a substantive response to the concerns raised. These proposed charter actions should be abandoned.”

The motion passed unanimously.

MOTION FOR ACTION BY FULL BOARD

The P-12 Education Committee recommends, and we move, that the Board of Regents act affirmatively upon each recommendation in the report of the Committee's deliberations at its meeting on December 15, 2025.