As New York's Commissioner of Education, I strive to stay connected to those closest to our students: their parents and families. To that end, I would like to provide regular updates to parents and families on topics that are important to you. If you haven't already, please be sure to sign up for our parent email list !

This week, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) launched a new Student Data Privacy website to provide information for parents, educators, advocates, and other stakeholders about NYSED's student data privacy efforts. The website provides answers to frequently asked questions, a glossary of terms, and a form to report a possible breach of student privacy . Please take a look at the website; we welcome your feedback as we continue to add information.

Also, this week, the State Monitors of the East Ramapo Central School District released a report that recommended continuing $3 million in supplemental state aid for the District. In their report, Monitors Charles A. Szuberla, Jr. and Dr. John W. Sipple also echoed the call made by NYSED and the Board of Regents and in December for fiscal support for continued state monitoring at the District in the 2017-18 school year. For more information about the East Ramapo Monitors' report, please see our news release .

Finally, the State Education Department is currently inviting public comment on two sets of regulations: school health regulations and teacher certification regulations. The proposed changes to the school health regulations would reduce the burden on school districts to provide emergency care like epinephrine injections and conform with recent changes to statutory requirements. The proposed changes to the teacher certification regulations would provide greater flexibility and additional time to meet the requirements for reissuance of expired classroom certificates and supplementary certificates for teachers. If you can, please take some time to participate in these public comment periods, which both end on March 13.

I hope these updates are helpful. Please be sure to sign up for our parent email list to have these updates delivered directly to your inbox. I look forward to staying in touch.