Annual Notifications

Annual Professional Performance Review

New York State Education Law requires each classroom teacher and school principal to receive an annual professional performance review (APPR) that results in a composite effectiveness score and rating. All parents/guardians have the right to obtain the APPR quality ratings and composite effectiveness scores for their child’s current teacher(s) and principal(s) once they are available. Learn more on our APPR page.

Asbestos Management Plan

In accordance with the requirements of the federal regulation known as AHERA (Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act), the school district has conducted inspections and developed management plans for each of the district’s schools. These management plans are available for your review during regular business hours at the individual schools. Included in these management plans is information regarding AHERA inspections, operations and maintenance, period surveillance and response action activities. It is the intention of the North Colonie Central School District to comply with all federal and state regulations controlling asbestos and to take the appropriate steps necessary to ensure students and employees have a healthy and safe environment in which to learn and work. For information contact the Maintenance Department at (518) 785-5771.

Child Abuse Hotline Notification

If you suspect a child is being abused or maltreated (neglected), report it by calling 1-800-342-3720, a toll-free 24-hour hotline operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local police department. Information about reporting child abuse and maltreatment (neglect) is available online at http://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cps/.

Dignity for All Students Act (DASA)

New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act (The Dignity Act) took effect on July 1, 2012. Just as with the district’s Code of Conduct, the new law seeks to provide the state’s public school students and staff with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function. The Dignity Act includes, but is not limited to, acts of discrimination and harassment based on a student’s race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender (defined to include gender identity or expression), or sex. Visit our DASA page to learn more.

District Emergency Management Plan

The North Colonie Central School District has developed Emergency and Severe Weather (formerly Disaster Preparedness) plans as required by State Education Law Section 155.13. It is required that each public school district have emergency plans in place, and that information on emergency procedures be provided to all students and staff. We will conduct at least 12 fire drills throughout the year, and a “go home” drill to test transportation and communications systems. Emergency evacuation information is posted in each classroom. If you desire more information, please contact Mr. Alan Levitus at the Maintenance Department at (518) 785-5771.

• Weather & Closing Procedures

ESSA Complaint Procedures

New York State Education Department has created a process for resolving complaints alleging that a local educational agency (LEA), grantee or NYSED has violated a law, rule, or regulation in the administration of any “covered Federal program” under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

These procedures offer parents and other stakeholders a process to file complaints and allow for the timely resolution of such complaints. A complainant may include any of the following: parents, public agencies, and other individuals or organizations.

To learn more about these procedures and how to file a complaint, please visit the NYSED website.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides parents/guardians and students who are 18 years of age or older (known as “eligible students”) with certain rights with respect to the student’s education records. Parents/guardians and eligible students have the right to:

• Inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days after the day a request for access is received by the school. These requests should be submitted to your child’s school principal.
• Request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent/guardian or eligible student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights;
• Provide written consent before the school discloses personally identifiable information from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent;
• File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the district to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA are: Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202.

Meal Charging and Prohibition Against Meal Shaming

It is the district’s goal to provide students with access to nutritious no- or low-cost meals each school day and to ensure that a student whose parent/guardian has unpaid meal charges is not shamed or treated differently than a student whose parent/guardian does not have unpaid meal charges.

Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security

The North Colonie Central School District is committed to ensuring student privacy in accordance with local, state and federal regulations and district policies. To this end and pursuant to U.S. Department of Education regulations, the district is providing the following Parents’ Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security.

Project S.A.V.E.

Project S.A.V.E. is the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act, passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Pataki at the end of the 2000 legislative session. The law seeks to improve school safety and ensure a safe and effective learning environment. To achieve this, the law codifies many existing regulatory requirements that are designed to improve school safety. It also provides tools for educators including mandating the development of school safety plans, organizing school safety teams, implementing character and civility education, refining the discipline code and giving teachers the ability to remove students from classes for behavior that is disruptive to the educational process.

The North Colonie Board of Education has determined that teachers may remove students from classes for either therapeutic or disciplinary reasons. Removal for disciplinary reasons includes students who are substantially disruptive. This includes students who are either violent or non-violent. District Safety Plan 2022-2023

Pursuant to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the school district must disclose to military recruiters and institutions of higher learning, upon request, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of our high school juniors and seniors. However, parents or students may request, in writing, that the district not release such information. Parents, or students who are at least 18 years old, wishing to exercise their option to withhold their consent to the release of this information must contact the guidance office.

Student Rights & Responsibilities

The district has an obligation to educate students in the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. As part of their education, students should be made aware of, and should exercise, those rights and responsibilities as they exist within the school environment. 

• View the Student Rights & Responsibilities handbook
• View the Student Rights & Responsibilities pamphlet

The handbook/pamphlet is intended to inform all students of their individual rights and responsibilities to self and community.

Teacher Qualifications

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, parents/guardians have the right to know the professional qualifications of their child’s classroom teachers, including:

• Whether a teacher has state certification for the grade levels and subjects he or she is teaching;
• The teacher’s baccalaureate degree major and any other certifications or degrees; and
• Whether their child receives services from paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

Parents/guardians may request their child’s classroom teacher’s professional qualifications by contacting their child’s school principal.

Use of Pesticides & Request for Notification

The use of pesticide products may be applied periodically throughout the school year at the North Colonie Central School District. Under the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law, Section 409-h of the Education Law, the District is required to maintain a list of parents/guardians and school staff, who wish to receive 48 hour advanced written notice of an actual pesticide application in the facilities or on school grounds. To register for the 48 hour notification, please fill out this form before the start of each school year. To obtain additional information on the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law contact Mark Wiegert, Director of Custodial Services at (518) 273-4844.

Water Quality Testing

In September 2016, a state law went into effect that requires all public school districts in New York to test water for lead. The law requires school districts to sample all water outlets currently or potentially used for drinking or cooking purposes in buildings that may be occupied by students and to submit those samples to a state-approved lab for analysis. Read more about Water Quality Testing.