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Deadline Extension to January 15, 2024: LSA/District reporting of Non-Public School Substantial Equivalence Pathways

• Pursuant to the Part 130 Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, Local School Authorities/Districts (LSAs) must inform the Department, via the Â鶹¹ÙÍø Business Portal of the pathway each nonpublic school in its boundaries has selected to use to demonstrate the substantial equivalence of its instruction, including pathway 7 (the local review).
• The deadline to submit these determinations is December 1 of this year and each December 1 thereafter. However, as this is the first year of implementation, and to ensure continued meaningful engagement between LSAs and nonpublic schools, the State Education Department (SED) is extending this deadline from December 1 to January 15, 2024 for this academic year only. Future deadlines to do this work will remain December 1. Ìý
• More information on this required process can be found on the SED website at /nonpublic-schools/substantial-equivalency and in the Substantial Equivalence Implementation Guidance at /sites/default/files/programs/nonpublic-schools/final-se-guidance_08-23-2023.pdf.
• SED has provided a template letter for LSAs to use when requesting information from religious and independent schools within their boundaries for this purpose at /sites/default/files/programs/nonpublic-schools/se-pathway-selection-template-letter-for-lsas.docx.
• Questions can be directed to the Office of Religious and Independent School Supports at /nonpublic-schools/contact-us.