Regents Adopt Substantial Equivalency Regulation For Private Schools

Seeking to hone in on requirements impacting nonpublic schools, today, the New York State Board of Regents approved amendments to the regulations mandating nonpublic schools provide "substantially equivalent" education to that provided in public schools. The amendment will slowly go into effect over the next two years and could mean some additional requirements on local schools.

Education Law §3204(2), which requires private schools provide "substantially equivalent" education to that provided in public schools, has remained largely unchanged since the late 1800's. Today's regulatory change seeks to more specifically identify implementation elements of the law and what substantial equivalency means, as well as how it will be determined.