The Roslyn Board of Education recently submitted three resolutions to the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), which were passed at its annual conference. School boards may propose resolutions that help to define the legislative agenda of the association for the coming year and offer guidelines to school districts throughout the state on many issues of importance. Resolutions are considered and adopted by the association at its annual conference in October.

The first resolution which was adopted concerns character and civic responsibilities and calls upon the New York State School Boards Association to encourage school boards to develop successful strategies for integrating character and civic responsibilities into the educational experience.

A second resolution which was adopted regarding parental liability calls for increasing the maximum parent liability for malicious or unlawful damages to $25,000 from the maximum liability of $5,000 under state law, in order to reflect the escalation of damage awards and higher costs in general for public education. The previous limit was deemed to be unrealistic and inadequate to cover actual damages that arise.

In view of recent school violence, the final resolution adopted by the NYSSBA concerns safe learning environments. In order to create security and well-being for children, the resolution calls for adequate professional development for all staff regarding the detection and constructive handling of emotional anxieties in students as well as promoting parental sensitivity to, and recognition of, emotional issues in their children; curriculum and staff development in violence prevention including, but not limited to, mediation and conflict resolution, school and classroom management instructional strategies for disruptive and/or troubled students, and interpersonal sills; and state funding to support professional development and parent education in these vital areas.