At their March 2014 meeting, the Board of Regents approved, through emergency action, an amendment to sections 200.16(c) and 200.20(b) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to conform to section 4410 of Education Law, as amended by Chapter 545 of the Laws of 2013. More information on the amendment is available at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/preschoolregs-414.htm.
The relevant changes are as follows:
Section 200.16(c)(3): Placement of Preschool Students with the Same Provider That Evaluated the Student
Prior to making any recommendation that would place a child in an approved program owned or operated by the same agency which conducted the [initial] evaluation of the child, the committee may exercise its discretion to obtain an evaluation of the child from another approved evaluator. If the committee recommends placing a child in an approved program that also conducted an evaluation of the child, it shall indicate in writing that the placement is appropriate for the child and shall provide written notice to the commissioner of such recommendation on a form prescribed by the commissioner.
Section 200.20(b): Qualifications of Executive Directors of Approved Section 4410 Programs
(3) Each approved preschool program shall ensure that:
(i) the executive director or person assigned to perform the duties of a chief executive officer hired or assigned on or after April 17, 2014, shall have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited or approved college or university in a field related to business, administration and/or education and shall have, but not be limited to, the following qualifications: 
(a) knowledge of the requirements for providing appropriate evaluations and/or special education services and supervision to preschool students with disabilities; 
(b) knowledge of and ability to comply with applicable laws and regulations; 
(c) ability to maintain or supervise the maintenance of financial and other records; 
(d) ability to establish the approved program’s policy, program and budget; and 
(e) ability to recruit, employ, train, direct and evaluate qualified staff.
(ii) the executive director or person assigned to perform the duties of a chief executive officer shall reside within a reasonable geographic distance from the program’s administrative, instructional and/or evaluation sites to ensure appropriate oversight of the program; and
(iii) if paid as a full time executive director, the executive director shall be employed in a full-time, full-year position and shall not engage in activity that would interfere with or impair the executive director’s ability to carry out and perform his or her duties, responsibilities and obligations.
If you have any questions on how these new provisions impact your school, please do not hesitate to call Ken Cerini at 631-868-1103 or e-mail him at [email protected].
Kenneth R. Cerini, CPA, CFP, FABFA
Managing Partner
Ken is the Managing Partner of Cerini & Associates, LLP and is the executive responsible for the administration of our not-for-profit and educational provider practice groups. In addition to his extensive audit experience, Ken has been directly involved in providing consulting services for nonprofits and educational facilities of all sizes throughout New York State in such areas as cost reporting, financial analysis, Medicaid compliance, government audit representation, rate maximization, board training, budgeting and forecasting, and more.
