A coalition of 21 school districts, municipalities, unions and individual petitioners has filed a lawsuit against the New York State Education Department, seeking to annul its controversial Regionalization Plan. The plan requires public school districts to submit and implement regionalization plans, a move that critics claim will undermine local control of those districts — and that violates statutory law.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 9 in the New York State Supreme Court, include school districts, municipal governments, state legislators, and advocacy groups representing thousands of residents and educators, including the Oyster Bay-East Norwich and Locust Valley Central school districts. The group, referred to in the lawsuit as the Coalition of NY State School Board Members, issued a scathing critique of the plan, highlighting widespread local opposition.
“When 21 school districts, 8 elected officials, thousands of residents, and unions unite in opposition to a regulation, it becomes clear that state officials have overstepped their bounds in using regulations to undermine local autonomy,” the statement read. “If such measures were truly necessary or urgent, they should go through the proper legislative process — not be dictated by an unelected agency.”
Lauren Themis, president of the Locust Valley Central School District Board of Education, echoed that sentiment.
“We are proud to stand united with thousands of taxpayers, elected officials, unions, and municipalities in opposition to the regionalization mandates,” Themis wrote in a statement. “The New York State Education Department made its intentions unmistakably clear in the regulation published in the December 24 edition of the New York State Register. Despite repeated requests from our counsel to include language ensuring truly voluntary participation in the regionalization process, the state flatly refused. This left us with no choice but to take swift and decisive legal action.”
Nicholas Rigano, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, described the plan as a “power grab” that could irreversibly alter local governance.
“The unelected education commissioner has mandated the regionalization of 731 public school districts, ceding centuries-old local control to herself,” Rigano said. “This power grab will transform public schools and local communities.”
The legal brief accompanying the lawsuit contends that the education department mandate violates multiple statutes in New York’s Education Law, the State Administrative Procedure Act and the State Constitution. It also alleges that the mandate failed to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
The brief emphasizes what the plaintiffs view as the arbitrary nature of the regulation, pointing to the vague language that grants the education commissioner unilateral authority to approve regionalization plans without clear criteria.
“The plans can be 1 page or 10,000 pages,” the brief states, highlighting the lack of transparency.
Moreover, the plan mandates implementation by the 2026-27 school year, contradicting public claims by the Education Department that participation is optional. When the petitioners requested modifications to make regionalization voluntary, the department declined, with its counsel reportedly stating, “You are welcome to file any lawsuit you wish.”
The Regionalization Plan requires all school districts to participate in discussions about regionalization and to submit assessments of their strengths and needs. Regional superintendents must submit finalized plans to the Education Department by October. The plaintiffs argue that this centralizes decision-making undermines the authority of locally elected school boards.
“The vague manner in which the rule is written provides unbridled authority to the commissioner to do whatever she wants,” Rigano said, referring to current Commissioner Betty A. Rosa. “That’s the scariest part.”
For the plaintiffs, the stakes extend beyond administrative changes. The lawsuit argues that the plan threatens to erode the distinct identities of local school districts, which often serve as cornerstones of their communities.
“This issue has so many people up in arms because it’s a power grab that could transform communities,” Rigano said. “It strips locally elected officials of their authority, and grants that power to an unelected bureaucrat sitting in Albany.”
Though the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit last week, a resolution may take years. Rigano estimated that the case could proceed to trial sometime this year. “We don’t want to speculate, but this will likely take time,” he said.
In its legal brief, the coalition cites widespread discontent with the manner in which the plan has been handled. The lawsuit even quotes a Nov. 21 statement by a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul:
“The Governor has absolutely no role in the creation or oversight of NYSED’s plan, and anyone claiming otherwise is either uninformed or intentionally misleading the public … it is the Governor’s firm position that this proposal should be optional for each school district and that any opt-in should be decided by the voters in that district.”
Dozens of Nassau and Suffolk County school districts have already opted out of the regionalization plan. The goal of the lawsuit is not to protect these districts from the plan, but to annul it entirely, according to Rigano.