General Information about Community Education Councils (CECs)
Community Education Councils are district advisory councils comprised primarily of public school parents. Each CEC oversees a school district that includes public elementary, intermediate, and junior high schools. The CEC has 11 voting members; 9 are parents of students in a public school, while 2 are borough president appointees who are not required to have children in the school system (they must, however, be residents of, and/or own/operate a business in the district). The roles and responsibilities of CECs include, but are not limited to:
*Advising the Chancellor and the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) on the needs of the school district *Approving all zoning changes within the district *Co-hosting public hearings regarding changes to the charter and to a school’s Education Impact Statement *Evaluating schools’ space planning and instructional programs *Providing feedback on the DOE’s Capital Plans and Budgets *Submitting an evaluation of the Superintendent on an annual basis *Supporting the School Leadership Team (SLT) and the Parent Teacher Association/Organization (PTA/PTO)
Community Education Councils were created by the New York State Education Law to replace Community School Boards, and state law defines their powers and duties. New York City CEC’s, along with the Citywide Councils, are independent of the Department of Education.
For more information on Community Education Councils, and the work they do, please click here. For information on our local CEC, please visit CEC6.org.
District 6 Community Education Council (D6 CEC) Our D6 CEC President is Fe Florimon (fe.florimon@jjay.cuny.edu), and members John D’Ulisse (j.e.dulisse@gmail.com) and Angela Garces (marrie2k3@yahoo.com) are fellow 187 parents. The D6 CEC recently launched a new website (CEC6.org) and they do some amazing work in our school district. Education Councils play a critical role in our community, and impact the lives of our children, so please reach out to any of our members about D6 CEC initiatives. Recent events sponsored by the CEC include: a seminar on student mental health and suicide prevention, and an English Language Learner (ELL) / Individualized Education Program (IEP) workshop, which provided parents of ELL and IEP students with valuable information about the resources available to them to improve their child's education.