We are writing to protest a clear inequity by the Regents Board. Though we are the ONLY island high school in New York state, NY State Regents Board fails to acknowledge the unique logistical and geographic factors of our situation. Our island location requires a ferry, necessitating delay in access. The current practice to deliver our tests to another school and force our principals to collect them there on the morning of each test day is then just unfair. As a result our students are at risk of not getting the allotted full time for testing (and if a student has the bad luck to have two Regents in a given day, their test time is further truncated as we must vacate the island by 5:45 daily.) This is unfair to our children, and could be an abrogation of their rights, as the lack of appropriate time significantly handicaps their performance. For the nearly 28% of students with IEPs and 504s with extended time mandates, loss of extra time would deny their equal access to Regents, and have a profoundly negative effect on outcomes.

We the parents and students of The New York Harbor School demand that you deliver our tests directly to the school by the afternoon before the test to our dedicated VAULT *(vetted by our administration). This will ensure tests can begin on time the next day and allow students a fair and equitable access to materials.

*The objection currently voiced by the State, specious, in the realm of impossible, and nitpicking in the extreme, should be set aside.

The PTA of NY Harbor School