Citywide Council oN High Schools

The Citywide Council on High Schools (CCHS) is a dedicated group of volunteer parents that advocate on behalf of all NYC public high school students. Our CCHS welcomes parents, school leadership groups and students to express their concerns and comments. Our mission is to help ensure the richest educational experience possible for our children. We encourage establishing and maintaining collaborations with other councils and organizations to support leadership and good governance. This can be accomplished through continued engagement between parents, students, school administrators, the community, and the Department of Education (DOE), to ensure a quality education for ALL students. Most of the councils’ work is carried on through each of our borough representatives. With more than 400 NYC High Schools, this is a practical way for our council to have meaningful relationships with individual schools.

The Citywide Council on High Schools, or CCHS, serves as an advisory board providing input to the Chancellor and commentary to the Panel on Educational Policy (PEP) regarding the needs of our city’s public school students, NYC Department of Education policy (proposed and existing) and all other matters of educational or

instructional policy including school closures, new schools, standards, compliance and policy implementation. The members of the CCHS serve as advocates for the parents and the students of New York City Public High Schools.

The CCHS has 13 voting members and 1 non-voting member:

--10 (2 from each borough) are elected by the parents of every high school in the relevant borough, and must be parents of students who currently attend a public high school in the borough the parent seeks to represent;

--1 is appointed by the Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE) and must be a parent of a high school student with an Individualized Education Plan IEP;

--1 is appointed by the Citywide Council on English Language Learners (CCELL) and must be a parent of high school student in a bilingual or ESL program;

--1 is appointed by the Public Advocate and must be a resident of New York City with extensive business or education experience;and

--1 is a non-voting high school senior who is an elected leader at his or her school and is appointed by the Citywide Student Advisory Council.

The core responsibilities of the CCHS include:

¨ Promote achievement of educational standards and objectives relating to the instruction of students.

¨ Serve as a liaison with Presidents Council, District Leadership Teams, School Leadership Teams, and Parent Teacher Associations, and to provide assistance and advocacy wherever possible.

¨ Specified function in NYS Education Law to provide an Annual Report.

¨ Review educational programs and assess their impact on student achievement

¨ Provide advisory comments and submit requests on behalf of the High Schools for the Capital Plan.

The bylaws that govern the CCHS can be found HERE.