Annual Notifications
The Queensbury Union Free School District is required to adopt policies related to school operations and state and federal law, and make them accessible to the public.
Academic accountability
Annual Professional Performance Review
The Annual Professional Performance Review, or APPR, is a state-governed process that determines the standards and the process for assessing teachers’ and leaders’ effectiveness. It aims to provide standardized, objective evaluation results, which can be used to better focus professional development for teachers and principals.
Learn more about the APPR process.
The APPR-based rating for a student’s current teacher(s) and school principal are released to that student’s parents only upon request and verification of identity. Parents and legal guardians of students may request the final quality rating and composite effectiveness score for each of the teachers and/or principal of the school building their child is attending in late September. To make a request, Contact Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Denise Troelstra call (518) 824-5699.
Grade promotion and placement policy
Decisions about student promotion and placement are at the discretion of a child’s school administration. These decisions are guided by recommendations of teachers and staff members, past academic performance and parent/guardian input. Factors to be considered include teacher recommendation; classroom achievement and attitude; standardized test scores; social and emotional development; results of the family conference; and, for identified students, recommendations by the Committee on Special Education. Promotion and placement decisions are not based solely on student performance on New York state assessments in grades 3-8 English language arts or mathematics.
The district’s promotion and placement policy was adopted by the Board of Education following a review by the district administration.
New York state report cards
The New York state report card provides information on school districts’ enrollment and staff, student performance, and other measures of school district performance.
Financial reporting
Fiscal transparency documents
The school district posts copies of audits and school-level spending reports for the public to review.
View Queensbury’s fiscal documents.
Smart Schools investment plan
View the Smart Schools plan.
Health, safety, privacy and security
Body mass index notification
New York state requires schools to track each student’s body mass index (BMI) and weight status category as part of school health examinations. Every year, the New York State Department of Health surveys some schools for the number of students in each of six possible weight status categories. If Queensbury Union Free School District is surveyed by the state, the district will share summary group data only and will not share individual names or information. Parents/guardians who wish to exclude their child’s data from the summary group calculations must contact their child’s school nurse.
Digital privacy and security
The Queensbury Union Free School District is committed to ensuring student privacy in accordance with local, state and federal regulations and district policies. To this end and pursuant to U.S. Department of Education (DOE) regulations (Education Law §2-d), the district is provides a Bill of Rights for data privacy and security.
FERPA
The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides parents/guardians and students who are 18 years of age or older (known as “eligible students”) with certain rights with respect to the student’s education records.
Student photos and work
Student directory information depicting school-related activities (e.g., name, grade, awards, activities, photos) is occasionally released for use in district publications, on the district website or social media pages, or by the media. Parents/guardians who object to the release of their child’s directory information should notify their child’s school principal in writing by Sept. 13, 2024. The request must be renewed each year.
Release of student directory information
The district has the option under FERPA of designating certain categories of student information as “directory information.” The Board directs that “directory information” include a student’s name, address (except information about a homeless student’s living situation, as described below), telephone number, date of birth, place of birth, major course of study, participation in school activities or sports, weight and height if a member of an athletic team, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, most recent school attended, photograph, e-mail address, grade level, and enrollment status.
Information about a homeless student’s living situation will be treated as a student educational record, and will not be deemed directory information. A parent/guardian or eligible student may elect, but cannot be compelled, to consent to release of a student’s address information in the same way they would for other student education records. The district’s McKinney-Vento liaison shall take reasonable measures to provide homeless students with information on educational, employment, or other postsecondary opportunities and other beneficial activities.
Social security numbers, student identification numbers or other personally identifiable information will not be considered directory information.
Students who opt out of having directory information shared are still required to disclose their student ID cards.
Once the proper FERPA notification is given by the district, a parent/guardian or eligible student will have 14 days to notify the district of any objections they have to any of the “directory information” designations. If no objection is received, the district may release this information without prior approval of the parent/guardian or eligible student for the release. Once the eligible student or parent/guardian provides the “opt-out,” it will remain in effect after the student is no longer enrolled in the district.
The district may elect to provide a single notice regarding both directory information and information disclosed to military recruiters and institutions of higher education.
School safety plan
Other notifications
Meal charge policy
All student attending Queensbury UFSD receive free breakfast and lunch. You may create a MySchoolBucks.com® account online to deposit money to be used to purchase additional a la carte food items like individual milk, snacks and ice cream. This can be done online or via a mobile app (For Android click here and For Apple click here). The district has established a school meal charge policy.
Idling school buses
State education law requires drivers of school vehicles to turn off the engine while waiting for passengers to load or off load, with some exceptions when necessary for heating, mechanical or emergency circumstances.
School counseling/guidance programs
View the K-12 comprehensive school counseling program.
Technology plan
View the instructional technology plan.
Title IX
View information about Title IX.
Title I