By Alice Besidski
Last September, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that has created a new position in this year’s Irvington High School student elections: the ex-officio student representative.
On September 12, 2025, a law was passed that required every school district in the New York state to have an elected student representative on their school board, a position known as an ex-officio student representative.
This law goes into effect on July 1, 2025. Elected students will attend twice monthly public Board of Education meetings, at which they will present a brief student report. However, although they will be present, the ex-officio student representative will not have the power to vote.
Additionally, the elected students will only be allowed to attend meetings that are open to the public, and will not be able to attend executive sessions.
Despite the fact that students will not be able to vote, this new position enables students’ voices and opinions to be understood by the Board in a way they were not before. “Our board is enthusiastically supporting this,” said Principle Hirch in an email to students and parents. “This is an exciting step forward in elevating student voice within our school community.”
Students are also excited about this new position. “It seems like a good opportunity for students to have a voice in school matters,” said sophomore Zoya Bhandari. “I think it will bring relevant perspectives to school issues.”
The ex-officio student representative will be elected by the student body at the same time as student council elections are being held.
Rising juniors and seniors will be eligible to run for this position. The rising junior will hold the position for two years, and the rising senior will have it for only one. In the future, only rising juniors will be able to apply for this position.
Voting will take place through the end of the school day Thursday June 5th to Friday June 6th.
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