As a result of collaborative efforts between NASISP, NAPSA, and a coalition of  other like-minded national organizations, a joint letter has been sent to urge the US Senate to move as quickly as possible to pass an FY2022 appropriations bill that helps address the severe shortages of school-based mental health professionals (school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers) and other specialized instructional support personnel. The letter urges the Senate to pass FY2022 Appropriations legislation that contains, at a minimum, $800 million for the School Based Mental Health Services Professionals and School Based Mental Health Services grants, combined, and at least $250 million for the IDEA personnel development grants.

PAPSA is an affiliate of NAPSA and many PAPSA members have taken a joint PAPSA-NAPSA membership at a discounted rate.

To view the letter, click here.

The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) firmly supports the nomination of Glenna Gallo to be the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).
Ms. Gallo has twice served as President of NASDSE — and has a wealth of experience in working with children, youth and adults with disabilities and their families. She has dedicated her entire professional career to ensuring that all students with disabilities are held to high levels of achievement and that the necessary supports and services are available to meet their needs. She has worked with stakeholders in the disability community at the local, state, and national levels and has gained a reputation for valuing their input through an authentic stakeholder process and ensuring equity for all students.
Since 2017, Ms. Gallo has served as the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education in Washington state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Prior to that, she spent seven years as the State Director of Special Education for the Utah State Board of Education, following work as a classroom teacher and administrator.
She has more than 25 years of public education experience supporting students with disabilities and adults entering and within the teaching profession, and 16 years of experience in the state-level educational leadership with expertise in the improvement planning, data analysis, and monitoring of public preK-12+ special education programs.
Collaboration is a priority for her work. Ms. Gallo feels strongly that application of the intent of IDEA requirements results in increased student outcomes for students with disabilities and works with school and district administrators, special education staff, advocates, and parents/families of students with disabilities at the local, state and national levels to review research, current student achievement data, stakeholder feedback, and compliance data to ensure all efforts address instructional issues that impact results for students with disabilities.

-Courtesy of NASDE-

On November 9, 2021, the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (NASISP) sent a letter to Congress urging the swift passage of a Labor-HHS-Ed FY 2022 Appropriations bill, which contains historic investment and long overdue increases for public education. As a member of the alliance, NAPSA proudly signed on to the letter, which was sent to  Sen. Patrick Leahy, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair;  Sen. Richard Shelby, Vice Chair; Sen. Patty Murray; and Sen. Roy Blunt.

The letter states that “[w]e (NASISP) believe the federal government has a responsibility to make meaningful investments in programs that help ensure all students have access to the academic, social-emotional, and mental and behavioral health services they need to thrive. We are grateful for the significant investments Congress provided to our public education system to help schools, students, and families recover from the impact of COVID-19. However, those investments are no substitute for long term, predictable federal investments in key education programs that states rely on to serve their students. The passage of a year long CR would be devastating to our students, and further delay in the passage of FY 2022 appropriations inhibits states and LEAs from engaging in meaning financial planning to address the needs of their school community. We urge Congress to fulfill its responsibility and pass an FY 2022 appropriations bill as soon as possible with [the requested] funding levels.”

Those levels are as follows:

ESEA

-Title I-A (ESSA) Education for the Disadvantaged. Requested: Minimum $36.7B.

-Title II-A (ESSA) Supporting Effective Instruction. Requested: Minimum$2.3B.

-Title IV-A (ESSA) Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants. Requested: Minimum $2.0B.

OSERS

-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B, Grants to States. Requested: Minimum $15.5B.

-IDEA Part B Preschool Grants. Requested: $598M.

-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C, Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, $732.2M.

-State Personnel Development. Requested: Minimum of $42M.

-Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities: $300M.

NOTE: PAPSA is a state affiliate of NAPSA and in turn benefits from the advocacy efforts of both NAPSA and NASISP.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have released Supporting Students at Risk of Self-Harm in the Era of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than a year of loss, isolation, and uncertainty for many people, including students, across the country. For some students, these stressors may have caused a mental health disability to worsen. Others may be experiencing mental health disabilities for the first time. In some situations, there may be a risk that a student will engage in self-harm or consider suicide. A student with a condition such as anxiety, depression, or a substance use disorder can have a mental health disability. Students with mental health disabilities are protected by Federal civil rights laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). These laws require K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions to provide students with an equal opportunity to learn, free from discrimination, including during public health crises. Section 504 and the ADA require schools and postsecondary institutions to make decisions about how to respond to students at risk of self-harm based on an assessment of each student’s circumstances rather than on fears, generalizations, or stereotypes about mental illness. In making these decisions, schools and postsecondary institutions generally must provide students who have mental health disabilities with reasonable modifications to school policies, practices, and procedures, as appropriate for an individual student. Public elementary and secondary schools must also provide students with disabilities a free appropriate public education, also known as FAPE, after an evaluation, as described in the Section 504 regulations. When schools and postsecondary institutions do not meet these responsibilities, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (CRT) can help by enforcing these Federal laws that protect students from discrimination based on disability.

Examples of the kinds of incidents OCR and CRT can investigate are:
-A middle school student with autism has been experiencing bullying related to her disabilities by classmates at school. The student’s homeroom teacher has noticed the student seems depressed and withdrawn, and the student confides in the teacher that she can’t take it anymore and is considering ending her life. Instead of calling the student’s parents and contacting the school counselor, the teacher calls the school resource officer, who handcuffs the student and takes her to the hospital.
-A public school student has developed severe depression for the first time during the pandemic. Their parent tells the school principal. Despite the school’s Section 504 FAPE obligation to evaluate any student who needs or is believed to need special education or related services because of a disability, the principal does not refer the student for evaluation. Instead, the principal says that all students are struggling because of the pandemic and suggests that the parent should hire a private tutor and find a psychologist for the student.

To access the government website on this topic, click here.