Category: Federal Government Actions

PDE Announces New Eligibility Guidelines for Free and Reduced School Meals Announced for the 2020-21 School Year (July 9, 2020)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has announced that updated federal income eligibility guidelines for free and reduced-price school meals and free milk for the 2020-21 school year have been released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The new guidelines took effect July 1, 2020.

Schools, and other institutions and facilities, use these guidelines to determine eligibility for the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Milk Program for Children, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program.

ā€œFood insecurity affects families across the commonwealth, and it is an issue that the department, in collaboration with other state agencies and outside partners, has worked hard to address,ā€ said Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera. ā€œPrograms like free and reduced-price meals are vital to providing at-risk students with critical nourishment, which helps them improve their overall health and well-being, and stay focused and perform better in school.ā€

Rivera noted that the breadth of food insecurity was evident and a major concern during the state-mandated school closure due to COVID-19 from March through June, but that communities around the state mobilized to continue to provide meals. As a result, more than 24 million meals were served during the school closure.

To apply, households receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) need only include the SNAP or TANF case number on their application. Households enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may qualify for free or reduced-price school meals and should complete a Household Meal Benefit Application. Other households can find more information on the stateā€™s COMPASS websiteOpens In A New Window.

For more information, please click here.

PDE Issues CARES Act Funds Guidance in Light of USDE Rule Change (July 7, 2020)

Pennsylvania has received $523.8 million in emergency, one-time federal CARES funds to help schools respond to COVID-19 impacts. PDE recommended a calculation for distribution of funds to private schools that differs from the non-binding guidance issued by USDE in April. In issuing its own guidance, PDE noted that the federal guidance advised that funds must be reserved to provide equitable services to all private schools, regardless of income. PDE suggested this is inconsistent with the CARES Act goal of ensuring that the emergency funds reach the most vulnerable students.
 
With the new interim final rule now effective, PDE is looking at the next steps necessary.  PDE’s current guidance expressly challenges and disagrees with the USDE interpretation of how the CARES Act directs equitable services proportions to be calculated. However, PDE has not yet updated that guidance in response to the USDE interim final rule. School districts should watch for updated PDE guidance in the near future, which it is anticipated will explain the legal basis for any continuing disagreement with the interpretations reflected in the USDOE interim final rule. Although in the view of PSBA the interpretation reflected in PDE’s current guidance more closely tracks the text of the CARES Act, at this point it is unknown whether such disagreements will lead to legal challenges in court or how such challenges are likely to be resolved. It is advised that districts put off committing to a particular approach to calculating equitable services at least until updated PDE guidance is available.

Sincere thanks to PSBA for the information provided herein.

ASCA and NASP Release School Re-entry Considerations (June 26, 2020)

Local education agencies and individual schools planning for students and staff to return following COVID-19 closures must prioritize efforts to address social and emotional learning and mental and behavioral health needs. Equally important is ensuring staff feel their physical and mental health needs are supported. Schools should also ensure all policies or recommendations are culturally sensitive and ensure equity and access for all youth. To that end, the AmericanĀ School Counselor Association (ASCA) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) have jointlyĀ released a document titledĀ Reentry Considerations: Supporting Student Social and Emotional Learning and Mental and Behavioral Health Amidst COVID-19.

To access the document, click here or go to: https://schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Publications/SchoolReentry.pdf

USDE Issues Rule to Ensure CARES Act Funding Serves All Students (June 26, 2020)

On June 25, 2020, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued a rule that would help to ensure all students whose learning was impacted by COVID-19 are served equitably by emergency funding authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, no matter where they attend school. The Interim Final Rule (IFR), which becomes effective immediately, outlines how local education agencies (LEAs) must calculate the emergency funds available for providing equitable services to students and teachers in private schools. According to USDE, the rule gives districts options for determining the amount of CARES Act funding for equitable services to private school students.

To view the press release, click here.

US Supreme Court DACA Decision Affects Education (June 22, 2020)

On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a 5-4 decision that the Trump administration cannot end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which that allows individuals who came to the U.S. as children to receive two-year temporary protection from deportation, subject to renewal, and to become eligible for a work permit. It is believed that a decision to repeal the program would have impacted thousands of educators, and many more students, along with some who are working on the frontlines as schools plan to re-open. 

The Migration Policy Institute reports that, as of 2016, approximately 228,000 children age 15 and younger were unauthorized immigrants potentially eligible for the DACA program provided they stayed in school. Also, each year about 100,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from high school. In 2014, 31% of the immediately eligible DACA population (about 365,000 students) was enrolled in secondary school. Further, education is one of the most common professions in which DACA recipients work. in 2019, approximately 9,000 DACA recipients were employed as teachers or in other education careers.

To read the entire Education Dive article, click here.