Category: Federal Government Actions

PDE’s Bureau of Special Ed. Releases Required IDEA Notice to LEAs (March 11, 2020)

On March 10, 2020, Carole L. Clancy, PDE Bureau of Special Education Director, released a Penn Link communiqué titled, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: State Regulations that Exceed Federal Requirements. According to Director Clancy, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended, requires the Pennsylvania Department of Education to identify to school entities and local educational agencies regulations, rules, and policies that are state-imposed requirements and not required by the federal special education statute and regulation (20 USC §1407 (a) (2)). This notice fulfills the requirement to distribute an updated list of state-imposed requirements that exceed IDEA.

Chapter 14 (22 Pa. Code Chapter 14)

§14.101           Developmental Delay (Relating to Definitions)

§14.105           (Relating to Personnel Qualifications and Caseload)

§14.106           (Relating to Access to Instructional Materials)

§14.108           (Relating to Access to Classrooms)

§14.121           (Relating to Child Find)

§14.123           (Relating to Evaluation)

§14.124           (Relating to Reevaluation)

§14.125           (Relating to Criteria for Specific Learning Disability)

§14.131           (Relating to Individualized Education Program)

§14.132           (Relating to Extended School Year)

§14.133           (Relating to Behavior Support)

§14.143           (Relating to Disciplinary Placements)

§14.144           (Relating to Facilities)

§14.145           (Relating to Least Restrictive Environment)

§14.146           (Relating to Age Range)

§14.152           (Relating to Child Find, Public Awareness and Screening)

§14.153           (Relating to Evaluation)

§14.154           (Relating to Individualized Education Program)

§14.155           (Relating to Range of Services)

§14.157           (Relating to Exit Criteria)

§14.158           (Relating to Data Collection)

§14.162(a)       (Relating to Impartial Due Process Hearing and Expedited Due Process Hearing)

Chapter 711 (22 Pa. Code Chapter 711)

§711.5             (Relating to Personnel)

§711.6             (Relating to Annual Report)

§711.8             (Relating to Education Records)

§711.21           (Relating to Child Find)

§711.22           (Relating to Reevaluation)

§711.24           (Relating to Evaluation)

§711.44           (Relating to Extended School Year)

§711.45           (Relating to Access to Instructional Materials)

§711.46           (Relating to Positive Behavior Support)

§711.61           (Relating to Suspension and Expulsion)

§711.62           (Relating to Due Process)

Those with questions regarding this information, are urged to contact Lisa Irgang at [email protected] or 215.379.1023.

CDC Provides Interim Guidance for Administrators of US Childcare Programs and K-12 Schools to Help Them Plan, Prepare, and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019/COVID-19 (March 4, 2020)

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is providing interim guidance based on what is currently known about the transmission and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To access, please click here.

CDC will update this guidance as needed and as additional information becomes available. Please check the following CDC website periodically for updated interim guidance: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

Click for Español.

COVID-19: Six Steps Public Schools Should Take (March 3, 2020)

As cases of the COVID-19 begin to hit K-12 schools, schools in states with confirmed cases have begun closing, either to help limit the spread or to evaluate the effectiveness of remote learning capabilities in case such a measure should become necessary as the disease spreads. With much more to learn about the disease, school officials can delve into the CDC’s full list of guidelines for schools in order to see what has already become known. Also, below are six critical steps K-12 school leaders should follow if coronavirus emerges in their communities.

            1. Defer to health department protocols

            2. Develop a tentative plan for how school closures will work

            3.  Monitor absenteeism patterns

            4.  Clean routinely and be aware of the list of recommended products

            5.  Create communications plans

            6.  Consider limiting big-group gatherings. Where possible, the CDC has recommended spacing out students’ desks by at least three feet as a mitigation measure.

For more information, visit the original Ed Week article by clicking here. Also visit Read More: Coronavirus and Schools.

PAPSA Urges its Members to Express Support for HR 1878 to Their Congressional Representative (February 24, 2020)

Historically, special education has been one of the most burdensome costs for school districts. Although the federal government has committed to contributing 40% of the average per pupil expenditure for each special education student,  Congress has never come close to making that promise a reality. In fact, federal support for funding IDEA has been consistently in the neighborhood of only 15%, thus leaving states and LEAs to make up the difference.
PAPSA is urging all of its members to call on Congress to fulfill its promise to fully fund IDEA. H.R.1878, the IDEA Full Funding Act, is a bipartisan proposal introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require regular increases in special education funding to get IDEA funding to its original promise of 40% by 2028. To date, nine members of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation have already signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation. They are:  Rep. Brian K. Fitzpatrick (original co-sponsor); Rep. Glenn Thompson (original co-sponsor); Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (original co-sponsor); Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan; Rep. Madeleine Dean; Rep. Susan Wild; Rep. Conor Lamb; and Rep. Matt Cartwright.

Many thanks to PSBA for information contained in this article.

President Trump Proposes Education Budget (February 10, 2020)

President Trump’s FY 2021request was released on February 10, 2020. The proposal calls for block granting K-12 education funds and a separate and reformed federal student aid. Trump’s budget request for the U.S. Department of Education is touted by his administration as a transformative, student-first budget that prioritizes improving student achievement, reducing the outsized federal role in education, and returning control over education decisions to state and local leaders, teachers, parents, and students.

The budget calls for consolidating nearly all existing K-12 formula and competitive grant programs into one block grant to ctates, called the Elementary and Secondary Education for the Disadvantaged (ESED) Block Grant. Funds would be allocated using the same formulas as the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. The budget also builds on the multi-year Federal Student Aid (FSA) reform project U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos launched in 2018.

K-12 public education skeptics are leery of the use of terms used in the USDE such as increased “freedom”, “disadvantaged”, “reducing the federal role.” A reduced fereral role is seen by some as a means to reduce federal spending, which is already inadequate with regard to the federal role in funding special education.

To view details of the full budget request, click here.