Category: Government Actions

Mikayla’s Voice Awarded a Community Response Grant; Provides Free Subscriptions (September 14, 2021)

Mikayla’s Voice was awarded a Community Response Grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council to offer 267 FREE subscriptions to “Mikayla’s Bookshelf” for families with a child with a disability. This new website includes all three of our books in electronic format and as ASL performances, plus enrichment activities related to inclusion, kindness, and friendship.

Interested schools can contact Rita Cheskiewicz, Executive Director at 570-690-7113 or [email protected] or Kimberly Resh, Program Director, at 610-746-2324 or [email protected]to participate in Mikayla’s Voice programming and interested families should email [email protected] as soon as possible because the grant is ending soon.

Click on this link for a flyer you may share with families.

Click here for a quick video tutorial.

PDE to LEAs: Report Expenditures Relating to Exceptional Students Collection #1 by October 14th (September 13, 2021)

On September 13, 2021, PDE BSE Director Carole L. Clancy, disseminated a memo to applicable LEAs titled Reporting of Expenditures Relating to Exceptional Students.  The memo states that Act 16 of 2000 (24 PS §13-1372(8)) requires the Reporting of Expenditures Relating to Exceptional Students. School districts and charter schools must report the number of students with disabilities for which expenditures were between $1 and $26,717.95; between $26,717.96 and $53,435.91; between $53,435.92 and $80,153.88; and $80,153.89 and over for the prior entire school year (2020-2021).

This report will be collected at the student level through PIMS using the Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds. The template will be collected during Collection #1 (opening October 1, 2021 and closing with a deadline of October 14, 2021). Data is to be based on expenditures incurred during the entire 2020-2021 school year. Guidelines regarding the Act 16 reporting can be found at Act 16 Information. The Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds can be found in the PIMS manual.

Failure to complete the Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds report may have an adverse effect on the local education agency’s special education funding.

Questions regarding this reporting requirement may be emailed to [email protected]. A copy of this information is being provided to each intermediate unit so they may assist school districts and charter schools with report preparation, as needed.

Mikayla’s Voice Awarded a Community Response Grant; Provides Free Subscriptions (September 12, 2021)

Mikayla’s Voice was awarded a Community Response Grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council to offer 267 FREE subscriptions to “Mikayla’s Bookshelf” for families with a child with a disability. This new website includes all three of our books in electronic format and as ASL performances, plus enrichment activities related to inclusion, kindness, and friendship. Interested families should email [email protected] as soon as possible because the grant is ending soon.

Click on this link for a flyer you may share with families.

Click here for a quick video tutorial.

PDH Sends Reminder: 2020-21 SHARRS Reporting Window  to Close Sept. 30th (September 12, 2021)

On September 9, 2021, Colleen Schultz, M.Ed., CSN RN, PDH Chief of the Division of School Health, sent a PennLink communiquÊ to all LEAs titled Reminder: 2020-21 SHARRS Reporting Window.

The message stated that the SHARRS reporting window will close on September 30, 2021. It advised LEAs to share the important reminder with staff responsible for completing the SHARRS report, and to ensure the LEA’s reporting information is submitted in a timely manner so the school districts receive their reimbursement for the 2020-21 School Year.

LEAs are also asked to note the following:

  • The Superintendent/CEO is the only person with the capability to submit the report.
  • SHARRS programming will close the reporting window at close of business September 30, 2021. Therefore, timely submission of information is essential in order to be reimbursed for the 2020-21 School Year.
  • SHARRS can be accessed at https://apps.health.pa.gov/SHARRS/Login.aspx. An “INSTRUCTIONS” button on each page provides additional guidance to assist in completing the report.
  • If school exams and screenings were incomplete/unable to be completed last year due to the various instructional models in place during COVID-19, LEAs must note it in the “Comments” box on the ADM page in SHARRS.

Hearing Set for Sept. 16th as PA Legislators et al. File Suit Challenging School Mask Mandate and PDH Lawyers Ask Court to Uphold It (September 11, 2021)

According to the Associated Press, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre; Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford; two private Christian schools; and parents from the Wyomissing Area, Butler Area, and Slippery Rock Area school districts have filed suit claiming that PA Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam’s K-12 mask order is illegal and seeks an injunction against the order. 

The health secretary’s order took effect on September 7th and requires student and staff to wear face coverings when inside, regardless of vaccination status.

Governor Wolf has stated that a universal, statewide order was necessary and PDH officials have reported that thousands of students have tested positive for COVID-19 since schools re-opened.

In response, the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, representing Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam, said the plaintiffs seeking to overturn the mask mandate have presented nothing more than a policy dispute in court and are asking that it “ignore a real and substantial public health risk so they can continue with instruction in whatever manner they see fit.”

“There can be no more fundamental interest to the public than protecting its children from an unnecessary disease or death,” Ms. Beam’s lawyers wrote in a brief.

The court will hold a hearing on the application for emergency relief on September 16th.

Please click here for the Ptiisburgh Post-Gazette article.

For more from the US News and World Report, click here.