Category: Government Actions

USDE and OCR Release Q&A Documents Regarding the Delivery of Instruction During the Pandemic (October 12, 2020)

Separate documents were recently released by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

In a document titled Questions and Answers for K-12 Public Schools In the Current COVID-19 Environment, the USDE reminded schools of their obligations to special education services and civil rights laws regardless of whether students are learning in-person or remotely. The nine-page Q&A document also emphasized that schools must still accept harassment complaints and investigate the allegations under the new Title IX rule, which went into effect August 14, 2020, even if schools are only offering distance learning. Schools are not allowed to have blanket policies that prohibit new complaints from being submitted and accepted or to pause investigations and proceedings.

Guidance from OCR said that although schools should make every effort for in-person learning opportunities, they cannot prioritize reopening plans for groups of students based on their race, national origin or color. The USDE, however, said schools may be required to provide in-person instruction for students with disabilities based on their individual needs. The guidance documents are in response to questions from the education community and to add clarity to existing law or policy, according to the department. 

In explaining why schools cannot phase-in in-person learning options based on a student’s “race, color or national origin,” OCR said such preferences would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, schools may be required under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide in-person services to certain students with disabilities so those students can receive a FAPE. 

To view the Questions and Answers for K-12 Public Schools In the Current COVID-19 Environment, click here.

To view the document titled Questions and Answers Regarding the Department’s Final Title IX Rule, click here.

Information provided by Education Dive.

Governor Amends Gathering Limits Orders, Affecting School Events (October 11, 2020)

Governor Tom Wolf and PA Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine have amended existing COVID-19 orders to allow for adjusted capacity to gathering limits while keeping in place mitigation tools that include wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
As of Friday, October 9th, amended orders now allow for venue occupancy limits to play a bigger role in determining the number of people permitted both inside and outside of events or gatherings.

The amended orders define an event or gathering as a temporary grouping of individuals for defined purposes that takes place over a limited time frame. This would pertain to school sports and other similar school-sponsored events. The order also clarifies that groups of people who share a space within a building in the ordinary course of operations, such as in a classroom, office building, or similar regularly occurring operation of a business or organization, are not considered events or gatherings.


To view the governor’s amended order that contains the maximum occupancy allowable rates for indoor and outdoor events, click here.
To view an updated FAQs on the PA Health Department website, which contains questions specific to schools and school sports, click here .

PDE Disseminates Suicide Prevention Materials (October 6, 2020)

Following the recognition of September as National Suicide Prevention Month, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and its partners are highlighting several resources to support school communities in their youth suicide prevention efforts.  All of the below resources may be accessed through the Prevent Suicide PA website at https://www.preventsuicidepa.org/.

 For additional resources to support your school-based suicide prevention efforts, visit PDE’s Act 71 page and Prevent Suicide PA’s Act 71 page.

PDE Announces Free Mikayla’s Voice Program Opportunities (October 5, 2020)

On October 9, 2020, BSE Director Carole L. Clancy, released a PennLink memo to all LEAs titled 2020-21 Inclusive Programming Opportunities through Mikayla’s Voice announcing inclusive programming for the 2020-21 school year. When schools closed in March, Mikayla’s Voice reinvented each of their programs to allow remote delivery. Their inclusion books, assemblies, art projects, and new enrichment website can now be accessed from individual classrooms or homes. Free programs listed below are available for schools and will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.

Inclusion Assemblies: Until large group activities may resume, Mikayla’s Voice is well-prepared to remotely facilitate valuable discussion about inclusion and demonstrate children’s capacity for understanding, acceptance, and compassion. Virtual presentations will include all the elements of live assemblies. The remote assembly includes short video segments to enhance viewer experience, video and audio equipment, and an educational video conferencing platform to allow inclusion assemblies to be safe and effectively live streamed to as many as 500 classrooms or homes. Presenters will be joined by a student or young adult with a disability and share the book Our Friend Mikayla. Students can use live chat to ask any and all questions and will be invited to serve as Mikayla’s Voice in their school and community.

Wheels of Friendship®:  In a unique program developed and coordinated by Mikayla’s Voice, children paint not with brushes, but with the wheels of a wheelchair (or walker) and the paws (and tail) of a service dog.  Having started with a focus on the inclusion of people with physical disabilities, the program has expanded to represent additional disabilities. In this program, Mikayla’s Voice supplies 24 individual art “kits,” and facilitates a live virtual group art lesson. A video tutorial link is also provided so instruction can be revisited, if necessary. Finally, written directions, including photos, make it possible for students without computer or internet access to participate as well.

Mikayla’s Bookshelf: This is a newly created, enrichment website providing lessons for teachers and schools to introduce or reinforce Mikayla’s Voice message and mission with their students. Mikayla’s Bookshelf includes all three of their books in a fun, page turning electronic format, so they may be shared in every classroom or home, as needed. To ensure equity for all, books can be sent home for students who do not have adapted technology to access a website, and all three are available as braille copies. These books are the foundation for enrichment lessons related to the themes of inclusion, kindness, and friendship, each aligned to PA state standards, and addressing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies. They include Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies, with direct links to supplemental support information such as: text to speech, speech to text, word banks, passive assistance, and hand under hand, with further technical assistance if required. All lessons and supports are available in printable .pdf versions so teachers may share with families who might not have computer and/or internet access.

 Participating schools are asked to help with pre and post data collection to measure the global quality of the programs and their ability to improve school culture and community.  Mikayla’s Voice has partnered with researchers at Lehigh University as part of our ongoing program assessment for improvement and replication.

 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. 

 Mikayla’s Voice website can be found at www.mikaylasvoice.org.

US House Passes CR to Extend Waivers for Federal Food Programs for School-aged Children to Continue through SY 2020-21 (September 27, 2020)

On September 23, 2020,  the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) that includes $8 billion in funding to support school nutrition programs through the end of the 2020-21 school year, allowing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to extend all Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waivers through the end of the school year. The USDA in August had extended waivers through December 31, 2020, but without the CR those waivers will expire.

The waivers provide schools with meal distribution flexibility, and the extensions are needed to ensure that children under the age of 18 have consistent access to breakfast and lunch during the entire 2020-21 school year.  The waiver extensions will permit schools to continue offering meals to all children at no charge, minimizing the challenges of meal service and ensuring that students have access to food during the pandemic.

H.R. 3337, which is the bill that contains the CR, seeks to avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2020 and extends federal funding through December 11, 2020.

The bill must now be passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law before it can become effective. 

To view HR 3337, click here.