Earlier this week, Governor Tom Wolf vetoed House Bill 2787, which would have mandated that school fall activities be under the sole jurisdiction of local school districts. The governor considered the bill to be superfluous given that local school governing bodies already have authority, but it would restrict state and local officials’ ability to respond to health concerns and potential outbreaks as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Click here to access Governor Wolf’s HB 2787 veto message.

On September 16, 2020, Carole L. Clancy, Director  of the PDE Bureau of Special Education (BSE) sent a PennLink memo to all LEAs titled 2020-21 Gifted Compliance Monitoring Schedule. The contents of that memo are below.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has the responsibility to ensure that all school districts providing gifted education, whether directly or by contractual arrangements, administer gifted education services and programs that are in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. To fulfill this responsibility, PDE has established administrative procedures for monitoring program implementation, including evaluating the appropriateness, effectiveness, and accountability of gifted education services and programs.

PDE has developed the schedule for compliance monitoring for the 2020-21 school year, in which 10 school districts of varying sizes across the Commonwealth will be monitored. Additional monitoring, if deemed appropriate, may be designated as the school year progresses.

The Gifted Cyclical Monitoring for Continuous Improvement includes a Gifted Facilitated Self-Assessment (GFSA) completed by each school district and a virtual review by a PDE team, which may include peers who will conduct teacher/parent interviews. The process includes a review of the GFSA submitted by the school district; input from administrators, teachers, and parents; and verification activities of the information reported in the GFSA. Verification activities include file reviews of student documents, studies of service delivery, and analysis of policies, procedures, and outcomes.

School districts to be monitored will be scheduled for virtual training and a recorded presentation will be available. The training will review the virtual monitoring process, documents, and GFSA submission, and provide suggestions and checklists regarding preparation and implementation of the monitoring process. The Gifted Monitoring Manual is located on the PA Gifted web page.  School districts are strongly encouraged to review this document to prepare for the monitoring.

Questions regarding the 2020-21 monitoring schedule should be directed to Shirley Moyer, Special Education Adviser-Gifted at, 717-705-5186 or [email protected].

On September 16, 2020, Carole L. Clancy, Director  of the PDE Bureau of Special Education (BSE) sent a PennLink memo to all LEAs titled Indicator 13: What LEAs Need to Know for Compliance Monitoring for Continuous Improvement (CMCI).  The contents of that memo are below.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has the responsibility to ensure that all local educational agencies (LEAs) providing special education services, whether directly or by contractual arrangements, administer special education services and programs that are compliant with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. To fulfill this responsibility, PDE has established administrative procedures for monitoring program implementation, including evaluating the appropriateness, effectiveness, and accountability of special education services and programs.

In order to meet the federal accountability requirements for transition age students, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) will provide a required training session specific to Indicator 13 for LEAs identified for CMCI for the 2020-21 school year.  The purpose of this training will be to prepare LEAs for the requirements of compliance monitoring as it relates to secondary transition and to highlight effective practices in secondary transition.

The targeted LEAs should plan to participate in a web-based training along with their transition support team.  These team members could include, but are not limited to, special education directors, building principals, transition coordinators, and other educational staff involved in the administration and supervision of special education programs.

The web-based training will be available no later than September 15, 2020. LEAs must complete the training by October 31, 2020.  Registration is available on PaTTAN’s website at www.pattan.net. 

For questions concerning the Indicator 13: What LEAs Need to Know for CMCI training, contact Hillary Mangis, Educational Consultant at the PaTTAN Pittsburgh Office, at 800-446-5607, ext. 6878 or [email protected].

In a September 14, 2020 PennLink communique to LEAs, Colleen Schultz, Chief of the PA Department of Health (PDH) Division of School Health, the 2019-20 SHARRS Reporting Window Has Been Extended to October 30, 2020. LEAs are asked to share this important reminder with staff responsible for completing the SHARRS report.

​Please also note the following:

• SHARRS programming will close the reporting window at close of business October 30.  Therefore, timely submission of information is essential in order to be reimbursed for the 19-20 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/screenings were unable to be completed last year due to the closure of schools during COVID-19, please note it in the “Comments” box on the ADM page in SHARRS.

Previously, near the end of March the Division of School Health stated that it had been receiving many questions regarding the collection of the chronic disease counts, obtaining exams, screenings, etc. At that time, due to the unforeseen circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not the expectation of the Division of School Health for nurses to collect the chronic disease count information nor concern themselves with obtaining exams, screenings, etc. Instead, it was PDH’s utmost concern that all stay healthy and that more information regarding those issues would be forthcoming. Thus, the above information provides an update regarding SHARRS. More guidance is to come as needed with regard to any other items still to be addressed.