Category: Government Actions

Now Open in Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal (FRCPP): 2026-2027 Annual School Reconfiguration Change Process, 2025-2026 Charter School Annual Report, and Compliance Updates (June 28, 2026)

The 2026-2027 Annual School Reconfiguration Change Process
The window for School Reconfiguration changes in the FRCPP opened , 2026. All changes must be submitted and received by PDE no later than 11:59 pm on , 2026, to be effective for the coming school year.

The following types of school reconfigurations must be submitted through the FRCPP and can only be made during this window: 

  • School name changes 
  • School mailing address changes
  • School physical address changes
  • School grade configuration changes (adding or removing)
  • School closure configurations
  • School opening reconfigurations 
  • Student enrollment changes

The 2025-2026 Charter School Annual Report
The 2025-2026 Charter School Annual Report opened , 2026. The purpose of the Charter School Annual Report is to provide a comprehensive overview of the performance and financial health of charter schools in Pennsylvania and are essential for the annual review process. Every charter school (brick-and-mortar and cyber) in Pennsylvania is required to complete and submit the Charter School Annual Report in the FRCPP by , 2026.

Compliance Updates
There will be several compliance requirements due over the next two months for the 2025/2026 school year, which are submitted via the Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal.

  • Due 6/30/2026, each chief school administrator must update a biennial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with local police departments, ensuring it includes threat assessment coordination procedures per Section 1319-B(d)(4), with signatures from all covered building principals.
  • Due 7/31/2026, administrators must report all incidents involving violence, weapons, controlled substances, alcohol, or tobacco on school property; LEAs with a single police jurisdiction should upload one signed Chief Law Enforcement template, while those with multiple agencies must upload a separately signed form for each. 
  • Due 7/31/2026, each school entity must review its Bullying Policy every three years and annually submit a copy to the office. 
  • Due 7/31/2026., Fire and Security Drill ACS needs signed.  Fire evacuation drills must be conducted monthly while school is in session, requiring full removal of staff and students to a safe outdoor location. Reporting is not required for months with fewer than seven school days.

Reminder, the bus evacuation drill (which was due ) must be conducted twice yearly per Pennsylvania School Code, covering emergency exits, fire extinguishers, and proper evacuation procedures.

Summer 2026 SUN Bucks Program is Underway (June 27, 2026)

Bucks, Pennsylvania’s Summer EBT program, is a grocery benefits program that provides households with a one-time payment of $120 for each eligible child to buy food while school is out. Benefits can be used at local participating retailers to purchase groceries.

Many children will get these benefits automatically, but some households will need to apply. The benefits will be added to an existing SNAP/TANF EBT card or a newly issued Summer EBT card. 

Note: Benefits for Summer of 2026 will begin being issued to all eligible children in early June.

Children who applied and were approved for free/reduced-price school meals or who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits are automatically eligible for Bucks. 

Most children who get Medicaid are also automatically eligible for Bucks because their income level is under the income level for the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program. Children who get Medicaid through the Children with Special Needs category (PH 95) and children who are in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will have to apply for Bucks.  For more information, visit the SUN Bucks webpage or call the Bucks FAQ Line at 1-877-762-1575.

Court Temporarily Blocks USDE Regs That Exclude Graduate Ed. Degrees from Consideration as ‘Professional’ Degrees (June 26, 2026)

On June 24, 2026, a federal court temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) from applying new regulations significantly restricting which graduate degrees count as “professional.”

The designation allows students pursuing such degrees to take out up to $200,000 in federal student loans — double the amount permitted for other graduate programs. Among notable omissions were graduate education programs, a move that advocates said could harm educator pipelines.

The U.S. District Judge ruled that the USDE’s definition of professional degrees, which it released in April 2026, is likely inconsistent with the definition that Congress included when creating the caps last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The judge also said the USDE’s rulemaking process likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Impeachment Proceedings Have Begun Against Ed. Sec. McMahon (June 25, 2026)

On Thursday, June 25, 2026, Linda McMahon became the first U.S. education secretary to be the target of impeachment proceedings in what is being viewed as a largely symbolic action. Democrats have also introduced articles of impeachment against multiple members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In 2024, the Republican-controlled House impeached Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for what members said was a failure to stop migrants from crossing the border, but the Senate dismissed the two articles against him. In fact, such attempts have rarely succeeded.

Sources:
The 74
K-12 Dive

USDE Cuts Result in OSERS and Other Suboffices Left with No Employees, Statutory Functions Affected (June 23, 2026)

As reported by K-12 Dive, a report released on June 22, 2026 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that staffing reductions at the USDE at the beginning of the second Trump administration appear to have impacted units that were performing legal duties. In fact, the staff reduction of at least 1,579 of 3,902 agency employees — or 40% of its overall workforce — between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 31, 2025, resulted in the elimination of several suboffices in 15 of the USDE’s 17 offices. These included some that “appear to have been performing statutory functions or oversight and monitoring functions,” according to the OIG, which is an independent arm of the agency. The downsizing of the USDE also resulted in the termination of 90 grants with funding totaling $504 million. Teacher training and mental health services were most impacted by the grant terminations. In addition, the USDE terminated 129 contracts worth $1.3 billion.

In the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 14% of the office’s 177 staff at three suboffices were impacted by the March 11, 2025, RIF or by other means. This downsizing resulted in no employees in those OSERS suboffices to coordinate, monitor and oversee activities relating to policy formulation, program planning, regulations, evaluation, and grants and contract scheduling activities.

Also, the OIG report as pointed out that the USDE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had 598 employees at 11 regional offices and 18 suboffices on Jan. 20, 2025. The USDE’s reduction-in-force on March 11, 2025 impacted six regional offices, seven suboffices, and 291 employees. Another 55 OCR employees left through other means between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 31, 2025, which adds up to a total of 346 employees lost. The OIG report also points out that the statutory or oversight functions performed by the 13 impacted OCR regional offices and suboffices that had no employees by March 31, 2025, included conducting complaint investigations and compliance reviews of preschool, elementary and secondary institutions, colleges and other entities.

While the 83-page report does not offer recommendations, it does question the USDE’s move to withhold some of the documents and interviews requested by OIG due to ongoing litigation challenging the downsizing efforts. As stated in the OIG report summary, “Although the Department has repeatedly cited concerns about ongoing judicial proceedings and court orders, it has not explained how granting us access to requested documents and to staff would place it at risk of noncompliance with those proceedings and court orders.”

In the final report, OIG said the USDE provided no “corroborating evidence” that it continued performing certain statutory responsibilities referenced in the report since the March 2025 RIF.

Source: K-12 Dive