In answer to a declaration by the US Surgeon General that vaping is an epidemic across the country, on March 12th the PA House Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced a bill that would close a loophole that allows students to use vapes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems on school property. The bill would also make it a crime to sell such products to persons under the age of 18. HB 97 unanimously passed the House during the 2017-18 legislative session, but wasnât considered in the Senate.
Category: Government Actions
USDE Delay Tactic Vacated by Federal Judge, Significant Disproportionality Rule Now Goes Into Effect (March 9, 2019)
On Thursday, March 8, 2019, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos illegally delayed an Individuals With Disabilities Education Act rule under the Obama administration that required states to identify school districts with âsignificant disproportionalityâ in the number of minority students channeled into special education services, segregated in restrictive classroom settings, or disciplined. The ruling called the USDEâs delay of the special education rule âarbitrary and capricious.â The ruling also vacates the decision by Secretary DeVos to incur a two-year delay on the regulation, which instead must immediately go into effect as states are now required to identify school districts with âsignificant disproportionality.â
PDE Reminds LEAs of State Assessment Participation Requirements (March 3, 2019)
On Friday, March 1, 2019 PA Deputy Education Secretary Matthew Stem released a Penn*Link titled Participation in State Assessments and Parental/Guardian Rights Afforded Under Chapter 4 and Accountability Under ESSA. In the message, LEAs were reminded that, as the PSSA and spring Keystone testing windows approach, they should be mindful of requirements for participation in state assessments.
According to Deputy Secretary Stem, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) continues to require participation of all students; however, in recognition of special circumstances, USDE provides some flexibility for five percent non-participation. This five percent flexibility is important to Pennsylvania, as Chapter 4 regulations allow parents/guardians to have their children excused from testing due to a conflict with religious belief. Though Pennsylvania regulations permit this excusal, USDE does not recognize this as an allowable reason for non-participation and all students who do not participate due to the allowance in Chapter 4 will have a negative impact on an LEAâs/schoolâs participation rate, and potentially achievement rate as well. For more information, LEAs are invited to view the webinar: https://youtu.be/kPIWKVDkqII. The provision in Chapter 4 specifically says:
§ 4.4 General Policies.
(d) School entities shall adopt policies to assure that parents or guardians have the following:
(4) The right to review a State assessment in the school entity during the convenient hours for parents and guardians, at least two weeks prior to their administration, to determine whether a State assessment conflicts with their religious belief. To protect the validity and integrity of the State assessments, each school entity shall have in place procedures to be followed when parents or guardians request to view any state assessment. Procedures must be consistent with guidance provided by the Department in its assessment administration instructions. If upon inspection of a State assessment parents or guardians find the assessment to be in conflict with their religious belief and wish their students to be excused from the assessment, the right of the parents or guardians will not be denied upon written request that states the objection to the applicable school district superintendent, charter school chief executive officer or AVTS director.
Parents/guardians are not to be denied their right to have their children excused if they follow proper protocol. Parents/guardians must sign a confidentiality agreement form prior to reviewing the assessment. After reviewing the assessment, parents/guardians must state in writing to the school district superintendent, charter school chief executive officer, or AVTS director that they wish to have their child(ren) excused from the assessment due to a conflict with religious belief. The specific conflict does not need to be stated; simply that it is a conflict with religious belief.
LEAs and schools are encouraged to seek 100 percent participation in the assessments, but please be reminded of parentsâ/guardiansâ rights under Chapter 4.
USDE Releases FAQs on School Safety and Student Privacy (February 24, 2019)
The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has released a document titled School Resource Officers, School Law Enforcement Units and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which contains frequently asked questions (FAQs) concerning the responsibilities of school districts with regard to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) pursuant to school safety. The FAQs in this document (available on the PAPSA website in “Downloads”) address the responsibilities of school districts under FERPA pertaining to disclosures of student information to law enforcement, including school resource officers (SROs), and others and highlights how FERPA protects student privacy while ensuring the health and safety of students and others in the school community. The document is in response to a report from the Federal Commission on School Safety (FCSS) that stated a “substantial misunderstanding remains at the local level among officials and educators concerning (FERPA), and in particular its application to school-based threats.”
BSE Sends Memo Regarding Postsecondary School Survey – Cohort 3 (February 24, 2019)
On February 19, 2019, Ann Hinkson-Herrmann, PDE Director of the Bureau of Special Education, disseminated a Penn*Link titled State Performance Plan Data Requirements â Postsecondary School Survey â Cohort 3, in reference to the accountability requirements under the IIDEA regarding the secondary transition mandate by which each state is to determine, for the state as a whole, the extent to which students are achieving transition outcomes as stated in their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) (State Performance Plan â Indicator 14). During the 2017-18 school year, LEAs assigned to target sampling Year 3 completed the exit survey. The LEAs assigned to PaPOS target sampling Year 3 need to be aware of the following points as they must fulfill the post-survey requirements during the 2018-19 school year:
- No earlier than one year after the student left school and no later than September 30, 2019, the LEA will need to administer the PaPOS post survey to former students who had an IEP and who graduated, dropped out, or aged out at the end of the 2017-18 school year. (These former students should have been administered the exit survey in Spring 2018.) All this information will be entered by the LEA through the Leader Services online system.
- Intermediate Unit and Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) transition consultants will monitor the LEAâs progress and assist as needed with the PaPOS procedure.
- The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education will provide training on the implementation and electronic submission of the PaPOS target sampling Year 3 to LEAs via a webinar scheduled for April 17, 2019, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Please register for this webinar at www.pattan.net.Â
For questions about this process, please contact Hillary Mangis, Educational Consultant at the PaTTAN-Pittsburgh Office, at (800) 446-5607, ext. 6878 (inside PA) or via email at [email protected].