On August 11, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that 10 schools have received grant funding under the Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot Program to instruct K-12 students on the political, economic, and social contributions of individuals with disabilities. 

“This funding will allow schools across the Commonwealth to better serve all learners by creating or expanding disability inclusive programming that reduces stigma and builds belonging,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “The program was developed in collaboration with vested partners and subject matter experts, and this important curriculum will support Pennsylvania’s educators, students, and communities as a whole.”

The awardees are as follows:

• California Academy Charter School, Washington County
• Dunmore School District, Lackawanna County
• East Stroudsburg Area School District, Monroe County
• Greater Johnstown School District, Cambria County
• Hampton Township School District, Allegheny County
• New Foundations Charter School, Philadelphia County
• North Penn School District, Montgomery County
• South Park School District, Allegheny County
• South Fayette Township School District, Allegheny County 
• Wellsboro Area School District, Tioga County

The Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot Program promotes topics and subject matter for instruction to all students, will help learners understand that disability is a natural part of the human condition, and will emphasize the critical contributions of individuals with disabilities. 

Funding will be granted for a three-year period from the date of the award through June 30, 2026. A maximum of $10,000 per year is available to each school entity. The program will impact the overall culture and environment of schools by reducing the stigma of disability by including disability as a part of a school-wide strategic plan.

Additionally, a disability inclusion toolkit will be housed on the PDE SAS portal to help support school entities across the state to infuse disability inclusive curriculum into their existing curricula. The toolkit resources are inclusive of all age/grade levels and include sample lesson plans, professional development offerings/opportunities, ideas for implementing a disability inclusive curriculum, disability-led organizational contacts, and other resources.

Late last month, the PA Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that Pennsylvania is receiving an estimated $42 million in federal funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Program to continue existing and support new activities that make serving individuals in the community possible.

The MFP program allows states to leverage federal dollars to help Medicaid beneficiaries who live in institutions to instead receive services they need in a community. The MFP program provides the state with the financial flexibility to allow services to “follow the person” as older Pennsylvanians or those with a disability transition from an institutional setting back into the community. Two such programs are:

Capacity Building for the Dual Diagnosis Population and Individuals Under 21
The Capacity Building Institute (CBI) Strategy educates, informs, and trains staff to identify and work with individuals who have a dual diagnosis. CBI offers high level education with focus on best practices in supporting individuals with complex needs. Funding also supports education and training to build capacity of the multiple systems involved in serving individuals under 21 with developmental and intellectual disabilities with complex needs transitioning from Residential Treatment Facilities (RTFs.)

START PA
The START (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources, and Treatment) PA Program is a community-based program that assists individuals with an intellectual disability or autism and have a co-occurring mental illness. These individuals are at a higher risk for inpatient hospitalizations when they experience crisis and require a high level of specialized skill in assessment and treatment approaches. START PA builds upon local resources, works to close current gaps in the systems of care, and provides crisis intervention and response services and supports for these individuals in the community instead of in State Hospitals or State Centers.

On August 3, 2023 Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law a budget for fiscal year 2023-24. The budget reportedly makes historic investments in education, delivering the largest increase in basic education funding in the Commonwealth’s history. In the process of signing the budget, the Governor line-item vetoed the full $100 million appropriation for the PASS scholarship program, as he promised he would. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.

Largest Increase in Basic Education Funding
The new budget will spend over $10 billion on K-12 public education funding. making a historic investment in K-12 public schools, including the largest increase in basic education funding (BEF) in Pennsylvania history and universal free breakfast for public school students. The budget includes:
-$100 million for school-based mental health counselors and resources for students.
-$567 million increase in basic education funding for Pennsylvania school districts to be distributed through the BEF Formula, enabling all school districts to have the basic resources they need to provide a high-quality education for Pennsylvania students. This is the largest BEF increase in history.
-$100 million for Level Up to ensure more resources go to Pennsylvania’s most underfunded schools.
-$50 million increase in special education funding, reinforcing Pennsylvania’s commitment to equitable education for all students.
-A $46.5 million increase in funding to provide universal free breakfast to Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million public school students regardless of income and free lunch to all 22,000 Pennsylvania students who are eligible for reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program.
-$10 million to provide Pennsylvania’s student teachers with stipends so the Commonwealth can get more well-trained teachers into our classrooms.
-$7 million to support dual enrollment opportunities for high school students allowing them to take advanced courses for college credit and chart their own course.

Increasing Access to Apprenticeships & Vocational and Technical Education
Building off the Governor’s Executive Order announcing that 92 percent of state government jobs are open to Pennsylvanians without college degrees, this budget would ensure more Pennsylvanians have the freedom to chart their own course by expanding our workforce, investing in vo-tech, and supporting apprenticeship programs, including:
-A $23.5 million investment in workforce training and vo-tech programs.
-A $6 million investment in apprenticeship and pre-apprentice programming that will lead to family-sustaining wages.
-$3.5 million in funding for the Schools-to-Work Program through the Department of Labor & Industry to develop and expand career pathways for high school students via partnerships between schools, employers, organizations, and the Commonwealth.

Investing in Health, Wellness, and Child Care
This budget makes critical investments in public health and wellness, including significant investments in mental health, including:
-A $66.7 million increase for Child Care Services allowing up to 75,000 low-income families to continue to be enrolled in subsidized childcare through the Child Care Works Program.
-$20 million to increase base funding for counties to provide critical mental health services and address deepening workforce shortages.
-Funding to help an additional 850 individuals with an intellectual disability and/or autism get off waitlists for home and community-based services.

For more information, access the governor’s press release  by clicking here.

On July 31, 2023 PA Bureau of Special Education Director Carole L. Clancy sent a PennLink to local educational agencies (LEAs) titled 2023-24 Special Education Compliance Monitoring Schedule. The memo states that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has the responsibility to ensure that all LEAs providing 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.

PDE has developed the schedule for compliance monitoring for the 2023-24 school year in which 123 school districts and charter schools of varying size across the commonwealth will be monitored. The list of selected LEAs is included at the end of this Penn Link. Additional monitoring reviews, if deemed appropriate, may be designated as the school year progresses.

For the 2023-24 school year, the Cyclical Monitoring for Continuous Improvement (CMCI) process continues to be a combination of virtual and onsite components. Verification activities include digital and onsite review of student documents; studies of service delivery; and analysis of policies, procedures, and outcomes. This hybrid CMCI process will include:

• Virtual Components
  -Facilitated Self-Assessment submitted by the LEA, and verification of the information reported in the Facilitated Self-Assessment.
  -Administrative and Exit Interviews
  -Parent and Teacher Interviews

• On-Site Components
  -Student Sample File Review
  -Classroom Observations

Training for this monitoring process is designed as a series of web-based training modules. These modules will be available on thePaTTAN website and Leader Services website in late July. Relevant LEA personnel must complete the trainings and report date of completion to the chairperson by September 11, 2023.

These training modules review the current monitoring process; Facilitated Self-Assessment submission; documents to be submitted; managing web-based documentation; and provide additional resources to assist LEA personnel to prepare for the monitoring process. District superintendents, charter school chief executive officers, special education directors, and additional appropriate personnel at LEAs who will be monitored, will benefit from completing these training modules to familiarize themselves with the monitoring process. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in complying with this federally mandated requirement. PDE recognizes the time and effort required by each LEA to successfully participate in these monitorings. The Chairperson assigned to each monitoring will contact the LEA for follow up. Should you have any questions regarding the 2023-24 monitoring schedule included below, please contact Kelli Franklin at [email protected].