Category: Government Actions

PA Reaches Vaccine Milestone (February 23, 2022)

On February 23, 2022, it was announced that Pennsylvania reached a new COVID-19 vaccine milestone with 95 percent of Pennsylvanians ages 18 and older receiving at least one vaccination. In fact, as of February 23rd, Pennsylvania vaccine providers have administered 28,685,125 COVID-19 vaccines.

In the week prior to the announcement, the PA Department of Health (PDH) released updated post-vaccination data which continues to show that COVID-19 vaccinations are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. To view the press release, click here.

OCR Provides “Fact Sheet: Providing Students with Disabilities Free Appropriate Public Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Addressing the Need for Compensatory Services Under Section 504” (February 20, 2022)

The U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues this fact sheet to remind elementary and secondary public schools of their obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide appropriate evaluations and services to students with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including schools’ responsibility to provide compensatory services.

Background: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

Section 504 is a Federal law that prohibits disability discrimination and guarantees that students with disabilities have equal access to educational opportunities, including a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in public elementary and secondary schools.1 FAPE under Section 504 is the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet the individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of non-disabled students are met.2

Students with Disabilities Retain Their Right to FAPE During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for schools, students, and parents, the responsibility for schools to comply with Section 504 continues regardless of how schools provide education: virtually, in-person, or with a hybrid learning model. In ensuring eligible students with disabilities receive FAPE under Section 504, schools must make decisions that consider students’ health, safety, and well-being.3

When needed to ensure students with disabilities are receiving FAPE, schools must convene a group of persons knowledgeable about the student to make an individualized determination of whether a student’s current services should be changed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the impact of loss of services on skills, mental health and trauma concerns, or the physical health effects of long COVID (post-COVID conditions).4 Regardless of the challenges schools face during the pandemic, students with disabilities retain their right to FAPE under Section 504.

Students with Disabilities May Be Entitled to Compensatory Services if They Did Not Receive Appropriate Evaluations or Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

If a student with a disability did not receive appropriate evaluations or services, including the services that the school had previously determined they were entitled to, then the school must convene a group of persons knowledgeable about the student to make an individualized determination whether, and to what extent, compensatory services are required.5 Unlike the FAPE inquiry, which requires the group to determine appropriate services going forward, the compensatory services inquiry requires looking backwards to determine the educational and other benefits that likely would have accrued from services the student should have received in the first place.6

Compensatory services are required to remedy any educational or other deficits that result from the student with a disability not receiving the evaluations or services to which they were entitled.7 For example, a school may need to provide compensatory services for a student who did not receive physical therapy during school closures or for a student who did not receive a timely evaluation. Providing compensatory services to a student does not draw into question a school’s good faith efforts during these difficult circumstances. It is a remedy that recognizes the reality that students experience injury when they do not receive appropriate and timely initial evaluations, re-evaluations, or services, including the services that the school had previously determined they were entitled to, regardless of the reason.

In general, the individualized determinations of whether, and to what extent, compensatory services are required must be made by a group of persons knowledgeable about the student, including for example, school nurses, teachers, counselors, psychologists, school administrators, social workers, doctors and/or family members.8 The following factors may be relevant for the group of knowledgeable persons to consider in determining the appropriate type and amount of compensatory services:

  • the frequency and duration of missed instruction and related services;
  • whether special education and/or related services that were provided during the pandemic were appropriate based on the student’s individual needs;
  • a student’s present level of performance;
  • previous rates of progress;
  • the results of updated evaluations;
  • whether evaluations were delayed; and
  • any other relevant information.9

Ideally, the team of knowledgeable persons will come to a mutually acceptable decision regarding compensatory services to mitigate the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic on the child’s receipt of services.

Under Section 504, if a parent or guardian believes that their child has not received or is not receiving FAPE, does not have equal access to other services provided by the school, or did not receive or is not receiving appropriate compensatory services, they may seek a hearing under the school’s Section 504 due process procedures10 or file a complaint with OCR. A school’s agreement to provide compensatory services is one way OCR remedies disability compliance issues when appropriate.

For information on how to file a complaint with OCR, please see https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html.

Sec. Ortega Highlights the Importance of CTE (February 17, 2022)

Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Dr. Noe Ortega today visited Dauphin County Technical School to highlight the importance of career and technical education and celebrate CTE Month with administrators, faculty, and students.

“Through career and technical centers, students can work together with industry professionals in their schools and communities, network and build connections across the commonwealth, fulfill local workforce needs, and promote the valuable role career and technical education plays in our educational system. These innovative programs are built on foundations of academic rigor and high expectations for student learning and success,” Ortega said. “The achievements and successes of these students demonstrate how these schools advance the narrative that there are multiple pathways to postsecondary success for Pennsylvania’s students.”

In addition, to help in creating multiple pathways to success for students, Governor Wolf has proposed a $6 million increase for career and technical education in his final budget.

Over the past seven years, PA has invested $116 million in science, computer science and technical education, including $80 million in the innovative PAsmart program, and $36 million in apprenticeships and workforce training. Since 2015, the number of career and technical education students earning industry-recognized credentials has increased by 38.7 percent and the number of credentials earned by students enrolled in CTE programs has grown by 33.6 percent.

CTE Month is a public awareness campaign organized by the Association for Career and Technical Education that takes place each February to celebrate the value of CTE and the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country.

To view the press release, click here.

Sec. Ortega Announces Regs Aimed at Better Serving Students (February 11, 2022)

On February 10, 2022, Secretary of Education Dr. Noe Ortega announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) submitted its final-form charter school regulations to the General Assembly and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) for immediate review. The regulations will assist charter schools by clarifying their responsibilities as taxpayer-funded public schools under the Charter School Law.

“These regulations will promote transparency, equity, quality, and accountability in the implementation of the Charter School Law,” said Secretary Ortega. “Charter schools are supported by commonwealth taxpayers, and these schools will receive nearly $3 billion in publicly paid tuition during the 2021-2022 school year. PDE has drafted these regulations to ensure that parents and taxpayers are fully aware of how these resources are being used.”

The regulations clarify several elements of the state Charter School Law (CSL) that negatively impact school choice for Pennsylvania students and families.

The regulations:

  • Provide clear application requirements for entities seeking to open a charter school, regional charter school, and cyber charter school;
  • Ensure that all Pennsylvania students are able to access charter schools;
  • Clarify the ethics requirements for charter and cyber charter school trustees;
  • Require school districts and charter schools to follow the same fiscal management and auditing standards;
  • Streamline the process for charter schools to request tuition payments from school districts and the state; and
  • Provide a consistent, common-sense method for charter schools to meet the employee health care requirements in state law.

PDE began developing the regulations in August 2019. Nearly 2,000 comments from charter schools, school districts, professional organizations, lawmakers, and the public were considered as part of the process.

Charter schools are public schools funded by taxpayers through school district and state funds. A school district must grant the school a charter before students from the school district may enroll in the charter school. The Pennsylvania Department of Education authorizes cyber charter schools, since they serve the entire state.

There are 179 charter schools and cyber charter schools operating in Pennsylvania this school year. All 67 counties in Pennsylvania have students enrolled in some form of charter school.

Click here for access to the press release.