On June 3, 2020, April Queeley from the PDE School Services Office disseminated a document titled School District Reconfigurations, Alteration and/or Curtailment of Programs, Chief Administrator Changes and Updates to school districts and intermediate units informing them that they must update their 2020-21 administrative information in EdNA and notify PDE of changes by July 31, 2020.  
The memo goes on to say that current information enables accurate allocation of funds, and efficient data submission and communication between the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and LEAs. An LEA’s official record is maintained in the Education Names and Addresses (EdNA) system.
Below are instructions for updating/revising the LEA’s information regarding chief administrators, school names and addresses, changes in school grade configurations, and reporting of alteration/curtailment of programs. Note: These instructions do not pertain to charter schools.

SCHOOL OPENINGS/CLOSINGS/RECONFIGURATIONS, BUILDING CLOSURES Changes to school configuration that require review and approval by PDE include closing a school building to K-12 educational use, and closing, opening, renaming, or reconfiguring a school (for example, changing the grade levels of a school).
The process for reviewing and approving these changes requires the LEA to submit the following electronic documentation: (1) a signed letter from the chief school administrator including a summary of the proposed change(s) along with the current school configuration, and the number of students in the current and proposed configurations; (2) board minutes documenting the local board’s approval of those changes; and (3) evidence of the required public hearing, if closing a building to K-12 educational use for the school year.
Detailed instructions for submitting these changes are available on the PDE website at http://www.education.pa.gov/Teachers%20-%20Administrators/School%20Services/Pages/School-Reconfigurations.aspx.   
Requests for the upcoming 2020-21 school year will be processed beginning April 1, 2020 and accepted until July 31, 2020.
To expedite processing, all requests must be submitted electronically to PDE School Services Office at [email protected].   
LEAs are asked to ensure that spam filters allow emails from “[email protected]” and from “Ed, School Configurations” so that the school district will receive the approval emails.

ALTERATION AND/OR CURTAILMENT OF PROGRAMS
Act 82 of 2012 amended the Pennsylvania Public School Code Section 24 P.S. § 11-1124 such that alterations or curtailments of programs under Section 1124(2) no longer require PDE approval. However, PDE must be notified of any alterations or curtailments that are being made under Section 1124(2) that may result in the suspension/furlough of professional staff.
The notification must be submitted electronically to “[email protected]” along with a copy of the board action and a PDF of the signed letter from the superintendent, IU executive director or AVTS/CTC director that explains the planned changes.
Questions may be directed to [email protected].

CHIEF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND COMMISSIONED OFFICERS  It is critical for PDE to have updated information for chief school administrators, including a current email address and emergency contact information. Please notify Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality regarding changes in superintendent, assistant superintendents, executive directors, and assistant executive directors, or when an acting chief school administrator is appointed.
The Commission’s Basic Education Circular (BEC) outlines information required for PDE to issue a commission and the process for updating chief school administrator information in EdNA. The BEC is accessed from the BEC listing at Basic Education Circulars (BECs).
District-level changes such as addresses, phone numbers, websites, and commission renewals or expiration dates should be updated in EdNA by each LEA. Prior to it becoming available in the public EdNA system, PDE staff will review the information submitted. Information on chief school administrators that is published in the annual Education Directory is taken from the EdNA system. 
For information regarding chief school administrators and commissioned officers, LEAs are asked to contact Debra Haines at [email protected].

On May 29, 2020, Governor Wolf stated that there is “no question” that PA school districts will reopen this fall in some manner.  He said that, “Schooling will look different…You’ll probably have more online learning and maybe less classroom learning, there might be fewer students in each classroom.”

In addition, PDE is expected to release specific guidance in the near future that will address salient issues including such things as classroom capacity, online learning, transportation, extracurricular activities, and other logistical concerns. Specific start dates will be determined locally.

Wolf added that “[e]ach of the local education authorities have a lot to say about what school is going to look like,” Wolf said. “We’re providing guidelines.”

For more information, visit the Tribune-Review  by clicking here.

In an effort to maintain fiscal responsibility during economic uncertainty, this week the General Assembly approved a state budget for the first part of the 2020-21 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2020. The plan provides certainty and stability for the next several months while the state awaits more information about how revenues have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. With tax collection dates changed to July and August, more time is needed to ensure we have the data necessary to make smart budgeting decisions for the remainder of the fiscal year. This five-month budget (House Bill 2387) allocates approximately $25.8 billion and includes no new or increased taxes.The governor signed the budget into law yesterday (5/29/20) afternoon. The budget is an interim spending plan that provides five months of funding for most state agencies and services but contains full-year funding for education. This includes level funding of the basic education funding (BEF) subsidy at $6.74 billion and the special education subsidy at $1.186 billion. The Ready to Learn Block Grant remains at $268 million, career and technical education at $99 million, and $5.5 million for career and technical education grants. Pupil transportation is being funded at $612 million under House Bill 2387, and while this may appear to be a reduction, a supplemental appropriation for the 2019-20 fiscal year brought the allocation in line with costs and now represents level funding.

On May 18, 2020, PDE Deputy Secretary Matt Stem notified LEAs via a PennLink titled Availability of the Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) for use by students at home that PDE is providing the Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) as an optional additional resource for their Continuity of Education Plan.  The CDT is a set of online tools designed to provide diagnostic information to guide instruction and provide support to students and teachers. It is aligned with the content assessed on the PSSA and Keystone exams.  PDE anticipates that this option will be available through the reopening of schools in 2020. The memo states that this at-home testing option will allow students to access the CDT from a “public” browser without having it installed on their computers or being configured to their school district’s central office services network. The test-setup tasks that teachers/school assessment coordinators routinely complete for classroom administrations of the CDT are the same for the at-home administrations. Test tickets (login credentials) will be distributed directly to the students by school staff.  Teachers will have access to all CDT data/reports from the at-home administrations as usual.  An overview of the at-home testing option and a guidance document for parents/guardians can be accessed from the following links (or directly from DRC’s INSIGHT Portal under General Information >> Documents >> 2019-2020 Classroom Diagnostic Tools >> Memos/Documents).

At-Home Testing Overview: https://pa.drcedirect.com/Documents/Unsecure/Doc.aspx?id=32997b8e-13cf-42f0-9c2c-af1689d89323

Parent/Guardian Guidance: https://pa.drcedirect.com/Documents/Unsecure/Doc.aspx?id=cc242168-e06e-44d1-9fd4-ef859a519dab

All CDTs (Full and Diagnostic Category) are available for use.  However, it is highly recommended to only have students take the Diagnostic Category CDTs at this time. Students and their parents/guardians may benefit from a much shorter testing experience using the Diagnostic Category CDTs that are aligned to current instructional content. The shorter, more focused testing will still provide teachers and administrators with the same level of reporting and resources to adjust instruction and planning during distance learning.Those interested in using CDT for the first time, contact PDE at [email protected].