Category: State Government Actions

PACSSA Sends Endorsement of the Pennsylvania School Counseling Services Act to General Assembly (June 10, 2024)

The newly-formed Pennsylvania Coalition of Student Services Associations (PACSSA) will be sending a resolution to members of the PA General Assembly in support of House Bill 1665 and its companion bill Senate Bill 33. The resolution states that, “PACSSA strongly supports legislation aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of school counselors in Pennsylvania.  We understand the critical role that school counseling services play in fostering healthy student development, supportive school environments, addressing student mental health needs, and promoting success for all students within our educational systems.”

It goes on to say, “The Pennsylvania School Counseling Services Act (HB 1665 and SB 33) represents a significant step forward in prioritizing the well-being and success of Pennsylvania’s students.  We urge you to support this critical legislation and join us in advocating for its swift passage and implementation.”

PACSSA and PAPSA urge all educators to support this important proposed legislation since, pupil/student services is critical in ensuring the academic success and overall well-being of all students.

HB 1665 has been in the House Education Committee since April 4, 2024. SB 33 was referred to the Senate Education Committee on June 7, 2024.

To access the resolution, click here.
Access HB 1665 here.
Access SB 33 here.

“Survey of Parents of Students with Disabilities” BSE Memo is Sent to LEAs (June 9, 2024)

A recent PennLink memo from PDE Bureau of Special Education Director Carole L. Clancy titled Survey of Parents of Students with Disabilities states that Pennsylvania’s State Performance Plan requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) include collecting and reporting data on the involvement of families in special education programs. Specifically, states must report annually to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the public on State Performance Plan Indicator 8 which is the: “percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.”

Like many other states, Pennsylvania is collecting this data through a large-scale survey. Pennsylvania reports results of the survey to OSEP in its State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report. This report is posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) websites. Reporting on local educational agency (LEA) performance is done through the Special Education Data Reports on the PennData website.

To ensure that parents from every LEA in the commonwealth are included in the survey, PDE developed a sampling plan that was approved by OSEP. Under this sampling, each year PDE collects data from a representative sample of parents in approximately one-fifth of the LEAs in the Commonwealth. In addition, not all parents will receive the survey as it is a sample within each LEA. LEAs in this year’s sample will have parents receiving the survey selected from PA Special Education Data using a stratified random sample of school age students in each LEA. Surveys will be mailed directly to the parents from Leader Services in the next few weeks.

The survey being used was developed by the National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring under a grant awarded to that center by OSEP. The survey can be viewed at Leader Services-Parent Survey. Additional information about the survey can be found on the PaTTAN website at PA Indicator 8 Information.

A letter that accompanies the survey assures parents that their responses will be confidential. Parents may direct questions about the survey to the Special Education Consult Line at 800-879-2301. Should parents contact LEA personnel about the survey, we ask that LEA staff encourage them to participate in the survey process.

At this point, LEAs do not need to take any specific action. However, if LEAs wish to alert families to watch out for the surveys, it may serve to facilitate and encourage participation.

Questions regarding this PENN*LINK and requests for translation of the survey into any language other than English and Spanish, may be addressed to Barbara Mozina, Special Education Adviser, at [email protected].

BSE Sends Indicator 13 Memo to LEAs (June 9, 2024)

On June 5, 2024, Bureau of Special Education (BSE) Director Carole L. Clancy sent a PennLink memo to LEAs titled Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring – A Focus on Secondary Transition (Indicator 13). The memo states that in response to the accountability requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 Part B State Performance Plans, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) and intermediate unit transition consultants will provide sustained professional development for targeted local educational agencies (LEAs). This targeted professional development will assist with creating compliant and effective individualized secondary transition programming for students with disabilities.

The requirements for each LEA assigned to the 2024-2025 Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition training are as follows:
-Develop an administrative team to support the targeted training and technical assistance process. The administrative team is required to attend a webinar on September 12, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Administrative team members will need to register in advance for this training at www.pattan.net, or by following this link: https://www.pattan.net/Events/Webinar/Course-2919/Events/Session-39593
-Lead contact person to complete an interview/survey regarding effective practices for secondary transition as facilitated by an intermediate unit and/or PaTTAN consultant. Lead contact will work with IU Transition TaC/PaTTAN Consultant to develop and implement a local training plan for the 2024-2025 school year.
-With support from the IU Transition TaC/PaTTAN Consultant, identify targeted staff (i.e. special education directors, building principals, transition coordinators, special education teachers, speech/language therapists, guidance counselors, school psychologists, career tech ed staff, and other LEA staff involved in secondary programming) to participate in IEP pre-reviews using the PA Indicator 13 checklist, complete IEP post-reviews, participate in coaching activities as warranted with IU Transition TaC, and complete an online (Schoology) course.

The required online (Schoology) course will yield 6 Act 48 hours and must be completed by February 28, 2025. PLEASE NOTE: All staff must register for the Schoology course. Registration can be found at www.pattan.net, or by following the link: https://www.pattan.net/Events/On-line-Courses/Course-2920/Events/Session-39737.

The registration key to register for the Schoology course is IND13-2024. This registration key must be shared with all LEA staff members identified to participate in this year’s cyclical monitoring preparation activities so they can complete the registration process. For questions concerning Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition training for 2024-2025, please contact one of these PaTTAN Educational Consultants: Darla Bryant [email protected] or Tim Knight [email protected].

BSE Sends July 2024 Special Education Table 8A Submission Reminder (June 8, 2024)

According to a June 7, 2024 PennLink memo from BSE Director Carole L. Clancy titled July 2024 Special Education Table 8A Submission, in July 2024 Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) assigned to this year’s reporting cohort will submit their data for Special Education Table 8A, Report of Children with Disabilities Evaluated July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Table 8A data is collected on a cyclical basis. Those LEAs that are to submit Table 8A to the Bureau of Special Education (BSE) will be informed of such in June this year. Regardless of their reporting status, all LEAs in the state must continue to collect and maintain data regarding timely evaluations so that the LEA can assess its on-going compliance and program effectiveness and be prepared to report data to the state when notified to do so.

Table 8A is used for two purposes:

  1. To calculate and report to the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) an annual state rate of compliance with timelines for completing initial evaluations of students to determine their eligibility for special education under the State Performance Plan; and
  1. To report to the public on the performance of LEAs in the commonwealth in complying with the required timelines.

Data collected over the past several years on compliance with timelines for initial evaluations show that while many LEAs have achieved full compliance, others have not. When LEAs do not comply and improve performance, the overall state rate reported to OSEP is negatively affected. Further, any LEA that reports less than 100 percent compliance with timelines will be required to engage in quarterly reporting to the BSE to document correction of noncompliance. Therefore, it is imperative that all LEAs be as accurate as possible in collecting and reporting Table 8A data.

OSEP has advised that states should factor out from their Table 8A calculation those students whose evaluation timelines are affected by two exceptions in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations. Specifically, Section 300.301(d) allows that the 60-day timeline for completing initial evaluations does not apply to a public agency if (1) the parent of a child repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the child for the evaluation, or (2) a child enrolls in a school of another agency after the timeline has begun and prior to a determination by the prior agency as to whether the child is a child with a disability. This second exception applies only if the subsequent public agency is making sufficient progress to ensure prompt completion of the evaluation and the parent and subsequent agency agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be completed. To ensure accurate reporting, it is critical that when a delay in meeting timelines occurs, LEAs must correctly code the reasons for the delay in accordance with the exceptions above.

The Table 8A Template for the July 2024 submission is available on the Special Education Data Reporting website at https://penndata.hbg.psu.edu under the Data Management tab in the 2023-2024 section; scroll down to Table 8A Template.

Applicable LEAs must submit Table 8A to their Intermediate Unit Data Manager no later than July 12, 2024. Failure to submit Table 8A by July 12, 2024, may impact the BSE’s assessment of the LEA’s ability to meet the requirements of IDEA.

Questions regarding completion and submission of Table 8A should be referred to the Intermediate Unit Data Manager. Questions regarding this Penn*Link may be referred to Jodi Rissinger in the BSE at [email protected].

Higher Education Bills Introduced in General Assembly (June 8, 2024)

On June 7, 2024, Senator Jay Costa and Representative Peter Schweyer introduced SB 1248 and HB 2398 which would lower college costs for students, help students build skills they need to find good-paying jobs and build a life in Pennsylvania, reinvest in publicly funded colleges and universities, improve coordination between institutions of higher education, help close workforce shortage gaps by helping more Pennsylvanians earn college credentials, attract more people to PA and keep them in PA, and serve as an economic driver for generations to come.

The legislation includes three elements that when taken together will address the longstanding challenges faced by the higher education sector by: creating a State Board of Higher Education to increase coordination between higher education institutions in order to increase accessibility, fill critical workforce gaps, and train students for the jobs Pennsylvania needs while maintaining local control; investing in publicly funded colleges and universities to help them reach their full potential via a predictable, transparent funding formula that will align state dollars with the needs of the Commonwealth; and making college more affordable by ensuring that Pennsylvanians making up to the median income pay no more than $1,000 in tuition and fees per semester at state-owned universities and community colleges.

The plan also increases Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) state grants by $1,000 for students from a family that makes up to the median income, bringing the maximum award up from $5,750 to $6,750 beginning in FY2025-26.

According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), Pennsylvania is one of the least affordable states to attend college, with only 18% of two-year institutions and 0% of four-year institutions attainable for low- and moderate-income families. Nationally, 63% of two-year institutions and 31% of four-year institutions are affordable for that same population of students.

As tuition has increased students have turned away from Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities. PASSHE enrollment has dropped 30% over the past decade. Total community college enrollment has dropped by 37%, and some community colleges, PASSHE universities, and Penn State branch campuses have seen enrollment drop by almost 50% over the same time period.

The result is a significant gap between the number of jobs in Pennsylvania that require a high-quality degree or credential – such as nurses, teachers, and mental health professionals – and the number of Pennsylvanians who can fill those jobs. We currently need 61,000 more people with the right degrees or credentials to fill those open jobs, but conservative estimates show that gap will increase to at least 210,000 within a decade if we don’t take action.

Governor Shapiro unveiled his blueprint in January to lower costs, increase college attainment, and close workforce gaps – and he called for higher education leaders, legislators, students, parents, and stakeholders to bring all of their best ideas to the table to build on that foundation. The plan is informed by substantial feedback from higher education leaders and other vested partners across the Commonwealth and will ensure Pennsylvania students have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed. This legislation aims to ensure that PA’s higher education sector has the direction and support it needs to serve as an economic driver for Pennsylvania for generations to come.  For more information on Governor Shapiro’s plan for higher education and proposed budget, visit shapirobudget.pa.gov.