On May 3, 2024, Carole L. Clancy, Director of the PDE Bureau of Special Education, sent a PennLink message to all LEAs titled Local Educational Agency Special Education Data Reports Online Preview. The message states that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) requires states to report annually to the public on the performance of each Local Educational Agency (LEA) in the state on the targets established in the State Performance Plan. Annually, states are required to report LEA performance on the following State Performance Plan school-age indicators for students with disabilities: Graduation Rates; Dropout Rates; Participation and Performance on Statewide Assessments; Suspension Rates; Educational Environments; School-Facilitated Parent Involvement; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity Receiving Special Education; Disproportionate Representation by Race/Ethnicity in Specific Disability Categories; Timelines for Initial Evaluation; Individualized Education Program Secondary Transition Goals and Services; and Post-School Outcomes.

To fulfill the State Performance Plan public reporting requirement for the 2022-23 school year, each LEA will have an online Special Education Data Report (SEDR) that shows local performance on the above indicators. In some instances, an LEA’s report will not have data for every indicator (e.g., the data comes from cyclical monitoring and the LEA was not monitored in 2022-23 or the data set is too small to be reliable) and a reason code will be on the report.

Prior to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) publishing these reports publicly, LEAs will have an opportunity to preview the website and their reports. The preview period will begin May 3, 2024 and end on May 10, 2024. To review your State Performance Plan SEDR, visit Preview of LEA SEDR and select your LEA from the drop-down list. The accompanying narrative explains how data are obtained and how to interpret the reports and can be found at PennData > Public Reporting > State Performance Plan Narrative (psu.edu).

If your LEA has questions or concerns about the data displayed, first consult your Intermediate Unit Data Manager to ensure that the data submitted to the state matches what your LEA provided. If questions remain following these internal reviews and verifications, contact Jodi Rissinger, Data Manager with PDE, via email at

[email protected] or Dan Ficca at [email protected]. When the SEDR Reports go live on the public site, they can be accessed by visiting the Special Education Data Reporting (formerly PennData) website at SEDR Report Dashboard (psu.edu) and selecting your LEA from the drop-down list. The most current State Performance Plan approved by the U.S. Department of Education is available for reference on the PDE website at www.education.pa.gov and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network website at www.pattan.net.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) has announced the submission deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), with relation to the Pennsylvania State Grant Program, has been extended to June 1.
The launch of the FAFSA application for the upcoming academic year was delayed almost three months as the FAFSA underwent changes as a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was intended to streamline the financial aid application process. The U.S. Department of Education rolled out the new FAFSA on Dec. 31 for the 2024-25 academic year, but it has since encountered a number of issues, delays and errors in processing student applications.
The PA State Grant Program uses the FAFSA form as its primary application point to determine student eligibility for a PA State Grant award. Historically, May 1 was used as the deadline for students to complete their FAFSA for PA State Grant purposes.
More information is available at pheaa.org.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) has announced the submission deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), with relation to the Pennsylvania State Grant Program, has been extended to June 1.

The launch of the FAFSA application for the upcoming academic year was delayed almost three months as the FAFSA underwent changes as a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was intended to streamline the financial aid application process. The U.S. Department of Education rolled out the new FAFSA on Dec. 31 for the 2024-25 academic year, but it has since encountered a number of issues, delays and errors in processing student applications.

The PA State Grant Program uses the FAFSA form as its primary application point to determine student eligibility for a PA State Grant award. Historically, May 1 was used as the deadline for students to complete their FAFSA for PA State Grant purposes.

More information is available at pheaa.org.

On April 22, 2024, BSE Director Carole L. Clancy, sent a memo to all LEAs titled 2023-24 School Year Restraint Information System Collection Tracking and Training Third and Fourth Quarter Reporting Window. The memo states that the Restraint Information System Collection (RISC) is open for data entry for the third and fourth quarter of the 2023-24 school year (restraints occurring between January 1 – July 14, 2024). The RISC program has been enhanced and gives local educational agencies (LEAs) greater opportunity to provide both more detail about restraints and to analyze trends to reduce the use of physical restraints.

LEAs are required to report RISC data quarterly during the 2023-24 school year. This includes reporting zero restraints during a quarter when restraints did not occur. Additionally, LEAs still are required to comply with 22 Pa. Code § 14.133(f) or 22 Pa. Code § 711.46(f) Positive Behavior Support related to training of personnel in specific procedures, methods, and techniques. However, 22 Pa. Code § 14.133(f) and 22 Pa. Code § 711.46(f) Positive Behavior Support does not require LEAs to acquire specific certification in the use of restraints and leaves this up to the LEAs and their specific training model. The training of personnel should provide varied intervention and strategies needed to address problem behaviors. The types of intervention chosen for a specific student or eligible young child shall be the least intrusive necessary. The use of restraints is considered a measure of last resort, only to be used after other less restrictive measures, including de-escalation techniques.

The Bureau of Special Education (BSE) continues to require LEAs to report the restraints that occurred in each quarter. This reporting process permits LEAs to report restraints in a timely manner which, in turn, allows LEAs to monitor patterns of episodic behaviors and address them accordingly.

The quarterly windows of reporting for the 2023-24 school year are as follows:

Quarter	Begin Date	End Date	Last Day to Report	Zero Window Opens	Zero Window Closes
1	07/01/2023	09/30/2023	10/19/2023	10/01/2023	10/18/2023
2	10/01/2023	12/31/2023	01/15/2024	01/01/2024	01/15/2024
3	01/01/2024	03/31/2024	04/14/2024	04/01/2024	04/14/2024
4	04/01/2024	06/30/2024	07/14/2024	07/01/2024	07/14/2024

The RISC reporting design provides an “End Date” for LEAs to comply with their end of quarterly reporting. In addition, there is a two-week window date labeled “Last Day to Report” to allow LEAs to gather and report on those students that attend an out-of-district facility where they were placed in a restraint during that quarter. This two-week period is also a designated time for LEAs that had no restraints during the quarter to report zero in RISC. BSE will continue to send out reminder PENN*LINKS about this quarterly reporting requirement.

BSE will monitor the restraint information reported by LEAs. RISC requires each LEA to report the event that occurred prior to the incident, the incident, the unsafe behavior, and the de-escalation techniques used.

The LEA must notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the use of a restraint and schedule an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting within 10 school days of the use of the restraint in the educational program, unless the parent(s)/guardian(s), after written notice, agree(s) in writing to waive the IEP meeting.

Restraints occurring during Extended School Year sessions should be reported within three weeks of the start of the school year.

In reviewing restraints submitted in RISC of school-age IEP students, the Special Education Advisers of BSE will continue to focus on LEA monitoring responsibilities, as well as:

• Training of staff in de-escalation techniques;
• Excessive time of restraint;
• Excessive use of parent/guardian waivers;
• Mechanical restraints;
• Injuries;
• Number of restraints;
• Ten-day window (school days) to convene an IEP meeting after a restraint occurs; and
• Handcuffing of students or students charged with a Safe Schools offense.

A new RISC reporting webinar has been recently posted on the RISC website: apps.leaderservices.com/_risc/index.aspx. This RISC reporting webinar link is located below the login box of the Leader Services RISC sign-in page. This webinar explains the reporting and investigation process and how to use the RISC system. The webinar also shares how to update your LEA’s contact information. All parties involved with RISC are highly encouraged to view this webinar to learn how to report restraints, how to use the system, and to understand the regulatory responsibility of LEAs.

Additionally, BSE’s “Guidelines for De-escalation and the Use of and Reporting of Restraints in Educational Programs” is available for review on the RISC website.

Questions regarding RISC should be directed the RISC Resource Account at [email protected].