On December 6th, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) School Safety and Security Committee announced the availability of funds to implement projects to reduce and/or prevent violence for specific purposes.  One aspect of Act 44 of 2018 includes up to $7.5 million in funding for the following purposes:

1.      Increasing access to quality trauma-informed support services and behavioral health care by linking the community with local trauma support and behavioral health systems.

2.      Providing health services and intervention strategies by coordinating the services provided by eligible applicants and coordinated care organizations, public health entities, nonprofit youth service providers and community-based organizations.

3.      Providing mentoring and other intervention models to children and their families who have experienced trauma or are at risk of experiencing trauma, including those who are low-income, homeless, in foster care, involved in the criminal justice system, unemployed, experiencing a mental illness or substance abuse disorder or not enrolled in or at risk of dropping out of an educational institution.

4.      Fostering and promoting communication between the school entity, community and law enforcement.

5.      Any other program or model designed to reduce community violence and approved by the committee.

 All interested applicants are encouraged to review the 2019 Community Violence Prevention/Reduction solicitation for more information on the specific requirements. Interested parties are asked to click on this link to review the solicitation:https://www.pccdegrants.pa.gov/Egrants/Public/OpenAnnouncements.aspx.

At its November 2018 meeting, the PA State Board of Education performed the following actions:

• On Wednesday, November 14th, reviewed proposed PDE revisions to the regulations for the certification of professional personnel in Chapter 49 of the PA School Code to address issues identified in meetings with stakeholders held by PDE. Such issues include, but are not limited to, changes to the clinical training experience, addressing teacher shortages, and revising assessment requirements for licensure. However, it is important to note that the proposed revisions do not include the age/grade spans for certificates since PDE plans to work with the General Assembly in that regard, except for changes already made in Act 82 of 2018 that addresses special education certification. The State Board plans to hold public hearings on the draft changes on dates yet to be determined.
• On Thursday, November 15th, adopted a new master plan for basic education, which must be updated on a ten-year cycle. The new master plan for basic education can be seen at https://www.stateboard.education.pa.gov/Documents/About%20the%20Board/Board%20Actions/2018/Master%20Plan%20for%20Basic%20Education.pdf

The PA Senate adopted Senate Resolution 417, which directs the Joint State Government Commission to establish an advisory committee to study and report, within one year, on the effects of later start times for high school students.

Earlier this week, Gov. Wolf signed Act 156 of 2018, formerly Senate Bill 1078 , which amends the Sunshine Act to allow public agencies, including school boards, to discuss security measures in executive sessions. The new law complements Act 39 of 2018, which amends the PA School Code to allow public school entities, such as school boards, to go into executive session to discuss matters related to school safety.