On November 13 and 14, 2024, the PA State Board of Education held its bimonthly meetings. On Wednesday, November 13th, PDE’s Raymond Fields presented an update on the Implementation of Pennsylvania’s Educator Workforce Strategy, which included a report on special ed. teacher shortages. To view the slides for that report click here.

On Thursday, November 14th, Deputy Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Ed. Dr. Carrie Rowe reported on PA Firefly, a free tool to schools that is being piloted this year by volunteering LEAs and is designed to provide a snapshot of student progress in specific subjects in light of established benchmarks. It is not required that school districts use the tool, but it will be made available to them free of charge. Her report was followed up by a report from PDE’s Dr. Brian Campbell on results from an examination of Future Ready Index data that showed rate increases with regard to graduation, career readiness, attendance, English Language Learning growth, science scores, and math scores. He also touted the advantages of online proficiency testing, which included inclusivity, accommodation, privacy, expedited reporting, and answer misalignment.

Dr Lee Williams reported on behalf of the Academic Standards/Chapter 4 Committee that the most recent Chapter 4 revisions are slated for consideration by the IRRC on December 5, 2024 and are subsequently scheduled to take effect in early 2025. The next Chapter 4 standards review will focus on health, safety, and phys.ed. as well as the arts and humanities.

The lone action item on the agenda was to approve the renewal of Cognia’s authority to act as a private academic schools accrediting organization.

Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) continues to be a leader in producing a comprehensive set of documents detailing PA state mandates pertaining to education. BCIU Early Childhood and Student Services Director Dr. Michelle Reichard-Huff has again provided PAPSA and its members with excellent updated documents regarding these mandates. This latest version was updated October 2024. Many thanks to Dr. Reichard-Huff and her BCIU team!!

For your reference, please see the following 2024 State Mandates Documents created by the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU):

*State Mandates Document (100+ Page Comprehensive Summary)
*Summary of Changes to the State Mandates Document (from the prior March 2024 edition)
*State Mandates Checklist (16-Page List of Requirements)
*Summary of Changes to the State Mandates Checklist (from the prior March 2024 edition)

​Should you have any questions or require additional information regarding the State Mandates Documents, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Reichard-Huff or Mrs. Toni Cramp, BCIU Executive Office Program Administrator, at 610-898-8956.

Leaders from the Pennsylvania Departments of Health (DOH) and Aging are encouraging all Pennsylvanians to stay up to date on their annual vaccinations to protect against flu, COVID-19, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) heading into the holiday season. 

Since the start of the respiratory virus season on September 29, emergency department visits resulting in a flu, COVID-19, or RSV diagnosis have remained low; to help these numbers remain low, Pennsylvanians should get vaccinated against respiratory viruses. During the current respiratory virus season, the DOH has recorded 1,083 laboratory-confirmed flu cases and three deaths; 96 COVID-19-related deaths; and 470 confirmed RSV cases.

Most insurance plans cover COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccinations at no cost, but for people who are underinsured or uninsured, the COVID-19 vaccine is available through local State Health Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers. For children who qualify, COVID-19, flu vaccines, and other routine childhood immunizations are available at no cost through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program.
The flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are regularly updated to protect against current virus variants. Health care providers recommend these vaccinations for people six months and older.

Respiratory viruses share similar symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, a runny or stuffy nose, headaches, body aches, chills, and fatigue.

For residents at higher risk for more severe illness due to age or health status, it is recommended that they visit a health care provider and get tested early to be eligible for antiviral medications. These medications are available for the flu, COVID-19, and RSV. If started early in the illness course, these medications ease symptoms, shorten the length of a viral infection, and reduce the risk of severe health outcomes.

For more information and to find a nearby vaccination location, visit vaccines.gov.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health provides weekly updates throughout the respiratory virus season on its respiratory virus dashboard to keep residents informed.

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker and Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin recently teamed up to promote services for individuals with disabilities and reinforce the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to ensuring that all Pennsylvanians have real freedom and opportunity to chart their own course toward success.

The Secretaries visited an event hosted by the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) – the training arm of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Bureau of Special Education (BSE) — to showcase assistive technology (AT) tools and resources for students with sensory impairments across the Commonwealth. The Technology Adventure for Students with Vision and Hearing Needs series brings together families, educators, and AT vendors to share information about advancements in assistive technology for individuals with vision and/or hearing loss.

More than 6,000 PreK-12 students in Pennsylvania have sensory impairments. Assistive technology plays a vital role in the education of those students by allowing them to fully participate in the general education curriculum alongside other students.

To help ensure that Pennsylvania students have the resources they need to learn and grow all year long, the state’s 2024-25 budget prioritizes services for Pennsylvanians with disabilities that support independence without barriers by investing an additional $787,000 in vocational rehabilitation. More than 50,000 individuals with disabilities receive services through the vocational rehabilitation program and an additional 17,000 students with disabilities utilize OVR’s pre-employment transition services program annually. Pre-employment transition services become available to Pennsylvania students with disabilities starting at age 14.

L&I’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities achieve independence through competitive, integrated employment. Services available at no cost to eligible individuals include diagnostic services, vocational evaluation, counseling, job training, placement assistance, assistive technology and more. Within OVR, L&I also offers specialized assistance to individuals with visual impairments and individuals with hearing loss.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry and its workforce development initiatives, please visit the website or follow L&I on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website or follow PDE on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest.

The Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge is a three-month program to encourage increased participation in the Universal Free Breakfast Program and recognize schools for increasing breakfast participation while implementing sustainable changes that incorporate more nutritious and local foods in their meal offerings.

Participating schools raise awareness about the free breakfast program, boost participation by improving access within school buildings, offer more low-sugar options, and include more locally sourced foods. This year, 37 schools successfully completed the Challenge.

The top 10 schools with the greatest increase in participation received a banner to hang in their school, a certificate, and a breakfast recipe book including recipes submitted by schools that completed the Challenge.

The program delivered free breakfast for Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million students last year. The 2024-25 budget builds on that progress with a $16.7 million increase to continue the universal free breakfast program, making sure students have access to healthy meals to start their day on the right foot, and making sure no kid goes hungry during the summer by funding the summer food service program.

Over the past school year, 91.4 million breakfast meals were served in schools, an increase of nearly 10 million since the 2022-23 school year. More than 7 million of those breakfasts were served to students at-risk for hunger or from low-income families.

For more information, please visit the website or follow PDE on Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, or Pinterest.