Category: News in the Field

PDE to Begin to Accepting Applications for Contingency Funds for Extraordinary Expenses (October 30, 2024)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) will begin accepting applications for the Special Education Contingency Funds for Extraordinary Expenses on November 18, 2024. The fundā€™s purpose is to provide additional state funding for the implementation of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with significant disabilities. Interested local educational agencies (LEAs) will have until January 3, 2025 to apply.

The application and review process for the 2024-25 school year is specified in the Contingency Funds Guidelines. Applications for the Special Education Contingency Funds must be submitted electronically through the contingency funds request system website.

Questions regarding Special Education Contingency Funds for Extraordinary Expenses should be directed to Janette Fulton, Special Education Adviser, Division of Analysis and Financial Reporting, at 717-425-5442 or [email protected].

As GAO Report Looked at Effectiveness of ESSER, PA Reports Appropriate Funds Usage (October 30, 2024)

According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released October, 23, 2024, school districts prioritized spending of COVID-19 emergency (ESSER) funds based on community input, financial need, state policies and other influences. It also found that the effectiveness of the ESSER money for COVID-19 recovery efforts is difficult to determine because school districts were involved in many activities during the pandemic. Additionally, long-term improvements are unknown because not enough time has passed since initial positive effects were noted.

Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had asked GAO to examine school district ESSER spending. Some conservative lawmakers at the federal level have questioned the proper use of the money. A statement posted on the Senate HELP Committee GOP page on X said that the report “found it difficult to determine what uses were effective. More research is needed from the field,ā€ read a statement posted Wednesday on the Senate HELP Committee GOP page on X.

In addition, AASA, The School Superintendents Association released a September report on spending practices from ESSERā€™s allocations from the American Rescue Plan and found most districts directed money toward expanded learning time, including summer programming and after-school activities. But because districts had various fiscal priorities and approaches for investing the money in different phases, it was difficult to generalize the best practice approaches for the emergency funds.

GAOā€™s report said education officials from varying states sometimes differed on what they considered was an allowable expense for district-level use of federal COVID-19 emergency funds for schools. Directives from state legislatures also influenced spending practices. Pennsylvania officials told GAO researchers that proposals to renovate or upgrade athletic fields, stadiums or tracks were denied because school districts could not justify that those improvements were necessary to respond to the pandemic.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

CDC: A Decline in Routine Vaccinations and Increase Exemption Rates can Lead to Outbreaks (October 29, 2024)

Fewer kindergartners are getting routine vaccinations compared to pre-pandemic times, dipping from 95% in the 2019-20 school year to less than 93% in 2023-24, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, the vaccination exemption rate for this group rose from 2.5% in 2019-20 to 3.3.% ā€” the highest level ever reported ā€” last year. Exemptions increased in 41 states and territories, and surpassed 5% in 14 of them. That amounts to more than 126,000 kindergartners with an exemption from at least one vaccination for the 2023-24 school year.

The combined decrease in routine shots and increase in exemptions ā€œjeopardizeā€ the 95% kindergartner vaccination rate goal for measles, mumps and rubella by 2030 set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It also “set[s] the stage for accumulation of clusters of undervaccinated children, which can lead to outbreaks.ā€

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

PSCA Offers PAPSA Members Free Conference Attendance on December 13th (October 29, 2024)

The 69th Annual PSCA Conference is just around the corner, and PAPSA members are invited to attend. In fact, the conference is offered FREE for PAPSA administrators to attend on Friday,Ā December 13th.

This is a fantastic opportunity for professional development, networking, and gaining valuable insights into the latest trends and practices of how administratorsĀ can work with theirĀ school counselors.

Additionally, PSCA is offering special group membership dues discounts for schools that join PSCA as a collective.

The 69th Annual Pennsylvania School Counselors Association (PSCA) conference is at theHershey Lodge on December 1 2& 13, 2024.

For details for December 13th FREE attendance click here.

For group discount guidelines click here and to access the group discount form click here.

PDE Provides Special Education Plan Information for Phase 1 School Districts (October 29, 2024)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is responsible for ensuring that all special education programs in public schools are appropriate and effective. To do this, school districts must submit a Special Education Plan every three years to PDE as required under 22 Pa. Code Ā§ 14.104. The school districtā€™s Special Education Plan outlines planning generated from district special education data, compliance monitoring, professional development activities, and training necessary to provide appropriate programs to students with disabilities.

The special education plan will continue to be developed in the Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal (FRCPP). The first step to gaining access to the FRCPP is to ensure that you are a registered user on the PDE Portal. If you are not a registered user, please register using the Register a Username and Log In instructions.

Your school district’s Local Security Administrator can add/remove users in My PDE Suite. If you need help adding users to the new portal, please use the step-by-step guide for Accessing the Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal. If you do not know who your Administrators are, you can find this information by clicking on Find my Security Administrator on the main webpage in My PDE Suite.

School districts in Phase 1 must submit their plans by May 1, 2025 in the FRCPP.

A mandatory pre-recorded webinar is available on the PaTTAN Special Education Plan Training webpage. The purpose of the webinar is to train school districts on the special education plan requirements and the FRCPP system.

Should you have any questions, please contact Sandy Zeleznik in PDEā€™s Bureau of Special Education at [email protected].