Category: News

PA State Bd of Ed Welcomes Acting Sec Hagarty, Takes Action on Grad Requirements and PASA Redesign (May 12, 2022)

At its May 4, 2022 meeting, the PA State Board of Education (Board) welcomed the new Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty and took action on items that included issues concerning waivers related to meeting state graduation requirements and changes in the test design and performance level descriptors for the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA).

With regard to graduation requirements  for the classes of 2024 and 2025, the Board approved one of two recommendations from the PA Department of Education (PDE) regarding the continuing impact of the effects of the pandemic on high school graduation requirements. It approved PDE’s recommendation to extend Covid-19 as an extenuating circumstance pursuant to Act 158 of 2018 for students in the classes of 2024 and 2025. The Act allows a chief school administrator to grant a waiver of the requirements for demonstration of statewide graduation requirements to accommodate a student who experiences extenuating circumstances. Previously, the Board approved PDE’s recommendation to modify the waiver provision to add Covid-19 as an extenuating circumstance for students graduating in 2023.

The Board also approved changes involved with the redesign of the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). The redesign of PASA requires adoption of four new performance levels and descriptors, which are: “emerging,” “approach target,” “at target,” and “advanced.” New cut scores for the assessment will be considered at the next meeting. Click here to view the report on the new performance levels and descriptors.

Following discussion, the Board decided to defer to the General Assembly the establishment of an allowable two-test composite score (in place of the three-score composite) for students who were eligible for the Act 136 exemption under Act 136 of 2020. Sen. Scott Martin (R-Lancaster), who sits on the Board, will introduce legislation to make the change. Click here to view reports on the above.

Two additional presentations were made at the meeting. They included a presentation by the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Coalition (PEDC) regarding provisions under the newly revised Chapter 49 regulations for educator certification regarding requiring teacher preparation programs to include culturally relevant and sustaining education (CR-SE) and a PDE update on programs, services, and initiatives regarding career and technical education (CTE).

Many thanks to PSBA’s Cindy Eckerd.

PDE: Pennsylvanians Can Now Access Hundreds of Free New E-Books on POWER Library (May 12, 2022)

On May 11, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that Pennsylvania’s public electronic library, POWER Library, has acquired 350 new e-books for users to explore, bringing the total of available titles to approximately 20,000. The new titles are available in the subject areas of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Mental Health; and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). All e-books are viewable on screen, and many are available for download and offline viewing.

The e-books are available on the POWER Library website in Find E-resources under the following categories EBSCO E-books, Gale E-books, and ProQuest E-book Central. Users will be prompted to enter a public library card number to access them, but those without a library card can sign up for an e-card for immediate access.

POWER Library is made possible in part by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Library Access funds administered by PDE’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

In his 2022-23 budget proposal, Governor Tom Wolf has requested a $1.25 million increase for libraries, including a $1 million increase in the Public Library Subsidy. The subsidy goes directly to local libraries, library systems, 29 district library centers, and provides every Pennsylvanian access to statewide resource center libraries at State Library of Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the libraries of The Pennsylvania State University.

The commonwealth helps defray the cost of basic operations of Pennsylvania’s more than 600 local public libraries that annually serve more than 16 million visitors who borrow nearly 60 million books, including digital content. For more information from PDE, please visit the website.

New Funding Awarded to Brockway Area School District to Prepare Jefferson County Students for Manufacturing Careers (May 10, 2022)

The Brockway Area School District has been awarded funding through Pennsylvania’s Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Program (MTTC), which is designed to better prepare students for a career in machining or manufacturing after graduation. The $25,092 in MTTC funding will be used to purchase a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) router, which will allow Brockway Jr./Sr. High School to provide their students with real world, hands-on experience using the machines and programs they will encounter in an industrial setting. The CNC router will aid students in acquiring new skills while improving and reinforcing skills they currently use in class, such as programming, engineering, woodworking, plotting, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), and more. In addition, the CNC router will allow students to improve upon the aesthetics and functionality of projects they have already created.

Brockway Jr./Sr. High School works closely with industries and their community through their school to work program. The manufacturing and woodworking industries specifically have a need for highly skilled, experienced individuals to operate machinery. All aspects of manufacturing in these industries rely heavily on CNC controlled machines.Governor Wolf’s Manufacturing PA initiative was launched in October 2017 and since then has funded 69 projects and invested more than $15.4 million through the Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant program.Training-to-Career grants support projects that result in short-term work-readiness, job placement, or the advancement of manufacturing. The Manufacturing PA Training-to-Career Grant program works collaboratively with local manufacturers to identify and teach missing essential skills for entry-level applicants seeking manufacturing employment, engage youth or those with barriers to career opportunities in manufacturing, and or advance capacity for local or regional manufacturers.

For more information, visit the Department of Community and Economic Development’s website.

HHS Awards Nearly $25 Million to Expand Access to School-Based Health Services (May 6, 2022)

On May 3, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $25 million to improve and strengthen access to school-based health services in communities across the country. Awards will support local partnerships between schools and health centers to provide children and youth the comprehensive physical and mental health care they need.

The awards were made to 125 HRSA-funded health centers that deliver comprehensive, high-quality primary health care services to individuals and families through school-based sites in underserved communities.

Health centers will use this funding to reduce disparities and improve access to care by increasing the number of young people receiving essential health care, including mental health services. Health centers will also use these funds for activities such as community and patient outreach, health education, and translation support.

A recent HRSA study published in the American Medical Association’s journal JAMA Pediatrics  found that between 2016 and 2020, the number of children ages 3-17 years diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29 percent and those with depression by 27 percent. As HHS recognizes Mental Health Awareness Month in May, this investment will help provide critical mental health services directly to students on site at their schools.

The May 6th announcement advances the joint effort of Secretary Becerra and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to expand school-based health services as outlined in their joint letter to Governors in March 2022. It is also part of the ongoing HHS-wide effort to strengthen our nation’s mental health.

The $25 million awarded today builds on the $5 million investment in school-based care that HRSA awarded to health centers in September 2021 to expand access to school-based services.

One in nine children in the United States accesses primary health care through a HRSA-funded health center. In 2020, 41 percent of health centers provided services to children and youth at over 3,200 school-based sites.

To locate a HRSA-supported health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/.

Expanding Head Start Services to SNAP Recipients (May 6, 2022)

On April 21, 2022, Office of Head Start at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Director  Dr. Bernadine Futrell announced that the Office of Head Start (OHS) is including receipt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the interpretation of “public assistance” when determining Head Start eligibility and in turn issued ACF-IM-OHS-22-03, which outlines the inclusion of SNAP benefits for Head Start eligibility determinations. The policy change, effective immediately, allows Head Start programs to reach families better, minimize the burden on families seeking public assistance, and coordinate benefit programs so that families eligible for one program can more easily participate in other services for which they qualify.

According to DR. Futrell, “Adding SNAP is essential in addressing any barriers to equitable access to Head Start services for children and families. It also supports the goals of President Biden’s Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government.”

OHS expects this guidance to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for programs and families. For example, most young children in SNAP households are already income-eligible for Head Start services. Before this decision by OHS, families had to document their income eligibility for both SNAP and Head Start programs, which created a lot of back and forth for families and Head Start grant recipients.

The policy decision also amplifies the Head Start mission of serving those who can most benefit from services, especially as you are actively recruiting and enrolling families for the 2022-23 program year.

OHS is providing a resource collection to provide support in implementing the policy change, including responses to anticipated questions and an updated Eligibility Verification form.

To view the press release, click here.