The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Bureau of Special Education (BSE) has issued revised guidance addressing the use of the Developmental Delay (DD) disability category during the transition from Preschool Early Intervention (PS EI) to School-Age programming.

This guidance is available on PDE’s Regulations and Policies webpage. LEAs are encouraged to review this guidance in its entirety and to disseminate it to all relevant staff involved in the evaluation, re-evaluation, and PS EI to school-age transition of children with disabilities. Questions regarding this guidance may be directed to your BSE regional advisor.

On August 5, 2026, Governor Josh Shapiro met with the Commonwealth’s Behavioral Health Council and Advisory Committee to unveil a new statewide action plan for behavioral health. The Governor created the Council when he signed Executive Order 2023-20, which directed the Council to develop a plan for state leaders, local governments, and community providers to deliver improved, faster and higher quality behavioral health care services for all Pennsylvanians. 

The plan was developed with 33 leaders from the Governor’s Office, the  Pennsylvania departments of Human Services, Health, Aging, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Education, Military and Veterans Affairs, Corrections, State, Labor & Industry, and Agriculture; the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, legislators from both parties in the General Assembly, local county leaders, and Pennsylvanians with lived experience — in coordination with an advisory committee of 25 subject matter experts and community members.

The Council examined the current state of Pennsylvania’s behavioral health care system, finding points for improvement, and offering 41 recommendations to improve access to care and strengthen support for Pennsylvanians seeking mental health and addiction care services.

Read the Behavioral Health Council’s full statewide action plan here

For the first time ever, the Commonwealth is making school-level vaccination data available online through a new interactive tool created by the PA Department of Health (PDH) in partnership with the PA Department of Education (PDE).

According to a press release, at a time when misinformation and conspiracy theories are sowing distrust in longstanding medical guidance, and reversing decades of science-backed progress, it’s more important than ever that PDH provide Pennsylvanians with as much accurate information as possible. The new tool makes it easier for parents and community members to view annual vaccination rates at individual schools — not just at the state or county-level like before — boosting transparency and giving families a clearer picture of how well protected their children’s classrooms are.

In keeping with Executive Order 2025-02, which safeguards Pennsylvanians’ access to vaccines and ensures families have the facts they need to make informed health care decisions, using 2025-2026 school year, the tool complements the Commonwealth’s central vaccine resource at pa.gov/vaccines. The 2025-26 data show that most Pennsylvania parents continue to vaccinate their children. With data from more than 90% of Pennsylvania schools, the online tool shows that:

​More than half of reporting schools have a measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rate for kindergarten students at or above the 95% threshold that public health experts consider necessary to maintain community immunity;

​More than 200 schools achieved a 100% MMR vaccination rate for kindergarten students;

​At the seventh-grade level, more than 74% of reporting schools have an MMR rate at or above the 95% threshold, with more than 26% of schools reaching 100%; and

At the twelfth-grade level, more than 83% of reporting schools have an MMR rate at or above the 95% threshold, with more than 22% of schools reaching 100%.

Additional enhancements to the interactive school vaccination tool will be added later this year, including the ability to search by school district, followed by further upgrades when the 2026-27 data is published next year. Pennsylvanians can also view reported vaccination exemption rates for individual schools.

Improving Reporting and Expanding Access
Pennsylvania immunization regulations (28 Pa. Code § 23.86) and DOH guidelines require all schools to report immunization data for kindergarten, seventh, and twelfth grades to DOH by December 31 each year. With more than 90% of schools currently submitting data, DOH and PDE are actively partnering to support the remaining schools with the reporting process. In the coming months, DOH and PDE will work directly with non-reporting schools to achieve higher rates of reporting while collaborating with local health care providers to expand access to routine immunizations across the Commonwealth.

Next Steps for Parents
Parents and community members can explore the interactive school vaccination data tool and learn more about routine childhood vaccines by visiting PDH’s official website. Parents seeking assistance with vaccine access or scheduling can contact their health care provider, county or municipal health department, or PDH State Health Center. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and Vaccines for Children (VFC) programs are available also across the state.