Category: News

Special and Gifted Education Committee Makes Recommendations to PA State Board (January 15, 2026)

At the 389th Meeting of the PA State Board of Education (Board), the PDE Special and Gifted Education Committee made recommendations to the Board. The report was given by the Hon. Maureen Lally-Green.

The report began with a closeout of the periodic review of PA Gifted Ed. Regulations. The last issue in that process is the work of the Committee for the Evaluation for Giftedness. In that regard, a special committee of school psychologists provided additional that confirmed the that there appears to be no need to amend Chapter 16 at this time. Instead, what is needed is increased clarity and consistency in the process of evaluation.

To that end, it was recommended that a resource and training guide be created for evaluations that employ a holistic approach. It was also recommended that an annotated written report by the multi-disciplinary team, which includes recommendations, be required to help ensure clarity for parents, staff, and students. In addition, it was recommended that a statewide resource guide for screening and evaluation be created that would include selected assessment tools and their proper use.

The final committee report is due in one year.

Character.AI and Google Agree to Mediate Settlements in Wrongful Death Lawsuits by Families of Teens (January 13, 2026)

As reported by K-12 Dive, Character.AI and Google have agreed to mediate a settlement with the mother of a 14-year-old who died by suicide after interacting with Character.AI’s artificial intelligence companion. In an October 2024 wrongful death lawsuit against the tech companies the child’s mother alleged Character.AI was negligent in its “unreasonably dangerous designs” and that it was “deliberately targeting underage kids.” She also averred that Character.AI knew its AI companions would be harmful to minors but failed to redesign its app or warn about the product’s dangers.

In a similar case with a Colorado family, Google and Character.AI agreed to settle a suit over the wrongful death of their 13-year-old daughter. The pending settlements come as a similar lawsuit filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project on behalf of a family alleges generative AI tools used by ChatGPT led to their child’s suicide challenges.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Will Schools Be Able to Handle Federal Demand for Ultra-processed Food Cuts?

To limit reliance on ultra-processed foods in school meals, a majority of school nutrition directors report needing additional resources that include funding, menu development, culinary training, staffing, and equipment and infrastructure, according to survey data released on January 6, 2026 by the School Nutrition Association (SNA). The survey was conducted in October 2025 and had 1,240 school district respondents.

In September 2025, the Trump administration’s “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy report stressed a need to reduce ultra-processed foods in school meals as a way to address childhood chronic disease. To do that, schools will need to cook more scratch-prepared meals, SNA said in its survey report. The association also found that 71% of school nutrition directors said they already offer scratch-prepared entrees on a daily or weekly basis. 95% of directors also reported that during the 2025-26 school year they are seriously or moderately concerned about the financial sustainability of their school nutrition programs three years from now.

In addition, a position paper by SNA said that cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid — as passed by Congress in the July 2025 “One Big, Beautiful” budget law — will reduce the number of children who are automatically certified for free and reduced-price meals. Consequently, fewer schools will be eligible for a federal program known as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which helps high-poverty schools and districts serve free meals to all students.

There is currently no uniform definition of ultra-processed foods.

The pervasive feeling is that schools are being told to provide meals at greater cost with fewer resources and a lack of uniform guidance.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Shapiro Administration Announces New Managed Care Organization Joining CHIP Network, Offering More Affordable Health Care Options for PA Children and Families (January 8, 2026)

On January 8, 2026, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that WellKids by PA Health & Wellness will join the network of managed care organizations (MCOs) offering health coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This addition follows the first CHIP re-procurement since 2013 and expands the number of affordable health coverage options available for children across Pennsylvania.

CHIP is a health insurance program for children and teens who are not eligible for Medicaid. CHIP provides affordable or no-cost health coverage through age 19. CHIP covers essential care like routine check-ups and well visits, immunizations, prescriptions, emergency care, mental health services, and dental, vision, and hearing screenings and care.

A family’s income determines the monthly cost of coverage, and no family makes too much for CHIP coverage. When families apply for CHIP for their children, they can pick a CHIP insurance plan that best meets their needs.

PA Heath & Wellness, a subsidiary of Centene Corporation, was newly selected as an MCO for CHIP and will operate under the brand name WellKids by PA Health & Wellness. Leveraging its experience as a Medicaid MCO, including participation in Pennsylvania’s Community HealthChoices program, PA Health & Wellness will serve all counties across the Commonwealth.

WellKids by PA Health & Wellness will provide a full range of services, including preventive, routine, urgent, and emergency care for medical and behavioral health, as well as dental, vision, and pharmacy services.

PA Heath & Wellness has achieved National Committee for Quality Assurance accreditation, including Health Equity Accreditation, demonstrating a strong commitment to quality and equitable care.

Effective January 2026, CHIP will operate with a network of nine MCOs: Aetna, Capital Blue Cross, Geisinger Health Plan, Health Partners Plan, Highmark, Keystone First, United Healthcare, UPMC, and PA Health & Wellness. These MCOs will provide comprehensive health care coverage for eligible children statewide.

For more information about WellKids by PA Health & Wellness, call 1-855-445-1920 or visit the PA Health & Wellness website.

For more information, including how to apply for CHIP, visit DHS’ website.

Due to Gov’s Executive Order Federal Changes Don’t Impact Vaccine Access, Recommendations for PA’s Children (January 8, 2026)

As a result of Governor Shapiro’s Executive Order, there are no changes to vaccine access and recommendations for Pennsylvania children. The Executive Order is in keeping with medical experts, trusting science, and supporting evidence-based vaccine guidance. In fact, the Shapiro Administration is continuing to recommend following the vaccine schedule for children developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to protect children from vaccine-prevented diseases.

The PA Department of Health (PDH) is working with physicians across the Commonwealth to create a series of short social media videos on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube to provide health care providers’ perspectives on the value of vaccines that are available to prevent diseases that previously caused many more patients to experience severe illness and death.

In October 2025, Governor Shapiro signed Executive Order 2025-02, which protects access to life-saving, evidence-based vaccinations in Pennsylvania, protecting families’ freedoms to make their own informed health care decision. The Executive Order:
-Requires state agencies to align vaccine guidance with trusted medical experts;
-Ensures coverage of recommended vaccines through private insurance to the fullest extent of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s authority;
-Directs the Department of Human Services to take necessary steps, in accordance with law, to ensure coverage of recommended vaccines through Medicaid;
-Establishes a Vaccine Education Workgroup to strengthen communication and combat misinformation;
-Directs the Departments of Aging and Education to ensure older adults and schools have access to evidence-based guidance on vaccines; and,
-Launches www.pa.gov/vaccines as a centralized vaccine resource for Pennsylvania residents.

For more information on vaccinations in Pennsylvania, visit www.pa.gov/vaccines.