Category: News

School Safety Grants Awarded to 166 Schools Across Pennsylvania (February 11, 2023)

On Friday, February 10, 2023, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that more than $8 million in competitive Safe Schools Targeted grants have been awarded to 166 schools in Pennsylvania to improve school safety. Grants can be used to create safer school communities in a variety of ways, including purchasing safety equipment, implementing new programs, and hiring security personnel and school resource officers.

“Every student in Pennsylvania deserves a safe learning environment, and these Safe Schools Targeted Grants will help schools all across the Commonwealth invest in the resources and staff they need to keep students, teachers, and staff safe,” said Gov. Shapiro. “Students should be able to focus on learning and growing in the classroom, and my Administration will continue to work with our schools and local communities to ensure they have the support they deserve.” The list of awardees can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Office for Safe School website.

Pennsylvania School Districts Prevail in Equitable Funding Case (February 10, 2023)

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer ruled that public education is a fundamental right under the Pennsylvania Constitution and must be equitably funded in a case brought by low-income school districts, along with parents and students, against the PA Department of Education (PDE).

In the ruling in the case of William Penn School District; et. al. v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, “The Court interpreted and applied the Equal Protection Clause to the credited facts in this case. Applying strict scrutiny, the Court concludes Petitioners have established an equal protection violation.”

Judge Jubelirer’s opinion also said that the state constitution imposes that “every student receive a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education.” Stating that “all witnesses agree that every child can learn”, the judge left it up to state legislators, the executive branch, educators, and the PDE to remedy the state’s education funding model.

Lastly, according to the Court, the options for reform are virtually limitless.” For more information from K-12 Dive, click here.

USDA Proposes Gradual Revisions to School Nutrition Standards through 2029 (February 7, 2023)

On February 3, 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced proposed revisions to school nutrition standards. Expressing concerns regarding U.S. rates of childhood obesity, Sec. Vilsack proposed school nutrition standards that would revise requirements on the use of whole grains, sodium, and sugar in school meals.

According to K-12 Dive, such changes would be made gradually between the fall of 2024 and the fall of 2029. Beginning in fall 2024, schools would be required to offer mostly whole grain products, with the choice of occasional enriched grain products. By fall 2025, they would be expected to reduce weekly sodium limits for breakfast and lunch by 10% and limit high-sugar products like yogurts and cereal. However, some flavored milk options with “reasonable limits” on added sugars would be allowed.

By fall 2027, added sugars would be limited to less than 10% of calories per week for breakfast and lunch, and weekly limits for sodium would decrease by another 10%. Sodium would then be reduced an additional 10% for school lunches alone in fall 2029. For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Special Legislative Session to Prioritize Increased Statute of Limitations for Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse Fails (February 4, 2023) 

The January 9th special session in Harrisburg that was called for with the intent to help victims of childhood sexual abuse has failed, with no action taken and no pathway in sight. The session, called for by House Speaker Mark Rozzi and then-Governor Tom Wolf was to vote on a constitutional amendment that would provide victims of childhood sexual abuse a chance to sue their abusers regardless of the statute of limitations. However, it devolved into wrangling over partisan issues instead of taking measures to help survivors of childhood sexual assault. 

The push to pass House Bill 14 was spearheaded by State Republican Representative Jim Gregory, who is a sex abuse survivor. His previous bill passed and should be law, but it was bungled and kept off of the ballot due to an error by the PA Department of State.

During the session, the PA Senate bundled Gregory’s bill, which would have paved the way for a constitutional amendment to expand the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil lawsuit, with two other amendments and passed the bundle as Senate Bill 1. Unfortunately for abuse victims, those amendments were highly debatable items such as a  voter ID requirement  and ending the governor’s ability to veto the General Assembly’s disapproval of a regulation. 

When on January 6, 2023 Governor Tom Wolf issued a proclamation calling for a special session of the General Assembly to be held on Monday, January 9, 2023 to propose a constitutional amendment to retroactively extend the timeline for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil actions, the aim was for the General Assembly to pass the joint resolution no later than Friday, January 27, 2023. This timeframe would have ensured the PA Department of State could meet the publication requirements so that voters would have the opportunity to consider the amendment in May 2023. Earlier, in August 2022, Gov. Wolf and legislative leaders agreed that the constitutional amendment process would be the best path forward.​​​​​​

The proposed language in HB 14 is underlined in section (b) below:
(a) All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay. Suits may be brought against the Commonwealth in such manner, in such courts and in such cases as the Legislature may by law direct.
(b) An individual for whom a statutory limitations period has already expired shall have a period of two years from the time that this subsection becomes effective to commence an action arising from childhood sexual abuse, in such cases as provided by law at the time that this subsection becomes effective.

AMA Reports on Effectiveness of Bivalent COVID-19 Boosters and Future Possibilities (February 4, 2023)

On January 31st, American Medical Association (AMA) Board Chair Sandra Fryhofer, MD, AMA’s liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and a member of ACIP’s COVID-19 Vaccine Workgroup, recapped the latest news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) meeting. Topics included “harmonizing” strain composition for both COVID-19 primary vaccines and booster shots.

According to Dr. Fryhofer, the good news is that the bivalent vaccine booster “seems to be doing pretty well. FDA outlined multiple studies from vaccine manufacturers and from independent researchers indicating better neutralizing antibody response against circulating Omicron variants after a bivalent boost versus a monovalent vaccine dose. FDA review also highlighted observational data that current bivalent boosters provide additional protection against symptomatic infection or emergency department and urgent care visits and hospitalization.”

The doctor also stated that while the “simplification of the current COVID vaccination process is greatly needed…discussion by the FDA advisory committee meeting confirmed the importance of getting a dose of the updated Omicron bivalent COVID vaccine. The current bivalent booster is working well against circulating variants.”For those who become infected, Dr. Fryhofer said “physicians and their patients need to know about the therapeutic options, like oral Paxlovid, Remdesivir infusions, and if those aren’t available, oral Molnupiravir, and how to get them. Use of convalescent plasma has also been authorized.”

With regard to what the future may bring, keeping in mind that COVID is not flu, the FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks has supported the concept of giving COVID boosters in the fall as a tag-along to the already established seasonal flu vaccine campaigns as a way to keep hospitals already challenged by flu and RSV from being further overwhelmed by COVID. Dr. Fryhofer also stated that the “FDA proposed a system that’s very similar to what we do for flu—reviewing data for COVID variants in the spring, announcing any COVID vaccine strain changes in June, with updated vaccines available in the fall.”

For more from the American Medical Association, click here.