Special Education Update

Attendance at the 2022-23 Fiscal Training session is mandatory for all school districts and charter schools. Because the training is highlighting the fiscal program data verifications associated with the IDEA-B fiscal reporting requirements, it is strongly recommended that the participants attending this training are the special education director and business administrator. Also, if a school district or charter school contracts for business services, its contracted business representative should attend.

A webinar option will be scheduled, after all the training sessions have been completed…details for the webinar option will be forthcoming…

To participate in the in-person sessions, it is necessary to register. To register for the Fiscal Training Session, please navigate to the following link:

https://www.pattan.net/Events/Inservices-workshops/Course-3106/Events/Session-37249

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) will provide this year’s annual statewide training for all participating School-Based ACCESS Program (SBAP) teams on September 20, 2022.

This training will be offered one day only. Registration is required. Attendees may attend in person or online.

Participation is strongly encouraged. Local educational agencies (LEAs) are encouraged to assign at least one representative to attend this annual training to receive important SBAP information.

Register via PaTTAN's Training Calendar

Act 16 of 2000 (24 PS §13-1372(8)) requires the Reporting of Expenditures Relating to Exceptional Students. School districts and charter schools must report the number of students with disabilities for which expenditures fall in one of five categories. The categories will be 1A, 1B, 2, 3A, and 3B for the 2021-2022 school year. The dollar amounts for these categories will be posted on PDE’s website at Act 16 – Reporting of Expenditures Relating to Exceptional Students. The 2022-23 PIMS Manual will also be updated to reflect the dollar amounts to be reported.

This report will now be collected at the student level through PIMS using the Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds. The template will be collected during Collection #1 (opening October 3 and closing with a deadline of October 14, 2022). Data is to be based on expenditures incurred during the entire 2021-2022 school year.

Guidelines regarding the Act 16 reporting can be found at Act 16 Information.

The Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds can be found in the 2022-23 PIMS Manual.

Please note that failure to complete the Student Fact Template for Special Education Act 16 Funds report may have an adverse effect on your local education agency's special education funding.

By way of this communication, the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Bureau of Special Education (BSE) is reminding school districts of their duty to educate students with disabilities who reside in residential facilities within their boundaries. In addition, this communication serves as a reminder of the joint policy of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) and PDE prohibiting the bundling of education and non-educational services in DHS-licensed facilities. For more information on these topics, review PDE’s Basic Education Circular (BEC), titled Educational Programs for Students in Non-Educational Placements. This BEC does not apply to children who are placed in an educational program directly by their resident school district, charter school, or cyber charter school.

A copy of this BEC can be found on PDE's website under the Policy and Funding and then BECs drop-down menus and by accessing the following link: Educational Programs for Students in Non-Educational Placements (pa.gov).

On June 25, 2022, Pennsylvania received notification from the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office of Special Education Programs that the commonwealth has received a “Meets Requirements” determination, the highest level that the federal government awards to states under Part B of the IDEA.

Pennsylvania was one of only 22 states and territories that received the distinction this year. The commonwealth’s excellent work in special education has been recognized with the “Meets Requirements” designation for 15 of the 16 years that USDE has been issuing its determinations. This recognition is a testament to the hard work of educators and staff in delivering high-quality services to students with disabilities and their families.

The Annual Public Notice was published in the Indiana Gazette on September 2, 2022. It will be published in the Leader Times on September 9, 2022. Once Proof of Publication is received, we will send each district an invoice. Thank you!

It is in the MyPDESuite Portal - FRCPP

FRCPP

Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal. This application provides a consistent planning framework and collection tool for all Pennsylvania schools.

If you do not have access to this plan you will need to work with your district personnel that assigns roles to the various plans within the portal. Your Superintendents will be the ones to submit your plan, so you will need to make sure they have access. I am attaching some screen shots that will help explain this process. For those of you with Superintendents new to your district, it is important to get this started as their electronic signature goes through the EdNA system. If you are working with an interim superintendent, once your permanent person arrives, get this process rolling. From personal experience, I can testify that the step involving EdNA is time-consuming.

Below is a training video created by our Bureau Chief, Dr. DeLuca. I strongly encourage you to watch this training. It is approximately 1 hour in length.

Special Education Plan Training

Dr. Amy DeLuca Division Chief West

PaTTAN - Special Education Plan Training - April 1, 2021