Special Education Update

Effective no later than September 5, 2023, all students entitled to FAPE and all of the

rights and procedural safeguards under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

(IDEA) and Chapter 14 of Title 22 of the Pennsylvania Code may remain enrolled in public

school until they turn 22 years of age. This includes students who turned 21 and exited

during or after the 2022-2023 school term. Age of Eligibility FAQ

Thank you for submitting your APN forms. We are waiting on Board approval from one district so the APN will be published within the next two weeks.

Currently applications are being accepted from special education personnel with 3 years or less experience in their current position who would like an experienced mentor for the 2023-24 academic year.

The following special education personnel may apply:

• School Psychologists
• Special Education Administrators
• Special Education Teachers
• Teachers of the Deaf
• Teachers of the Visually Impaired

This year-long project will promote professional growth and provide access to resources and evidence-based practices. This opportunity is also highlighted on the APR Repository – Retaining page. The application can also be accessed from this page.

LEAs are required to attend 2 webinars:

1. September 21, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The webinar will provide information concerning the administration of the Exit Process. Registration is required and may be accessed at:

https://www.pattan.net/Events/Webinar/Course-1838/Events/Session-38479

2. The second webinar will be held February 21, 2024 also from 9:00-11:00. Additional information will be available after the September webinar.

Schools included are:

• Armstrong
• Freeport
• United

The requirements for each LEA assigned to the 2023-2024 Preparing for Cyclical Monitoring: A Focus on Secondary Transition training are as follows:

• Develop an administrative team to support the targeted training and technical assistance process. The administrative team is required to attend a webinar on September 14, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Administrative team members will need to register in advance for this training at www.pattan.net, or by following this link: https://www.pattan.net/Events/Webinar/Course-2919/Events/Session-38250

• Lead contact person to complete an interview/survey regarding effective practices for secondary transition as facilitated by an intermediate unit and/or PaTTAN consultant. Lead contact will work with IU Transition Training and Consultation (TaC)/PaTTAN Consultant to develop and implement a local training plan for the 2023-2024 school year.

• With support from the IU Transition TaC/PaTTAN Consultant, identify targeted staff (i.e. special education directors, building principals, transition coordinators, special education teachers, speech/language therapists, guidance counselors, school psychologists, career tech ed staff, and other LEA staff involved in secondary programming) to participate in IEP pre-reviews using the PA Indicator 13 checklist, complete IEP post-reviews, participate in coaching activities as warranted with IU Transition TaC, and complete an online (Schoology) course.

• The required online (Schoology) course will yield 6 Act 48 hours and must be completed by March 1, 2024. PLEASE NOTE: All staff must register for the Schoology course. Registration can be found at www.pattan.net, or by following the link: https://www.pattan.net/Events/On-line-Courses/Course-2920/Events/Session-38251.The registration key to register for the Schoology course is IND13-2023. This registration key will need to be shared with all LEA staff members who are identified to participate in this year’s cyclical monitoring preparation activities so they can complete the registration process.

It is required that each school district and charter school send participants to this training. 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. Additionally, if a school district or charter school contracts for business services, its contracted business representative should attend.

In-person training sessions will be held on the following dates at these locations:

PaTTAN Harrisburg Thursday, September 14, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

PaTTAN West Wednesday, September 20, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

PaTTAN East Thursday, September 28, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

A live virtual training session will be held on the following date:

Live Virtual Session Tuesday, October 3, 2023 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Registration and session information is available at https://www.pattan.net/events/.

Fall training sessions will be provided on a single date via Schoology this year. You will be able to view a pre-recorded session for each of the training areas and then participate in a live Q&A with the speakers via Zoom. Registration is required (instructions below).

Participation is strongly encouraged. Local educational agencies (LEAs) are encouraged to assign at least one representative to attend the training in order to receive important SBAP information. These sessions are intended for ACCESS coordinators, special education directors and supervisors, business managers, and anyone else involved in SBAP.

September 26, 2023 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Virtual Training

Registration is required. Please register online via the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) at http://www.pattan.net. Reminder, once registered you will receive an email confirmation with instructions for attending the online course.

Following each prerecorded session there is live questions and answers.

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 2022-2023 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 2023-24 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 2 and closing with a deadline of October 13, 2023). Data is to be based on expenditures incurred during the entire 2022-2023 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.

The evaluation of the 1% threshold is based on all students belonging to the LEA, including students who are educated in out-of-district placements. The Special Education administrator for every LEA will receive two separate email communications from BSE in September.

• LEA Special Education Administrators will receive the first email with LEA’s 2023 testing data and tier designation on September 18,2023. The data will include the LEA’s 1 percent PASA participation rate, as well as the overall 95 percent participation rate for students with disabilities (i.e., Pennsylvania System School Assessment, PASA, and Keystone Exams).

• The second email will be sent to the LEA Special Education Administrator on September 20, 2023. This email will include a personalized survey link to submit the required responses for the tier they have been identified. All survey responses are due to BSE by October 16, 2023.

Each tier includes more extensive questions and data review within the survey. Survey questions will be dependent on the tier designation. LEAs in Tier 3 will engage in an intensive needs review with BSE personnel in addition to completing the survey. A list of LEAs who anticipate exceeding the threshold in the 2023-24 assessment cycle will be made publicly available on the PDE website, in accordance with 34 CFR 200.6 (c)(3) regulations. Any LEA that exceeds the 1% threshold may be subject to further review by BSE.

The updated 2023-24 PASA 1% Threshold Tiered System of Oversight and Monitoring form can be accessed on the Bureau of Special Education Assessment page here: ESSA 1.0 Percent Threshold Justification Requirements (pa.gov).

Special Education leaders can access full information and training on this requirement by viewing “2023-24 PASA Getting Ready: What Special Education Administrators Need to Know about PASA DLM Participation and 1 percent Compliance Requirements”. This asynchronous webinar will be posed by September 8, 2023 on the BSE Assessment page: Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA).