|
|
New: 2025-26 School Year LEA Course Data Collection Process Now Open
The Integrated Data System (IDS) platform is now open for LEAs to submit their Course Catalog Collection data. LEAs should download the template in IDS, fill in the 2025-26 school year data, and resubmit through IDS. IDS will close for Course Catalog Collection data on Friday, Sept. 26, and LEA Heads of School will certify the data on Sept. 26.
Once data has been submitted, LEAs can review their Course Catalog data on the 2025-26 School Year LEA Course Data Qlik Dashboard in OSSE’s Qlik application.
If your LEA offers dual enrollment or career and technical education (CTE) courses, including participating in the Advanced Technical Center (ATC), please also visit the Course Data Collection Guidance for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) website to access the crosswalks that have been created to assist LEAs in consistently using OSSE Course Codes for these courses.
To prepare LEAs to complete this process in a timely and accurate way, OSSE will host a training at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21. The recording and slides of the 2025-26 School Year Course Collection Training (Aug. 21, 2025) can be accessed by registering for the training in OSSE’s Learning Management System.
New: Start of School Guidance for Students who Require Nursing Services
OSSE's Division of Student Transportation (OSSE-DOT) provides safe, efficient, and reliable transportation services for eligible students. A small percentage of our students require a licensed, medical professional to accompany them during transportation.
The memorandum linked here is to provide guidance to LEAs on the documents required for initiating service for eligible students who require nursing services during transportation, and on the proper way to submit those documents.
Find additional information and resources related to student transportation on the OSSE website here.
New: Advancing the Recruitment and Retention of Our Workforce (ARROW) 2025-26 Cohort
OSSE's Advancing the Recruitment and Retention of Our Workforce (ARROW) is announcing the launch of the 2025-26 cohort of the First Year Cadre for school-based behavioral health providers, i.e., school social workers, school psychologists and counselors (school counselors and licensed counselors), who are new to working in a school-based setting and have an employment start date of Nov. 1, 2023 or after. The First Year Cadre is an opportunity for providers in their early years of working in a school-based setting to build foundational skills necessary to be successful in the school environment. The cohort will run from October 2025 to June 2026. Please see this one-pager for more information and the eligibility criteria. Applications open Monday, Aug. 18 and close Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.
Participants who successfully complete the cadre will be eligible for a $1,000 stipend.
Questions? Reach out to OSSE.HYDT@dc.gov.
Request for Information for Impartial Hearing Officers and Community Review Panel (Update)
OSSE's Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR) is currently accepting applications for Contracted Impartial Hearing Officers to serve as Hearing Officers, Mediators, and Facilitators for special education disputes as they relate to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To view the Request for Information (RFI) regarding the advertisement, visit our website here: osse.dc.gov/iho-rfi.
ODR is also seeking individuals who wish to serve on its Community Review Panel (CRP) for fiscal year 2026 (FY26). Candidates must fall into one of seven categories outlined in the Special Education Due Process Hearing Independence and Transparency Act of 2014. The members of the CRP shall be convened prior to the selection of Hearing Officers contracted to preside over special education due process hearings. To learn more about the CRP and its selection requirements, please click here. Statements are due no later than August 18, 2025.
Interested individuals may submit a letter of interest to ODR at ODR.intake@dc.gov.
2025 Special Education Performance Report (SEPR) - Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2023 (Reminder)
On Aug. 7, OSSE issued each LEA its Federal Fiscal Year 2023 (FFY 23) Special Education Performance Report (SEPR) in the SEPR Quickbase Application. Additionally, OSSE provided the following information to all LEA leaders and Special Education Points of Contact (SPED POCs):
- How to navigate the SEPR application in Quickbase;
-
Dates and times for optional office hours to review your SEPR with OSSE;
-
How to appeal your LEA’s SEPR results and associated timelines; and
-
Timelines for the public posting of all SEPRs.
For questions about SEPR including how to access the Quickbase application, please contact Karen Morgan-Donaldson at Karen.Morgan-Donaldson@dc.gov or (202) 724-7803.
Guide for Developing a School Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (Reminder)
By the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, all public and public charter schools in the District of Columbia must adopt and implement a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP). To helps schools do this, OSSE and DC Fire and Emergency Services (FEMS) have developed a Guide for Developing a School Cardiac Emergency Response Plan. This guide includes a model plan template and other resources to support schools in this effort. DCPS schools with questions about developing their School Cardiac Emergency Response Plan should contact healthservices.dcps@k12.dc.gov.
OSSE to Launch Start of School Newsletter for Special Education, Aug. 19 (Reminder)
OSSE's Start of School Special Education Newsletter will be published on Tuesday, Aug. 19. This newsletter will provide LEAs with information pertinent to all LEA Special Education Points of Contact (SPED POCs), including updates and reminders regarding SPED POC roles and responsibilities, policy and guidance, data systems, monitoring activities, and nonpublic placement processes. Monthly newsletters will be published throughout the school year. To subscribe to the newsletter, click here.
If you have any questions, please contact Karen Morgan-Donaldson at Karen.Morgan-Donaldson@dc.gov.
Resources for Helping Students and Staff Navigate Metro’s New Bus Network (Reminder)
Metro launched a new bus network on June 29, which means the commute to school for students in your LEAs will be different. All routes have new names; routes, frequencies, and operating hours have changed; and some bus stops have changed.
OSSE Start of School Webpages are Now Live (Reminder)
OSSE has launched our 2025–26 Start of School webpages for LEAs with important updates, timelines, and resources to help you plan for a strong start to the new school year. This year’s priorities are grouped into three areas, including Serving All Students, Operations & Data, and Academics with nine core priorities across programs. Visit the webpages here and please submit any questions to this form.
OSSE Parent Portal FAQs for LEAs Available (Reminder)
The OSSE Parent Portal FAQs for LEAs is a comprehensive document that answers the most frequently asked questions we’ve received from schools and includes guidance to help staff navigate the new process, communicate with families, and better understand your role.
You can access the FAQ document here.
OSSE Parent Portal for Transportation (Update)
The July 11 deadline for parents and guardians to enter their child's information in the OSSE Parent Portal for transportation services in the 2025-26 school year has passed. Data shows more than 60 percent of parents with transportation-eligible students has logging into the app. And while we are grateful for the efforts of those who have logged in we know we still have work to do and remain concerned about missing or inaccurate contact information for many eligible students’ families.
We also want to hear directly from you. Are there additional resources that would support your team? Is your school hosting a back-to-school event where OSSE can promote the portal? Just send us an email at osse.communications@dc.gov with your ideas or questions. We're here to help.
|
New: Foundational Literacy for Multilingual Adolescent Learners, Sept. 8
This one-day workshop, based on the text Teaching Foundational Skills to Adolescent Readers, is designed for middle and high school educators of multilingual learners. Participants will explore the unique needs of older readers who are struggling with decoding or fluency skills and learn how to integrate reading support with content instruction and intervention blocks. The training will focus on supporting self-efficacy skills, teaching word recognition and word knowledge, and building background knowledge.
Content area teachers, language acquisition teachers, special education teachers, and instructional coaches who work with multilingual learners, newcomers, and students with limited or interrupted education (SLIFE) in fifth grade through adult education classrooms are invited to attend. Educators who lead instruction in Spanish are also welcome to attend.
When: Monday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Where: OSSE Headquarters (1050 First St. NE) Register here.
Attendees will receive 6 Professional Learning Units (PLUs). For more information, contact Francesca Smith at Francesca.Smith@dc.gov.
New: Dyslexia Awareness Trainings: Sept. 4, 12, and 23
OSSE is pleased to announce an in-person dyslexia awareness training that will focus on defining dyslexia, common misconceptions about dyslexia, and how to support students with dyslexia as required by DC Law 23-191- Addressing Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties Amendment Act of 2020.
This interactive training is for educators and administrators serving middle schools who lead and support literacy instruction and language development.
By the end of this course, participants will:
- Learn how to define dyslexia and reading difficulties.
- Gain awareness about characteristics and indicators of dyslexia and reading difficulties.
This training is an in-person version of the asynchronous dyslexia awareness training for adolescent to adult educators. Participants can attend this training in lieu of completing the online module and will earn up to 2 professional learning units (PLUs) upon completion of the course.
The in-person training will be held at OSSE Headquarters, located at 1050 First St. NE, Eleanor Holmes Norton conference room. All participants must present a government issued ID upon check in with the front desk. The training will be held three times in September 2025; participants only need to attend one session for full credit.
For questions, please contact Dustin Tamsen, Dyslexia Specialist, at Dustin.Tamsen@dc.gov.
WMATA Transit Police Annual Back-to-School-Bash, Aug. 23 (Reminder)
WMATA’s Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) Annual Back-to-School Bash is Saturday, Aug. 23 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Fort Totten Station.
Join MTPD for free food, drinks, haircuts, school supplies, and giveaways (while supplies last)—plus fun for all ages with live music, moon bounces, a petting zoo, face painting, and more. This event will take place rain or shine.
 New: FY26 IDEA and ESEA Allocations Update
OSSE has received DC’s fiscal year 2026 (FY26) awards from the US Department of Education for the following formula grant programs:
- Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Titles I-A, II-A, III-A, and IV-A
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B (Sections 611 and 619)
The FY26 IDEA Part B allocations will be announced via email next week and posted here. The IDEA Phase II application will be released in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) at the end of August and will be due on Sept. 30. No changes have been made to the IDEA Phase II application from last year.
OSSE is working diligently to determine local education agency (LEA) grant allocations for ESEA Titles I-A to IV-A. We anticipate that we will publish allocations for Titles I-A and IV-A by mid-August and Titles II-A and III-A by early September. The ESEA consolidated application (ConApp) will be released in EGMS following publication of all four Title allocations. All ESEA allocations will be announced via email and posted here.
For any questions, please contact Linda Sun at Linda.Sun1@dc.gov.
New: FY26 Whole Child and Educator Wellness (WCEW) Grant Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the FY26 Whole Child and Educator Wellness (WCEW) grant is now available in the DC Register. View here. This grant is available to community-based organizations that have experience working with early childhood education facilities and public and public charter schools. The deadline to submit applications is Wednesday, Oct. 8. The award period for these grants is Nov. 26, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026.
An optional pre-application webinar will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3, which will provide an overview of the purpose of the WCEW grant, provide information on how to complete the application in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS), and share basics of project budgeting and allowable costs. Please register to attend here. The webinar will also be recorded and posted on OSSE's webpage.
For questions or additional information about the WCEW grant application, contact Kimberly Thompson, Grants Management Specialist, at KimberlyA.Thompson@dc.gov.
OSSE Grantee Reimbursement Request Submission Policy (Reminder)
The end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 (FY25) was on June 30, 2025. OSSE requires grantees to submit at least one reimbursement request per quarter. After a grantee has an approved application, they may request reimbursement for any allowable expenditures incurred in the approved award period to date.
For FY25, Quarter 3 is the period from April 1-June 30, 2025. Reimbursement requests for this period are due by July 31 in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS).
We look forward to reviewing your submissions. Please do not hesitate to contact your OSSE grant specialists for questions or technical assistance.
|
August 2025
September 2025
|
