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New: School Year 2025-26 School Year Immunization Policy and Updated Immunization Resources
On Oct. 27, 2025 all District public and public charter schools must notify families of immunization non-compliant students in the key grades (i.e., pre-K 3, kindergarten, 7 and 11) that their child will be temporarily excluded on Dec. 8, 2025 if they remain non-compliant and do not have an exemption. All key immunization dates for the 2025-26 school year can be found here.
Aligned resources are posted on the OSSE immunization website. Remember to communicate with families to ensure students are up to date on their immunizations before the start of the school year. The best place to get immunizations is at your family healthcare provider but also see DC Health’s website for additional immunization opportunities.
For additional information or questions, please email osse.schoolhealth@dc.gov.
New: 2025-26 School Year Enrollment Audit and Child Count Handbook and Training Materials
The 2025-26 Enrollment Audit and Child Count (EACC) Handbook, training slides, and recorded webinar are now available on the Office of Enrollment and Residency (OER) webpage. LEA Enrollment Audit points of contact (POCs) should set aside time this month to review these materials to ensure their LEA is fully prepared for the upcoming enrollment audit. For questions or support, please contact the OER team at osse.enrollmentaudit@dc.gov.
New: Free or Low-Cost Education Technology Partnership with Accelerate
Accelerate, a national nonprofit, is surveying interested local education agencies (LEAs) to partner with eight-10 promising technology organizations to serve students during the 2025-26 school year through their Call for Effective Technology program.
Interested LEAs will receive:
- Free or low-cost access to innovative AI solutions focused on math, reading, or writing
- External research support to measure student impact and inform your tech decisions
- Flexible implementation options
What's required for LEAs to participate:
- Serve minimum 100 students in the pilot
- Participate in research activities (sharing de-identified student data, complete surveys)
- Support implementation during regular school hours
Timeline:
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Complete this brief interest survey (estimated 5-7 minutes) by Wednesday, Aug. 20 to be considered for partnership matching.
- Matches will be made in August 2025
- Implementation during the 2025-26 school year
Questions? Contact Accelerate directly program@accelerate.us.
2025-26 School Year LEA Course Data Collection Process Now Open (Reminder)
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.
Start of School Guidance for Students who Require Nursing Services (Reminder)
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.
First Year Cadre for School Behavioral Health Providers (Reminder)
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;
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Dates and times for optional office hours to review your SEPR with OSSE;
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How to appeal your LEA’s SEPR results and associated timelines; and
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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.
OSSE Parent Portal for Transportation (Reminder)
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.
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New: Next Gen Personal Finance Virtual Conference, Aug. 23
Kick off the school year with Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF)! The NGPF Back to School Virtual Conference will be held on Saturday, Aug. 23. This free interactive event will equip you with practical tools, classroom-ready resources, and the confidence you need at the start of the school year.
Join financial literacy advocate Mellody Hobson for an inspiring keynote conversation on what Gen Z needs to know about money and how educators can empower students to build financial confidence.
View all sessions and register here. Session highlights include:
- 403b Wise: Retirement Planning for Educators
- Teaching Investing with Confidence
- Watch & Learn: Modeling an NGPF Lesson
- First Day, Best Day: Fun Starters for a Great School Year
- Teaching Smarter with AI: A Panel Discussion
For questions, please contact Sean Kimball at Sean.Kimball@dc.gov.
Foundational Literacy for Multilingual Adolescent Learners, Sept. 8 (Reminder)
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, from 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.
Dyslexia Awareness Trainings: Sept. 4, 12, and 23 (Reminder)
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.
 FY26 IDEA and ESEA Allocations Update (Reminder)
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 were announced via email earlier this 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.
FY26 Whole Child and Educator Wellness (WCEW) Grant Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)(Reminder)
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.
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August 2025
September 2025
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