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National Bullying Prevention Month (NBPM) is a campaign founded in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. The campaign is held during the month of October and connects communities around the world to help prevent bullying. It is more important than ever to join together in creating a world that is kinder, more accepting, and more inclusive. Take action at school, at home, in your neighborhood, at a local business, or in your workplace to show that you care about kids, being safe at school, online, and in the community.

 

 

https://rems.ed.gov/

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Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP): A Promising Solution for North Carolina’s Youth Mental Health Crisis

North Carolina is facing a youth mental health crisis and there is an urgent need for alternative solutions. School-based models of delivering mental health services are associated with higher utilization and higher satisfaction compared to community-based services. Specialized Instructional Support Personnel can identify and address unmet needs and reduce barriers in access to care.

Read the NCMJ article here, featuring many familiar fellow SISP!

 

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Anyone can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

 

 

General Assembly Budget Highlights 

House Bill 259 / SL 2023-134

Salaries and Other Compensation

• Increases salaries for teachers and other certified school personnel by an average of 7% total over the next two fiscal years

• Increases salaries for non-certified personnel by 7% over the biennium

• Expands the Advanced Teaching Roles program and provides salary supplements for teachers in the program 

• Increases bus driver salaries by 2% in addition to the 7% received by all school personnel

Policy Changes and Other Appropriations

• Expands the Opportunity Scholarship program to make all students residing in the state eligible; students may receive 100%, 90%, 60% or 45% of the state per pupil allocation, depending on the household income of the student

• Delays the implementation date of certain portions of Session Law 2023-106 Parents Bill of Rights to January 2024 in most cases to give school systems time to implement the changes

• Appropriates $1 million annually beginning in FY24-25 for a grant program to reimburse teachers for the fee for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification

• Requires certain teacher mandatory training programs to count toward continuing education credits; prohibits the requirement of continuing education credits solely related to digital teaching

• Makes three-year limited teaching licenses renewable; requires for renewal an affidavit from the employing local board of education stating the teacher is an effective teacher

• Requires the State Board of Education to grant a Continuing Professional License to a teacher licensed in another state with substantially similar licensure requirements who has at least three years of teaching experience

• Directs DPI to base the ADM formula on actual ADM from the prior year instead of projections for the upcoming year

• Raises the maximum grant from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund from Education Lottery proceeds to $42 million for an elementary school, $52 million for a middle school, and $62 million for a high school 

• Directs the State Board of Education to develop a sequence of courses to allow a student to graduate from high school in three years

• Directs the State Board of Education to establish college and career endorsements, an arts proficiency endorsement and a citizenship proficiency endorsement for high school diplomas

• Directs the State Board of Education to develop standards for an elective middle school course on career pathways, requires all students to complete a career development plan by the end of the 7th grade and to revise the plan by the end of the 10th grade; sets standards for the plan

• Prohibits school counselors from assisting with standardized testing

• Increases funding in the TAs to Teachers program to provide tuition assistance to part-time or full-time teacher assistants pursuing a degree in teaching

• Provides $1 million annually to establish a Teacher Apprentice Grant Program to provide grants for the cost of tuition for teacher apprentices

• Increases Small County supplemental funding by $4.7 million annually

• Increases the classroom supplies allotment by $10 million in one-time funds and $1 million annually

• Increases by $4 million annually the appropriation for the Economically Disadvantaged Public Schools Support program to support the efforts of certain schools to exceed growth in subsequent school years through curriculum, support for students, and retention programs for employees

• Appropriates $70 million over two years for a new School Safety Grants Program to provide services for students in crisis, school safety training, safety equipment, and subsidize the School Resource Officer Grants Program

• Adds 120 school health personnel (school nurse, counselor, social worker and psychologists) statewide

• Directs DPI to develop a model for funding children with disabilities services

• Makes all students that qualify for reduced-priced meals eligible for breakfast and lunch at no cost and funds the student copays; prohibits public schools from imposing administrative penalties for unpaid school meal debt

   

Legislative Updates

 

View the K-12 Education Office of Government and Community Affairs Update from Friday, October 6, 2023.  View here.

 

 

 

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Protecting the Next Generation of North Carolinians

The North Carolina Department of Justice and Attorney General Josh Stein are working hard to keep kids safe.    Youth today face a variety of challenges – some that may be familiar to parents and many that simply did not exist in generations past, before fentanyl, cell phones, and social media.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Stein convened leaders from across North Carolina to discuss the challenges facing our youth and strategies to help keep them safe – and following that event, several parents noted that they wished there was a way to share this important information with others who are concerned about our kids. To do so, the NC Department of Justice is organizing a series of webinars targeted to parents, caregivers, and those who work with youth.

This series – Protecting the Next Generation of North Carolinians – will address four specific topics, one per each brief session, and at each, we’ll convene experts to provide background information and practical tips to help keep NC kids healthy and safe. We’ll cover topics including online dangers for youth, safe gun storage, and youth substance use. More information on the series is available here. 

 

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Professional Tools

New Tool for Evaluators

This tool is to help navigate appropriate dialogue during the observation and summative process for school social workers. View here.

 

SISP Administrator Guide

This guide can be used with administrators and any other stakeholders to explain our unique roles and share more information about our professions.  Please use and share this tool! 

• SISP Overview.rev.2023 merged.pdf

 

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Providing Emergency Preparedness Supports for Students Experiencing Homelessness

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and its Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center pre-recorded a Webinar on Providing Emergency Preparedness Supports for Students Experiencing Homelessness. This Webinar focuses on the importance of ensuring that students who are experiencing displacement as a result of an emergency or who are experiencing homelessness are integrated into emergency operations plans (EOPs).

The objectives of this Webinar are to

• Highlight the criteria for a student to be considered a homeless child or youth under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
• Provide an overview of the educational rights of students who are experiencing homelessness and the responsibilities associated with ensuring their needs are met.
• Share unique EOP considerations for students experiencing homelessness.
• Share relevant resources to be used by local homeless education liaisons, school safety leaders, planning team members, community partners, and other individuals who have an interest or role in school emergency management planning.

Presenters:

National Center for Homeless Education

• Kenya Haynes, Program Specialist

REMS TA Center

• Janelle Williams, Project Director

This Webinar is archived on the REMS TA Center Website.

 

 

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments

A system-wide focus on workforce well-being has emerged as a key strategy toward restoring stability. This directory is designed to help districts and schools promote well-being among administrators, teachers, and other staff. Part of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environment’s (NCSSLE’s) efforts to connect research and practice on key topics, it draws on researcher and practitioner roundtables as well as an extensive literature scan to provide a wide range of resources about ways to promote staff well-being. Its purpose is to elevate activities, programs, and frameworks that are grounded in research evidence about improving staff well-being along one or more dimensions.

View the many staff well-being resources.

 

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Health Education Regional Training

 

October 25 Training Topics - Winston Salem

Teen Dating Violence

Participants will learn to how to identify protective support systems for teens, understand the educator’s role in preventing dating violence, understand the prevalence and incidence of dating violence, and will practice role modeling health behaviors.

Bullying

This session is designed to equip youth serving individuals with strategies to respond effectively to bullying and cyberbullying.

Specific location information will be shared closer to the training.

Registration

 

December 5 Training Topics - Fayetteville

Teen Dating Violence
Participants will learn to how to identify protective support systems for teens, understand the educator’s role in preventing dating violence, understand the prevalence and incidence of dating violence, and will practice role modeling health behaviors.

Bullying
This session is designed to equip youth serving individuals with strategies to respond effectively to bullying and cyberbullying.

Specific location information will be shared closer to the training.

Registration

 

These workshops are sponsored by the NC Department of Public Instruction.

Please contact Jamie Williams at  252-328-1153 or tierj@ecu.edu for questions or additional information.

 

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Worth Checking Out

Purposity is an app that is changing the way communities meet the needs of students. "We help support staff such as school social workers, school counselors, homeless liaisons, and foster care points-of-contact in getting exactly what their students need. Let us know the needs you’ve got for your students or clients. We spread the word to individuals near you who are willing to help. They click a link, see the need, and send you exactly what you’re requesting, delivered right to your office."

 

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Center for Safer Schools Calendar of Events

SRMP Training

(Registration is free)

• Tuesday, Oct. 17; 2-4 p.m.: Register
• Tuesday, Oct. 24; 1-3 p.m.: Register
• Wednesday, Nov. 8; 10 a.m.-noon; Center for Safer Schools Training Cener, 3600 Samarcand Road, Jackson Springs: Register
• Wednesday, Nov. 8; 3-5 p.m.: Register
• Tuesday, Dec. 5; 2-4 p.m.: Register

Drop, Cover and Hold On

(Registration is free)

• Thursday, Oct. 19, 10:19 a.m.: Register

N.C. Youth Leadership Training

(Registration is free)

• Friday, Oct. 20, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Frontier RTP, 800 Park Offices Drive, Research Triangle Park: Register

Exercise Information System Training

(Registration is free)

• Wednesday, Nov. 8, 1-2 p.m.: Webinar

 

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Subscribe to this NCDPI School Social Work newsletter here.

Enter your email, then advance to the next screen that will give you a list of subjects and scroll down to find School Social Work. 

 

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