August 06 Student Investment Account Update

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SIA Update


Third Period Progress & Annual Reporting Office Hours

Over the next few months, ODE will be hosting office hours to support grantees in the completion of the Third Period Progress Report and Annual Report. The sessions are designed to address individual grantee questions and provide technical assistance on the reporting dashboard. Below, you will find the office hours scheduled for the next month. Additional dates will become available as the September 30th (no summer extension) and November 30th (with summer extension) due dates approach. Please click the links below to sign up for a time slot and come prepared with questions!

If you are unable to attend one of these sessions and have questions about your Third Period Progress and/or Annual Report, please reach out to SIAinfo@state.or.us and a member of our team will follow up with you.

Addition of SIA Reporting Guidance Folder to Smartsheets

Earlier this week, links for the Third Period Progress Report and Annual Report customized reporting dashboards were sent out to all of our grantees. While you may be familiar with the layout of these Smartsheet dashboards, we wanted to draw your attention to a new addition that we’ve included for period three that provides a convenient way for grantees to access informative guidance that may answer potential questions that arise as they are completing these reports.

At the top of each dashboard you will see the addition of an SIA Reporting Guidance Folder. Contained within this folder are instructional videos as well as written step-by step guidance that covers technical elements, Smartsheet basics, important dates, and relevant context respective to each period’s reporting and the annual report. Our intent is that including this folder directly onto the dashboard will serve as a convenient way to provide thorough clarification and context on the front-end in order to streamline the reporting process, proactively field any potential questions, and therefore lessen the need for additional follow up later on.

If you have any questions about the reporting dashboards please reach out to the SIA team at SIAinfo@state.or.us.


This Week's Frequently Asked Questions

Q: We ordered supplies that are now on backorder, and won’t be in until October. Can we use funds from 2020-21 to cover this expense since we ordered it during the grant performance period?

A: Unfortunately we are not able to allow any expenditures outside the grant end date. All items must be received or work completed prior to the end of the performance date. For those without a summer extension that date is June 30, 2021 and for those with a summer extension that date is September 30, 2021. However, you are able to use your funding for the 2021-22 school year that begins July 1, 2021 for any expenditure that occurs after July 1, 2021 as long as it falls within the scope of your SIA plan for the 21-23 biennium. Even though you don’t have the money in your EGMS account yet, once your SIA Plan update is approved, grant amendment is fully executed, and funds are released you will be allowed to backdate SIA expenses to July 1, 2021.

Q: We drew down 100% of our SIA funds, but were unable to spend all of it. How do we return unspent funds to the ODE?

A: Grantees who do not spend 100% of their funds, will need to go through the process to return any unspent funds as part of their Third Period Progress Report. The Fiscal Return process is done through the Fiscal Return to the Oregon Department of Education Smartsheet. You will fill out the form, and ODE staff will process the request through our systems. Financial Services will then issue the grantee an invoice for payment.


Resources We're Excited About

This past year challenged many Oregon students and school staff to the limits with traumatic loss or illness from COVID-19, wildfires, and chronic stressors such as job loss, unstable housing, or access to food. It also illuminated long standing inequities in which focal communities have disproportionately suffered loss while simultaneously battling racism. With students returning to the classroom this fall, we are at a crucial juncture to address one of the two stated purposes of the SIA - mental and behavioral health. 

We are excited to share the ODE’s Mental Health Toolkit. This toolkit aids districts in developing comprehensive practices by recognizing everyone struggles with emotional challenges throughout life and conceptualizing mental health as “wellness promotion.” The toolkit expands common crisis intervention-only approaches and challenges tendencies to diagnose, label, categorize, and define students through strengths-based school culture and climate. In doing so, it opens up the possibility for all adults - not just mental health professionals - to support student well-being and restore optimal functioning integral to learning.

In upcoming messages, we will delve deeper into each of the toolkits' content areas:

  • Leading from Strength to Promote Mental Health: An integrated prevention and intervention framework connecting: 1) trauma informed care; 2) social emotional learning; 3) racial equity; and 4) asset-focused, evidence-based multi-tiered systems of support.
  • Addressing Traumatic Stress: The signs and symptoms of trauma vary in how and when they show up for each individual. While preferences for support and care are as diverse as those experiencing trauma, safe, trusting relationships remain consistent and fundamental to healing.
  • Elevating Student Voice: A sense of powerlessness, hopelessness and invisibility are among the greatest contributors to stress. Therefore, student voice, choice, and meaningful engagement are among the most powerful tools to promote mental health.
  • Centering Racial Equity and Anti-racism: Labeling, grouping, and sorting students without regard to cultural context places barriers to opportunity and increases racial stressors. To address this harm, we must examine our implicit biases.
  • Promoting Inclusive School Environments: Inequitable learning experiences perpetuate harm and require examination and adjustment of school policy and procedures.
  • Delivering Multi-tiered Systems of Support: A system that ensures every student receives appropriate support through equitable resource allocation - from universal student resiliency to resource-planning and regular student check-ins to crisis intervention.

 

 


Additional Resources

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Please send any questions or comments to SIAInfo@state.or.us

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