Please join me in recognizing and elevating Virginia’s fine arts educators as we celebrate Music in Our Schools, Theatre in Our Schools, and Youth Art Month.  From the stage to the canvas, our teachers of the arts provide instruction that promotes creative and critical thinking skills. We know that students who engage in multiple years of fine arts in high school have lower rates of chronic absenteeism which supports their overall success in school and beyond.  

At the March Board of Education meeting, we had the pleasure of hearing from a student quartet, Quattro Voci, from Glen Allen High School in Henrico and it was music to my ears! This talented group has performed at major events throughout the year and recently finished undefeated during competition season. Thank you to their dedicated teachers and families for supporting the students and their talents! 

Also joining in the celebration of the arts this month, the Virginia PTA and the Virginia School Boards Association provided opportunities for students to showcase their talents and I am so impressed with their work! VDOE wholeheartedly supports fine arts programs as essential to a best-in-class education system. Thank you Virginia’s fine arts educators for the positive impact you have on our students and school communities! 

April is Month of the Military Child. Over 77,000 military-connected students are currently enrolled in Virginia’s public schools and the VDOE is joining school divisions and communities across the Commonwealth to celebrate military-connected students and their families. 

Purple Up Day
Purple is the official color of the military child. It is a combination of all the colors of the United States Armed Forces. Purple Up Day will be recognized by the VDOE and other state agencies on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. This is an opportunity to honor military children from all branches of the military by wearing purple. 

Purple Star Designation
The application window for those schools seeking or renewing their Purple Star Designation for the school year 2024-2025 will open Monday, April 1, 2024, and close Friday, September 20, 2024. Schools can visit the Virginia Purple Star Designation Program webpage for more information on application requirements. 

Military Signing Day
The VDOE and the Virginia Department of Veterans Services will be participating in a Virginia Military Signing Day event at the Virginia War Memorial on Friday, May 17, 2024, from 6-7:30 p.m. 

For more information on recognizing and celebrating military students, the VDOE has developed resources that are available on its Military Families webpage. 

The Office of Educational Technology and Classroom Innovation is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Advancing Computer Science Education grant. This grant will provide funding for high-quality computer science instructional resources and professional development on curriculum integration.   

Full details about this year’s application and submission can be found on the Virginia Department of Education’s Computer Science page. To be considered for selection for the grant, the lead designees will submit the completed Advancing Computer Science Education grant proposal, as described in the RFP, to the Virginia Department of Education by 4 p.m. on Monday, April 15, 2024.  

The VDOE is planning the seventeenth cohort of its Aspiring Special Education Leaders Academy (ASELA). This special education leadership initiative is designed to help prepare potential leaders for administrative positions in special education. Through a yearlong program, cohort members will have opportunities to gain knowledge and skills that will help them excel in positions of special education leadership. 

The VDOE is now accepting one application per school division, state-operated program, regional program, and training and technical assistance center for the 2024–2025 Academy. Approximately 20 participants will be selected, which may include administrators holding entry-level positions, teachers, student services staff members, and related services staff members who have demonstrated leadership.  

The application and instructions, candidate requirements, and selection criteria to participate in this program are available on the VDOE’s Leadership Academies webpage. Candidates must submit their applications through their school division’s special education director, and application packets must be postmarked by April 19, 2024, or received by email at Beverly.Wynter@doe.virginia.gov by this date. Candidates and nominators will be notified of selection outcomes in May 2024. 

The VDOE is providing updated guidance to local educational agencies (LEAs) regarding parental decision-making authority in cases involving special education students where a parent has been awarded sole custody by a divorce decree and custody order.  

When a custodial or non-custodial parents’ authority to make educational decisions concerning their child is controlled by a divorce decree and/or custody order, school divisions should refer to the relevant divorce decree and/or custody order when determining if a parent has decision-making authority in educational decisions. In defining who is entitled to act as a parent, the Code of Virginia identifies various categories, including biological or adoptive parents and guardians who have “default” parental rights. In addition, 8VAC20-81-10 and § 20-124.1 define further qualifications. School divisions should work with their school division attorney if questions arise regarding custody agreements and orders. 

An email with supporting information will follow to Directors of Special Education.  

Future Technical Assistance: Save the date! On April 23, at 9:00 a.m. and April 30, at 1:00 p.m. the Office of Accountability will be offering a technical assistance webinar with information and updates on the State Accreditation and Federal Accountability systems based on school year 2023-2024 data! Registration information for these webinars will be sent in the near future.  

Opportunities to expand the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) option of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) breakfast and lunch programs are available for school year (SY) 2024–2025. Schools, groups of schools, or school divisions with an identified student percentage (ISP) of 25-39.99 percent will now be eligible for CEP, along with those that meet the previous threshold of 40 percent.  

The lower ISP threshold increases the number of schools eligible to provide meals at no cost to all students. However, this change does not increase the 1.6 ISP multiplier used in meal reimbursement. Additional federal funding is not available to support the cost of meals in schools with the lower ISP. The multiplier multiplied by the ISP determines the percentage of meals reimbursed at the free rate. Schools with an ISP below 40 percent will have between 40 to approximately 64 percent of meals reimbursed at the free rate. The remaining meals will only be reimbursed at the paid rate, which is currently about 40 cents per meal. 

Decision makers should conduct robust assessment of CEP financial viability to inform their plans. April 1 ISP data must be reported to the VDOE by April 15. The reported data will be used in the CEP application for SY 2024–2025, which is due by June 30. A webinar will be offered to school nutrition program administrators on April 18. A tool kit containing assessment and outreach information will be reviewed during the April 18 webinar and distributed following the webinar. 

More information can be found in SNP Memo #2023-2024-29, SNP Memo #2023-2024-59, and the USDA CEP Planning and Implementation Guidance February 2024 update.  

School divisions should schedule their spring Standards of Learning (SOL) test administration dates such that no SOL test attempts are administered after the last day of school. To request a waiver to administer SOL expedited retake test attempts after the last day of school, school divisions may complete an Expedited Retake Waiver Request Form and submit it to the Virginia Department of Education for consideration. The division is to include a detailed justification for administering expedited retakes after the last day of school and specifics of how the waiver would be implemented by the division if it were granted. 

Completed waiver request forms are to be signed by the Division Director of Testing (DDOT) and the Division Superintendent and emailed to the Office of Student Assessment at Student_Assessment@doe.virginia.gov no later than May 1, 2024, with the subject line, “Expedited Retake Waiver Request Form.” A response will be returned to the DDOT and Superintendent within approximately two weeks after receipt of the completed waiver request. 

Starting in Fall 2024, all publicly funded early childhood programs in Virginia will receive an annual VQB5 quality profile which will include information about performance on measurements (i.e., quality rating results) and other topics of interest to families, policymakers, and the general public. This will include public schools that offer Pre-K and are participating in VQB5. 

The VDOE has developed draft ‘mock-ups’ of VQB5 quality profiles that are now available for review by educators, families, and other early childhood care and education stakeholders. Click on the links below to view profile mock-ups and to provide feedback by May 10. 

• VQB5 Quality Profile Preview Webinar Recording (47 min)  
• VQB5 Quality Profile Mock-Ups and Feedback Survey  

To learn more about how VQB5 measures and improves the quality of early childhood programs, visit the Quality Measurement and Improvement (VQB5) webpage.  

Applications Available for Federal Funds

Article: 2024-13-120
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, Federal Program Coordinators
Contact: If there are questions related to the mechanics of the application, please contact Patrice Cosely, Grants and Reports Manager, at (804) 225-2586 or Patrice.Cosely@doe.virginia.gov. Questions related to the electronic submission of the application through the Department’s Online Management of Education Grant Awards (OMEGA) system should be directed to OMEGA support at Omega.Support@doe.virginia.gov.

On Monday, in Superintendent’s Memo #001-24, VDOE published calculation templates related to the amended budgets adopted by the 2024 General Assembly at this website. The downloadable calculation templates allow users to enter local projections of enrollment and test the effect on projected state payments and estimated required local matching amounts. Please review the “Instructions” tab of the calculation template for details on how to use it and what information is provided.  

Additionally, VDOE has published the following narratives to provide detailed information of the funding changes adopted by the 2024 General Assembly that impact the FY 2024, FY 2025, and FY 2026 Direct Aid to Public Education and VDOE Central Office budgets. These documents are attached and available at this website. 

At their March Board meeting, the State Board of Education moved forward on their ongoing efforts to revise the Standards of Accreditation, with an intention of creating a school performance and support framework component. The Board has planned Listening Sessions in April across the Commonwealth to help facilitate public engagement to further the development of a school performance framework through Virginia’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan.  

These listening sessions are intended to inform the Board and facilitate public input focused on the new school performance and support framework. The sessions are being coordinated by the Hunt Institute, an independent, non-profit organization.  

Parents, educators, and interested citizens are invited to attend the session in their region and comment on their expectations for the new school performance and support framework. All Listening Sessions will begin at 6 p.m. and end at 7:30 p.m. Meetings will be held on the following dates: 

Registration is available here.