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News from Across the Commonwealth
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Members of Flat Rock Elementary School’s Kindness Klub in Powhatan County Public Schools recently sponsored a food drive across the school for Backpacks of Love. The students collected more than 3,000 items to donate to the nonprofit, whose mission is dedicated to eliminating hunger in school-age children in Central Virginia by providing food for their weekends. |
Throughout the school year, students in the Kids in the Community group at John P. Fishwick Middle in Roanoke City Public Schools participated in several community service projects. These projects included a sock drive, packing Thanksgiving goodie bags, and making holiday cards for local veterans. |
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Read, Relax, Repeat! VDOE's June children's book display celebrates summer reading. Dive into a good book this summer while enjoying sunny days! #EverybodyReadsVA |
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Dr. Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction
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As many of you are closing out your school year, celebrating graduation, and ensure successful closes to your school year, I want to draw your attention to three important bills that Governor Youngkin signed into legislation on May 22, 2024. SB 731, HB 1427, and HB 1388/SB 201 are critical pieces of collaborative legislation that protect Virginia’s youth from exploitation, increase penalties on child predators, and ensure rapid response for missing or endangered children. I want to take a moment and thank Senator Tara Durant, Senator Danny Diggs, Delegate Michael Webert, Delegate Bonita Anthony, Delegate Paul Milde, Delegate Ian Lovejoy and Delegate Geary Higgins for their focus on protecting our children and hold those who commit atrocities against children accountable.
Please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the components of these pieces of legislation.
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HB1388, the Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (CODI) Alert Program, reinforces strong partnerships between community leaders and local law enforcement and creates a robust framework for this program, the CODI alert program. This program provides uniform standards for any 17-year-old or younger child enrolled in our schools and whose whereabouts are unknown and whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat. CODI allows law enforcement to consistently determine a threat to the safety and health of the child. This bill is identical to SB 201.
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HB1427 helps strengthen sentencing guidelines to ensure individuals who prey on children will be held accountable. While current law allows a court to fix the period of suspension for up to the maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imprisoned.
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SB 731 updates definitions in the code to more comprehensively cover any sexually explicit visual material of minors, regardless of whether such a minor actually lives. These updates are critical as we address new threats to children from images generated by artificial intelligence apps. This legislation declares that our legal system recognizes the evolving methods of exploitation and that system will adapt to protect Virginia’s children.
These bills ensure there will be no leniency in Virginia for those who engage in crimes against children. As digital environments continue to evolve, we must continue to be vigilant and proactive in our efforts to create a safe environment for all children in Virginia.
Additionally, to help Virginia address evolving technological challenges, the Governor’s Office has been convening the executives of SCHEV, VCCS, and VDOE regarding the implementation of EO30 and the role of the education agencies in AI guidance and oversight. VDOE will be launching a K-12 task force on AI and partner with stakeholders as well as SCHEV and VCCS to best support school divisions in their approach to AI and ensure students receive the necessary skills and knowledge of AI to be successful after high school.
-Lisa
VDOE Celebrates 2024 RISE Award Nominees
Earlier today, VDOE announced Virginia’s 2024 Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award nominees. Renee Weir, clerk and office manager for Clarke County Public Schools, and Charles (Charlie) Woolf, a paraprofessional for Poquoson City Public Schools, were selected as Virginia’s nominees. Weir and Woolf were recognized by Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons during virtual meetings with school and division leaders.
Renee Weir has spent nearly 30 years with Clarke County Public Schools. Currently Office Manager and Clerk of the Board, she was nominated for her commitment to supporting staff to ensure they are equipped to meet the needs of students. An advocate for all staff, she is a proponent of providing professional development to enhance continuous growth across roles within the division. Weir also has a vast wealth of knowledge that she shares with colleagues so they can make informed decisions that will ultimately impact outcomes for students across Clarke County.
“Renee has consistently been the glue that holds it all together. Often the first to arrive and the last to leave, her work ethic is an inspiration for us all. Renee is always willing to assist. In fact, she onboarded many superintendents and even more district administrators with one goal in mind – for Clarke County Schools to be the best,” said Clarke County Superintendent Rick Catlett.
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Charles Woolf has spent the last eight years supporting the success of students in Poquoson City Public Schools. He was nominated for his earnest commitment to meeting students’ needs. Woolf willingly goes beyond his responsibilities to ensure his personal understanding of content to better support his students and plays a vital role in providing support for all students, not just the ones he is assigned to help. |
“Charlie works with students ranging from our adaptive students to some of our more accelerated learners in the collaborative setting. He studies and volunteers to help with a smile on his face. He also checks on staff members; his is in a lot of way the pulse in the heart of Poquoson Middle School,” said Poquoson Middle School Principal Melissa Bunting.
Both nominees are invited to the June meeting of the Virginia Board of Education where they will be recognized for the accomplishments.
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News from our Content Specialists and Special Education
Instructional Resources to Support the 2024 English Standards of Learning
Article: 2024-23-211
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Teachers
Contact: Jill Nogueras, Associate Director of K-12 English Literacy, Jill.Nogueras@doe.virginia.gov
English Standards of Learning Resources Released
The first wave of supports for the 2024 English Standards of Learning have been posted. Understanding the Standards documents, Overview of Revisions narrated PowerPoints, Grade Band Side-by-Sides, and Progression charts are available. Reference the 2024 English Standards of Learning webpage for more details. Division leaders should work with English leaders, instructional coaches, and teachers to help plan for the implementation of the 2024 English Standards of Learning in 2024-2025.
CodeVA Professional Learning Opportunities
Article: 2024-23-210
Audience: Teachers
Contact: Calypso Gilstrap, Associate Director, Office of Educational Technology and Classroom Innovation, Calypso.Gilstrap@doe.virginia.gov
CodeVA offers a variety of computer science professional learning for Virginia teachers. These opportunities are offered at no cost to public school K-12 educators and other interested public school education professionals. Teacher registration is now open for summer Professional Learning. Find out more on the CodeVA website!
CS Ambassador Applications Due
Article: 2024-23-214
Audience: Teachers
Contact: Calypso Gilstrap, Associate Director, Office of Educational Technology and Classroom Innovation, Calypso.Gilstrap@doe.virginia.gov
Know any high school women who are passionate about computer science? The CS Ambassador application is open! CS Ambassadors encourage other young women to explore computer science and connect with their peers in a variety of ways. Benefits of being a CS Ambassador include networking with others who have similar interests, recognition on college applications and resumes, opportunities to share what has been learned, and access to resources only available to CS Ambassadors.
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School Performance & Support
VDOE LASER Basic Accreditation Tracker Is LIVE!
Article: 2024-23-209
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, DDOTs
Contact: Mike Dunavant, LASER Project Manager, Mike.Dunavant@doe.virginia.gov and Andrew Neiburg, LASER Implementation Specialist, Andrew.Neiburg@doe.virginia.gov
The Virginia Department of Education’s LASER’s Basic Accreditation Tracker is now LIVE to ALL divisions for Central Office administrators and school administrators in SSWS. LASER’s Accreditation Tracker visualizes accreditation data from the current year back to the 2011-2012 school year. It utilizes state data available to-date of the current school year:
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SOL scores
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VAAP
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ACCESS for ELs 2.0
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Master Schedule Collection (MSC)
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Student Records Collection (SRC)
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CTE Credentialing Collection (CTECC)
And visualizes them on three different dashboards, including:
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An overall look at your division’s school quality indicators related to all students;
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English/Math Achievement Gap performance broken down by the various demographic groups; and
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A Correlation Matrix, that will allow you to compare schools’ performance on two indicators at a time to see patterns and trends.
It’s important to note that LASER is not the final, official report on a division’s current year Accreditation. All data in LASER is for internal use only and is not intended for public consumption.
Getting connected will be easy:
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Your SSWS Administrator can enable users in SSWS by checking one box in the LASER permissions. Directions for connecting users to LASER through SSWS will be sent to your SSWS Administrator and DDOT in a separate email, along with an invitation to online training opportunities for your division specialists and school level administrators.
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For more information on LASER and online training opportunities, please visit LASER’s webpage on the VDOE website.
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Supporting Early Childhood Care & Education
VQB5 Spring Local Observation Completion
Article: 2024-23-208
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Child Care Center Operators, Teachers, Non-teaching staff
Contact: Lucy Mitzner, Quality Improvement Specialist, Office of Early Childhood Quality, VQB5@vdoe.virginia.gov
With the closing of the window last week, VDOE proudly announces that 100% of required spring local observations for VQB5 were completed across 10,658 infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms this spring! This accomplishment represents the collaborative efforts of preschool site leaders, teachers, family child care providers, local observers, and Ready Regions.
Thank you to everyone who helped support these efforts and stay tuned for more information about how VQB5 CLASS observations will be used to support improvement and school readiness across the Commonwealth.
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Division Finance and Budgeting
Annual Slot Survey and Webinar Link - Student Slots in Regional Alternative Education Programs
Article: 2024-23-215
Audience: Superintendents, Non-teaching staff
Contact: Sofia McDaniel, Senior Policy Analyst, Department of Strategic Innovation, Sofia.McDaniel@doe.virginia.gov
VDOE hosted a webinar on May 29 to provide more transparency on the current slot assignment and slot reallocation process and solicit feedback for potential revisions for the 2025-2026 school year. If you were unable to attend, you can watch the recording here.
Thank you to those who attended and provided helpful feedback. As always, we continue to welcome any comments on the process. Please contact Ms. Sofia McDaniel at Sofia.McDaniel@doe.virginia.gov with your suggestions.
Call for Proposals: PreK-12 School Innovation Planning Grant
Article: 2024-23-212
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Teachers
Contact: Claire Bremner, Innovation Coordinator, Claire.Bremner@doe.virginia.gov
The Virginia Department of Education is pleased to announce the tenth year of the PreK12 School Innovation Planning Grant request for proposals. Individual school divisions or consortia of school divisions are eligible to submit proposals meeting the intent of the grant. Proposals may target one or more schools in each participating school division. The 2024 Appropriation Act has provided funding for up to five competitive planning grants to be awarded in fiscal year 2025, each not to exceed $50,000.
School divisions awarded planning grants must be prepared to implement their innovative reform models over two years beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. It is anticipated that awards will be made on or about August 30, 2024.
Two State Direct Aid Funding Issues Highlighted - EL Staffing Ratios & At-Risk Add-on
Article: 2024-23-207
Audience: Superintendents, Finance Directors
Contact: Kent Dickey, Deputy Superintendent of Operations, Kent.Dickey@doe.virginia.gov
Two state Direct Aid funding issues in the 2024-2026 budget are highlighted below for your awareness and for local funding and staffing planning purposes.
1. The Standards of Quality (SOQ) English Learner (EL) staffing ratios change effective FY 2025 based on EL student proficiency levels as stated in the Chapter 2 appropriation act:
“The number of such English Learner teacher positions required pursuant to the Standards of Quality are as established below:
EL Student Proficiency Level
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1 position per 20 EL students
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1 position per 30 EL students
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1 position per 40 EL students
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1 position per 50 EL students
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All Other Identified EL Students
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1 position per 100 EL students
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To provide flexibility in implementing this new staffing standard in the first year, the number of English Learner teachers required for each school division for the first year shall be equal to the number of such teachers that were required during the 2023-2024 school year, plus one half of the additional positions required in the above table for the first year.”
Note the staffing flexibility provided in the paragraph above for FY 2025 only.
2. At-Risk Add-on Program Remains Optional but with Required Local Match
HB 624 and SB 105, which moved the At-Risk Add-on program to the SOQ, were vetoed by the Governor. Those vetoes remove the At-Risk Add-on program from required local effort for the SOQ and maintain it as an optional program as part of required local match. School divisions will be able to opt in or out of the At-Risk Add-on program in FY 2025 and FY 2026 but must provide the required local match to receive the state funding.
Please also note other language in the Chapter 1 budget for FY 2024 requiring participation in the At-Risk Add-on program for FY 2025 or FY 2026 as necessary for the division to be able to carryover any unused balances of state ALL In initiative funding to FY 2025 or FY 2026.
Fiscal Year 2024 Career and Technical Education Occupational Preparation and Adult Education Entitlements (State Lottery Funds)
Article: 2024-23-206
Audience: Superintendents, Directors
Contact: Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, cte@doe.virginia.gov, 804-750-8163
The 2024 state entitlements for Career and Technical Education (CTE) occupational preparation and adult education for eligible school divisions, and including regional centers, have been determined. The regional center entitlements will be paid directly to each center’s fiscal agent school division. The state entitlement amounts identified will be paid to school divisions in one payment on June 30, 2024, by electronic funds transfer. In fiscal year 2024, these entitlement payments are funded with state lottery funds.
State funds distributed to eligible school divisions are based upon actual expenditures from the prior fiscal year and the total funds appropriated by the General Assembly for CTE occupational preparation and adult education programs. To determine each school division’s fiscal year 2024 allocation for CTE occupational preparation and adult education programs, state funding is divided by the total school year 2022-2023 occupational preparation and adult education local funds expenditures to determine the reimbursement percentage for each program.
For fiscal year 2024, it has been determined that each eligible school division will be reimbursed for 45.03% of its school year 2022-2023 CTE occupational preparation expenditures and 45.03% of its CTE adult education program expenditures. Those school divisions that did not operate these programs in school year 2022-2023 and did not record any local fund expenditures are not eligible to receive any state reimbursement in fiscal year 2024.
Preliminary IDEA Funding Allocations for Federal Fiscal Year 2024
Article: 2024-23-205
Audience: Superintendents, Division Finance and Special Education Staff
Contact: Shalonda Lewis, Special Education Financial Data Specialist, Shalonda.Lewis@doe.virginia.gov
The Virginia Department of Education recently received preliminary Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding allocations for Federal Fiscal Year 2024 from the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs.
Virginia’s IDEA Part B Section 611 flow-through grant award decreased by $2,820,315, or a 0.93% reduction, from FFY 2023 to FFY 2024. The IDEA Part B Section 619 flow-through grant award was level funded and remains unchanged from FFY 2023 to FFY 2024. This information may not reflect the final FFY 2024 IDEA funding allocations.
The VDOE will release the final allocations after the final FFY 2024 grant award notification is received from the USED. The Preliminary Section 611 Flow-Through Subgrant Awards Allocation and the Preliminary Section 619 Preschool Subgrant Awards Allocation documents will be sent via email to local directors of special education.
For questions regarding the preliminary IDEA funding allocations for FFY 2024, please contact Shalonda Lewis, Special Education Financial Data Specialist, at 804-774-4279 or Shalonda.Lewis@doe.virginia.gov; or Tracie L. Coleman, Director of Special Education Finance and Budget, at 804-750-8652 or Tracie.Coleman@doe.virginia.gov.
Title V, Part B Carryover Provisions and Reallocation Procedures
Article: 2024-23-204
Audience: Superintendents, Division Finance Officers, Title V, Part B Coordinators
Contact: Latonia Anderson, Title I Specialist, Latonia.Anderson@doe.virginia.gov,
804-750-8173
Superintendent’s Newsletter #2023-14 announced 2023-2024 Title V, Part B, Subpart 2, Rural and Low-Income Schools (RLIS) Program federal allocations for qualifying school divisions and provided information on carryover provisions and reallocation procedures for the RLIS program.
To minimize the occurrence of unliquidated Title V, Part B, Subpart 2, Rural and Low-Income Schools Program funds due to school divisions failing to expend and/or request reimbursement for the full amount of funds that they are awarded, school divisions are required to encumber 85% of each award year’s RLIS allocation by September 30 of the following year (within 15 months). School divisions are permitted to carry over up to 15% of their RLIS allocation for any fiscal year.
The Virginia Department of Education (Department) will reallocate RLIS funds that have not been expended within the allotted 15-month period of each program year to other eligible school divisions.
The procedures for reallocation of Title V, Part B funds can be found on the Title V webpage.
An email will be sent in October to any division that has not submitted reimbursements for 85% of their FY23 funds by September 30, 2024, outlining the procedures for certifying that 85% of funds have been encumbered. The request must be signed by the superintendent. Directions for submission of the Certification of Obligation will be provided by email in October.
Carryover Fund Allocations under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education (CTE) for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) School Year 2022-2023
Article: 2024-23-213
Audience: Superintendents, Finance Directors
Contact: William Hatch, Associate Director, Program Administration, and Workforce Development, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, cte@doe.virginia.gov,
804-750-8163
After closing out the initial Perkins V 2022-2023 reimbursement submissions, VDOE reallocates all remaining Perkins V 2022-2023 funds as Perkins V 2022-2023 Carryover Fund in May of the second year (2023-2024) of the Perkins V grant.
The priority focus of the carryover funds is for industry credential examinations, licensure examinations, occupational competency assessments, Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth assessments, and science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health sciences (STEM-H) credentialing resources for students and professional development for instructors. However, if all credential allocations are expended, the carryover funds may be used for all permissible Perkins V expenditures.
If you have questions, please contact William Hatch, Associate Director, Program Administration, and Workforce Development, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, at 804-750-8163 or cte@doe.virginia.gov.
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