Over the past week, I have witnessed some incredible "Back to School" events. From Wednesday's new teacher school bus tour that Dr. Cassell led across Waynesboro to yesterday’s Carroll County Convocation. During the Carroll County Convocation, Dr. Mark Burnette shared his 30-year journey and led his staff year opening with his “Why” and then many staff members shared their own “Why”. It is no surprise that Carroll County staff provided 10,563 tutoring hours last year to ensure Carroll County students get caught up and a step ahead. I am constantly humbled at the intentional leadership occurring through the state and know we will have an amazing school year this year.  

Last week, I had the opportunity to learn about an exceptional student-led leadership program in Fairfax County. The Student Ambassadors Program is a peer-to-peer support structure that trains elementary, middle, and high school students to be ambassadors to new students, in particular military youth who are transitioning into a new school and new location. Fairfax elementary students are assigned within a classroom and become a “buddy” for any new transitioning students. In middle school, students provide tours and new student support. In high school, the students become true ambassadors and ensure that new transitioning students have someone to sit with at lunch and are partnered based on student interests. If a new military student is interested in band, their peer partner will share similar interests in band. Further, if a new student has English Learner needs, they are partnered with a peer who has similar language expertise. This program provides impressive ways for students to feel welcomed and a sense of belonging in their new school communities and transcends all grade levels. I want to thank VDOE’s Dan Dunham and the Fairfax staff for such an impressive program focused on engaging students in their new school communities. 

As we have held half of our EO 33 listening sessions, I want to thank Superintendents Jeff Cassell, Marci Catlett, Kevin Newman, Don Robertson, and Ken Nicely for hosting our Commonwealth Conversations. Throughout these conversations, we have heard the importance of a cell phone-free education and how strongly our teachers and leaders feel that personal cell phones have no place in classroom environments. We look forward to continuing to hear feedback on what the community wants to define as “cell phone-free” instructional time and what personal communication devices are and how these components look at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Please visit the VDOE website to give critical feedback as we develop guidance due August 15, as well as join in our Virtual Conversation on August 5. 

Finally, we had many regulatory steps and performance and support framework discussions at the Board meeting last week. For more information, see the VBOE website. One of the critical discussions our Board had at lunch was focused on the importance of Fine Arts education with Annie Ray, the 2024 Recording Academy and Grammy Award-winning Music Educator. She discussed her Crescendo club and the ways her Orchestra programming has opened new doors for students at Annandale High School. She also talked about her recommendations for a Fine Arts Seal for students and schools. As the Department received feedback on the new accountability frameworks, many fine arts educators advocated for a Fine Arts Seal. The Department started this conversation with Annie Ray’s thoughts, and we are appreciative of the exemplary programming she provides for students, her elevation of arts educators throughout the Commonwealth, and the important thought partnership she provided the VBOE last week. 

We look forward to seeing many of you in the weeks ahead as you and your students return to school. It’s going to be a great year for Virginia students! 

-Lisa 

To support school divisions as they continue to implement the VLA, VDOE has released an extensive update on the Virginia Literacy Act. In this edition of the Literacy Update, division’s literacy leaders will be able to access the updated spreadsheet to enroll teachers and reading specialists in the required Canvas courses. Further details and instructions are in the Professional Development section of the update. 

• Instructional Materials  
• Use of VALLSS and Student Reading Plans  
• Professional Development  
• Planning  
• Frequently Asked Questions from the Field   

Superintendents are asked to share these resources with key literacy staff and principals. 

Superintendents are asked to ensure that supplemental and intervention literacy resources currently used in 6-8 classrooms are submitted (if they have not already been reviewed). Please inform any applicable providers to submit resources for review. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires schools and divisions to update chemical inventories, review chemical hygiene plans, conduct classroom safety tours with facility personnel, and plan for yearly safety professional development for teachers of science. VDOE has a variety of resources to support these efforts. The following resources are available in our Science Leader Support Canvas Course (enrollment link): 

• VDOE Safety in Science Teaching Manual 
• Safety self assessments 
• Classroom safety look-fors 
• Templates for a chemical hygiene plan 
• Guidance for animals in the classroom 
• Guidance for elementary science safety 

Additionally, a Science Leaders Safety Webinar will be offered on August 14, 2024, at 9 a.m. Division science and instructional leaders may register for the webinar using this registration link. The webinar will review division, school, and teacher responsibilities for laboratory safety, review negligence, analyze case students, discuss plans for building a safety culture, discuss how to plan for safety in instruction, and review resources available for safety.  

For questions concerning the STEM Competition Grant or on STEM education, please reach out to Anne Petersen, STEM Director (Anne.Petersen@doe.virginia.gov) 

In support of HB 719/SB 379, the Love Like Adam Foundation has made Hazing Awareness and Prevention materials available to Virginia school boards, division leaders, and educators through #GoOpenVA, Virginia’s online open resource portal. Resources include a parent presentation, public service announcements for school use, lesson plans, pre-and post-assessments, and supporting materials.  

The Love Like Adam Foundation was established in honor of Adam Jeffrey Oakes, a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University when his life was tragically cut short on February 27th, 2021, from hazing. The foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of the potential dangers students face on college campuses. This includes but is not limited to hazing, signs of alcohol poisoning, and bystander intervention.  

Additionally available is the video, Death of a Pledge: The Adam Oakes Story, a National Capital Chesapeake Bay Regional Emmy Award Winning documentary, which tells the story of Adam Oakes. Students will learn about what happened to Adam from various perspectives including his family and the boys involved in his passing. The video focuses on the impact hazing can have on all those involved. Divisions can contact the Love Like Adam Foundation for free virtual or in-person training. 

The state budget require school divisions to report to the Department of Education on the use of their federal ESSER LEA formula funds since 2020 and on their use of the state ALL In initiative funds they received in FY 2024. School divisions will use an online survey to submit the required data to VDOE. The link to the online survey form will be provided directly to division superintendents through a separate communication. 

In the survey, school divisions will provide amounts obligated and expended across various use of funds categories presented. The reporting period end date is June 30, 2024. Divisions will also report how these funds address reading and mathematics achievement and support preparation and implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act.  

The Department will compile the survey data submitted by school divisions and submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly by October 1, 2024. The reporting requirement reoccurs in October 2025 and 2026 covering FY 2025 and FY 2026, respectively, and updated data will be collected from divisions for those last two reporting periods. 

The Division of Operations will offer a webinar to provide an overview of the survey form used to meet this reporting requirement. School division personnel who will submit the data through the online survey are strongly encouraged to attend the webinar; however, it will be recorded to provide access for school division staff who are unavailable during the live webinar. 

The webinar to overview this data collection is scheduled for Monday, August 5th at 1:00 p.m. Join the webinar using this link or with the ID and passcode below: 

Webinar ID: 884 8964 3230
Passcode: 456929 

The deadline for school divisions to submit the completed survey online to VDOE is 5 p.m., Monday, August 19th. Please note that data submissions that do not meet the August 19th deadline will not be included in data analysis for the final report that is submitted to the Governor and General Assembly by October 1. 

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Annual Information Request

Article: 2024-30-290
Audience: Superintendents, Finance Directors
Contact: Annette Sherrill, Assistant Superintendent for Budget and Finance, Annette.Sherrill@doe.virginia.gov

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced that it will consider requests to extend the timeline for liquidating American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds “to ensure every possible resource is available to continue our collective work to address the pandemic’s impacts upon our students, schools, and families.” 

While a USED approval for late liquidation does not extend the obligation period (ending September 30, 2024), it would allow additional time for reimbursements to be submitted for certain activities. Only expenses tied to properly obligated activities (by the 9/30/24 deadline) approved in the late liquidation application would be eligible for the later reimbursement period.  

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is releasing a survey to all school divisions to determine interest or need for late liquidation of ESSER III funds. The Office of Federal Pandemic Relief Programs conducted a webinar to review the late liquidation process, demonstrated the survey, and reviewed specific application requirements and expectations for school divisions considering late liquidation on July 31, 2024. If you were not able to attend the webinar, the recording is now available here. Even if your division does not intend to apply for late liquidation, we ask that you complete the survey. 

The link for the survey is: https://forms.office.com/g/dxVPJ066FT

The survey submission is due no later than August 22, 2024. 

Questions may be e-mailed to vdoefederalrelief@doe.virginia.gov.  

The 2024-2025 Title IV, Part A, federal allocations for each school division are now available on the VDOE website. Allocations are based on the Title I formulas applied by the U.S. Department of Education, and reflect adjustments made by the Virginia Department of Education to account for state-level set-asides. Under section 4105(a) of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, no school division may receive an allocation that is less than $10,000, and a ratable reduction process must be applied to ensure that the minimum award is at least $10,000. The Additional Required Special Terms and Conditions for Grant Awards or Cooperative Agreements and terms of the grant award can also be found on the Title IV, Part A, webpage. The total amount of the allocation is available to school divisions as of July 1, 2024, through the reimbursement process. 

The procedures and forms for submitting an application for Title IV, Part A, were previously provided to school division program coordinators. Applications were due on July 1, 2024. 

The VDOE School and Community Nutrition Programs Director’s Memo 2024-2025-08 contains essential information to inform local education agencies (LEAs) of the recently launched website for Summer EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer), known as Virginia SUN Bucks. Resources may help LEAs as they interact with families throughout the summer to navigate the website, submit Summer EBT applications if required, and receive benefits. The memo offers guidance to some commonly asked questions regarding the program, including where to find printable pieces of content and EBT card information and how to share existing Virginia Department of Social Services social media content.  

For more information on how to navigate the website or use the communication resources, LEAs are encouraged to contact Nikya Kirnon, VDOE Summer EBT Outreach and Communications Specialist at Nikya.Kirnon@doe.virginia.gov. Families can obtain additional information on Virginia SUN Bucks by visiting the Virginia SUN Bucks website or by contacting the dedicated call center at 866-513-1414 (toll-free) or 804-294-1633. 

To see Cardi in action and to share it with your students, please visit FAFSA and FSA ID texts.