In partnership with the VA250 Commission, the Virginia Department of Education is proud to announce the Second Annual Reading Revolution. The Reading Revolution encourages reading and also seeks to connect museums, public libraries, and communities to our elementary students.  

As we continue to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, we invite and encourage parents, community members, museum educators, reenactors, students and staff of high schools, and higher education to take part in the Reading Revolution.  

Save the date for Reading Revolution Week in Virginia, October 13-17, 2025, leading up to Yorktown Victory Day. This week will be designated for the Reading Revolution to encourage volunteers to read to students about the people, places, and events of the Revolutionary era, freedom and democracy, the Constitution, or civic principles that founded this great nation.  

Use this form to declare your participation. Visit the history and social science webpage for helpful tips to get your Reading Revolution started.

The VDOE Office of Behavioral Health and Student Safety is hosting a Summer Webinar Series. Participants can view details for each webinar and register through the links below. A recording will be made available to all registrants.  

• June 24, 2025, 2-3 p.m. - Working with Students Who Demonstrate Interfering Behaviors 
• June 26, 2025, 10-11 a.m. - Interfering Behaviors: Purposeful and Engaging Interventions 
• July 2, 2025, 9-10 a.m. - Medicaid and Schools for School-Based Mental Health Professionals 
• July 16, 2025, 11 a.m. - Noon - The Do’s and Don’ts of Drug Education: Effective Substance Use Prevention for Students, Families, and School Staff 
• July 24, 2025, 10-11 a.m. - Symbols in the Sand: Using Sand Tray to Promote Student Wellbeing 
• July 31, 2025, 10-11 a.m. - Youth Substance Use: The Achievement Sinkhole (and How to be a Lifeline) 

As outlined in the Virginia Education Update Article 2025-20-262, Biennial Division Literacy Plans (DLP) are due by June 30, 2025. These plans must include division-selected supplemental and intervention materials for Grades 6–8. Biennial plans should include the operational school years of 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.  

In addition, divisions are required to update their plans to address the following for Grades K–8: 

• Communication planning 
• Staff training 
• Monitoring student progress 
• Assessing division-level progress 
• Engaging parents, caregivers, and the community 

School divisions may select to update their division literacy plans as necessary. Updated materials should be submitted to the SSWS system and maintained on the local school division webpage.  

Plans must be submitted via the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS). Instructions for uploading the plans are now available. Division SSWS Administrators are responsible for granting access to the necessary SSWS applications for their staff. 

As released on June 27, 2024, in Superintendent’s Memo 003-24, beginning July 10, 2024, Literacy Office Hours have been held for division instructional leaders to ask questions about the VLA implementation and give feedback on implementation.    

Office hours are collaboratively hosted by VDOE and Virginia Literacy Partnership (VLP) staff. To support school divisions with the upcoming implementation of VLA 4-8, Literacy Office Hours will be offered weekly on Monday mornings from 10:30-11 a.m. starting June 30, 2025 and run through the month of August, 2025.  

Updated Zoom links will be sent to division instructional leaders who have been designated as such in Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) to register for the Office hours. Once registered, you may attend any of the sessions without re-registering. Division literacy leaders can reach out to vla@doe.virginia.gov for more information on registration. New division literacy leaders need to contact the school division Educational Registry Application manager for the SSWS platform to update the literacy contact information 

The 2025 state entitlements for Career and Technical Education (CTE) occupational preparation and adult education for eligible school divisions, and including regional centers, have been determined based on the Career and Technical Education Financial Report. The regional center entitlements will be paid directly to each center’s fiscal agent school division. The identified state entitlement amounts will be paid to school divisions in one payment on June 30, 2025, by electronic funds transfer. In fiscal year 2025, 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 2025 allocation for CTE occupational preparation and adult education programs, state funding is divided by the total school year 2023-2024 occupational preparation and adult education local funds expenditures to determine the reimbursement percentage for each program.  

For fiscal year 2025, it has been determined that each eligible school division will be reimbursed for 40.98% of its school year 2023-2024 CTE occupational preparation expenditures and 40.98% of its CTE adult education program expenditures. Those school divisions that did not operate these programs in school year 2023-2024 and did not record any local fund expenditures are not eligible to receive any state reimbursement in fiscal year 2025.  

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, requires states to monitor school divisions for compliance in certain program areas. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the new federal program monitoring schedule for Title I, Part A, Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies; Title I, Part C, Education of Migratory Children; Title I, Part D, Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent or At-Risk; Title III, Part A, Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Children and Youth; and Title V, Part B, Subpart 2, Rural and Low-Income School Programs.  

Title II, Part A, Supporting Effective Instruction, and Title IV, Part A, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants will be monitored on a different schedule. 

In preparation for monitoring, the Office of ESEA Programs will offer technical assistance to school divisions this summer during the 2025 ESEA Coordinators’ Academies. Registration information was emailed to all federal program coordinators on Thursday, May 22, 2025.   

• The deadline to register for the Roanoke Coordinators’ Academy (June 30-July 1) is Friday, June 20, 2025, at 5 p.m.   
• The deadline to register for the Norfolk Coordinators’ Academy (August 4-5) is Friday, July 18, 2025.   

All federal program coordinators being monitored during the 2025-2026 school year are strongly encouraged to attend. The full five-year schedule can now be found on the Federal Program Monitoring for ESEA Programs webpage.  The updated federal program monitoring protocol documents will be posted on the webpage in the fall. 

The USDA requires SFAs, private schools, and RCCIs with day students that collect payments for school meals in any school to complete the Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) Tool, found in SNPWeb Download Forms. The PLE Tool determines the weighted average paid lunch price for the upcoming school year. 

SFAs, private schools, and RCCIs with day students will submit the completed PLE Tool with the SNPWeb SY 2025-26 application packet due July 1.  

SFAs are encouraged to review SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-87 to review: 

• the PLE Tool instructions, 
• resources to complete the PLE Tool, and 
• who is exempt from completing the PLE Tool. 

Each year, in accordance with § 22.1-18 of the Code of Virginia, the Board of Education is required to report the compliance of local school boards with the Standards of Quality (SOQ). In addition, other statutory, regulatory, and budgetary provisions also require annual certifications or responses from each school division. The information needed to fulfill both the SOQ and other reporting requirements is collected through the SOQ Compliance Data Collection and included as part of the Board’s annual report to the General Assembly. 

Dates for Collection  

• June 20, 2025 – The 2024-2025 SOQ Compliance application will be available through the Single Sign-On for Web-based Systems (SSWS) portal. 
• No later than August 8, 2025 – All school divisions must complete the data submission via the SSWS portal. 
• No later than August 22, 2025 – The SOQ Compliance Verification Report must be printed and signed by both the local superintendent and the school board chair. After signature, scan the verification and email it to erin.madden@doe.virginia.gov. 

Please feel free to contact Erin Madden, erin.madden@doe.virginia.gov, (804) 314-4900 with any questions. 

To satisfy required state and federal reporting, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is conducting the End-of-Year Student Behavior and Administrative Response Collection (EOY SBAR) for the 2024-2025 school year. 

Please be advised that the 2024-2025 EOY SBAR data collection will include new edits and a new SBAR Event Detail Verification Report to ensure data quality. The edits and report will prevent over-reporting of Firearm, Weapon, Law Enforcement Referral, Charges Filed and Conviction data.  

Additionally, an automated notification process will be implemented for Persistently Dangerous Corrective Action Plans (CAP).  When a Category I Persistently Dangerous Event is entered in the SSWS PD Events form or when schools meet or exceed their annual point threshold for Categories II and III Persistently Dangerous Behaviors, the division superintendent or designee will receive an automated email notification from SSWS. Please review the Board of Education's Persistently Dangerous Schools Identification Process and Criteria for details about the identification process and criteria 

The EOY SBAR window opens on July 1, 2025. A successful submission by each school division and non-exempted regional center is required by July 25, 2025.   Superintendents and regional center directors must electronically approve the verifications no later than August 15, 2025. For questions regarding the Student Behavior and Administrative Response Data Collection, please Contact Patricia Mealy at Patricia.Mealy@doe.virginia.gov.  Data Elements and additional specifications for completing SBAR data are located at  Student Behavior and Administrative Response Collection webpage. 

Information collected in the Educational Registry Application (ERA) is the Virginia Department of Education's (VDOE) official means of identifying schools and staff for mailings, contacts for Web-based data submissions, and the Virginia Educational Directory. Items of particular importance include the division superintendent’s contact information used for official communication, school-year calendars, and the official names of schools published on the School Quality Profiles, certificates, and announcements from the Department. 

Beginning July 7, 2025, updates to school division, regional center, school, and staff data can be made through the ERA Web-based form in the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal. The ERA Verification form must be submitted by the division superintendent or regional center director through the Superintendent Data Collection Approval (SDCA) Application by August 22, 2025. Early completion is appreciated.