Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week and Public Service Week! This week, we celebrate the extraordinary educators across Virginia whose dedication shapes the lives of learners every single day.

As part of this year’s recognition, all eight Regional Teachers of the Year gathered in Richmond to be honored by the Governor. These outstanding educators represent the very best of Virginia’s schools and communities, demonstrating exceptional commitment, meaningful impact, and a deep love for teaching. Among them, Madeline Duffy — a homegrown special education teacher from Nottoway County (Region 8) — was named the 2027 Virginia Teacher of the Year. We at the Department are proud to celebrate Madeline and each of this year’s regional honorees:

• Region 1: Paula Duncan, AP Human Geography and History Social Studies teacher at Powhatan High School in Powhatan County
• Region 2: April Insley, Elementary Library Media Specialist at Yorktown Elementary School in York County
• Region 3: Amy Reardon, Elementary ESOL teacher at Chancellor Elementary School in Spotsylvania County
• Region 4: Deedra Robinson, AVID teacher at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School in Alexandria
• Region 5: Cynthia Peck, Elementary Reading Specialist at Central Elementary School in Fluvanna County
• Region 6: Jonathan Marye, French teacher at Blacksburg High School in Montgomery County
• Region 7: Hunter Trivette, Physical Education teacher at Oak Point Elementary School in Smyth County
• Region 8: Madeline Duffy, Special Education teacher at Nottoway High School in Nottoway County and the 2027 Virginia Teacher of the Year

Teaching takes many forms. Whether in a K–12 classroom, an early childhood setting, a school library, or a support role, every educator plays a vital part in shaping Virginia’s future. On behalf of the Department, thank you for your passion, your perseverance, and your unwavering commitment to our students and communities.

The History and Social Science program will be offering several professional development opportunities throughout May.

History and Social Science Office Hours:   

• Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
• Time and Audience: 11 a.m.- 12 p.m. (Division HSS Leaders); 3-4 p.m. (Classroom Teachers) 
• Please use this link to register for Office Hours. 

Bringing Sources to Life! Virtual Meeting Date and Time: 

• Title: Building Constitutional Confidence
• Presenters: Cori Fairchild, Amherst County Public Schools
• Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026 
  • Session 1 Time and Target Audience: Division History and Social Science Leaders, 10-11 a.m. Please use this link to register for Session 1.
  • Session 2 Time and Target Audience: Classroom Teachers, 3-4 p.m. Please use this link to register for Session 2. 

*While sessions have a target audience identified, attendees may attend the session that best aligns with their availability.

The Virginia Department of Education is pleased to announce the 2026 Rural and Low-Income Schools Symposium, to be held June 16–17, 2026, at the Hotel Madison & Shenandoah Valley Conference Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This free, two-day event is designed for school and division leaders from rural school divisions across Virginia and will focus on strengthening leadership capacity, expanding instructional opportunities, and supporting students in rural communities. Session topics include: parent and community engagement, attendance, recruitment and retention, social emotional learning, etc. 

Registration will be managed by the Office of Continuing and Professional Education at Virginia Tech. A limited block of hotel rooms is available at the conference site for registered participants. To register, please use the following link: 2026 Rural and Low-Income Schools Symposium Registration. 

This professional development opportunity is free for participants. Breakfast, lunch, and materials will be provided. Attendees are responsible for lodging, parking, and travel expenses; however, using state approved rates, these allowable costs may be charged to the following programs: Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title IV, Part A; or Title V, Part B, Subpart 2. 

A travel scholarship is available to participating divisions whose staff attend the training and complete all required documentation. To qualify for the scholarship, divisions must complete an application located at the Title V webpage by June 5, 2026. Additional information about the scholarship and a link to the scholarship application is available on the Title V webpage. 

The SSWS Collection Window for the Spring Driver Education Program (DEP) Report is now open and the Wellness Related Fitness Survey (WRF Survey). The DEP Report is required under Code of Virginia § 22.1-205 to verify compliance with the Commonwealth's Standardized Driver Education Program. Submission of the WRF Survey, informs the Department's Nutrition and Physical Activity Best Practices Database (Code of Virginia § 22.1-16.4), and supports the reporting mechanism called for in Executive Order 55 (2025). 

To access this SSWS Collection Window, go to the SSWS login page. Completed reports are due by close of business on June 30, 2026. Please direct any questions to jennifer.vedder@doe.virginia.gov. 

Chapter 309 (2025 Acts of Assembly) requires that certain advanced or accelerated mathematics opportunities be available to students through the establishment or updates to local school board policies. It also requires that the criteria for enrollment in such classes reflect the student performance in the upper quartile for each Grade 5-8. Beginning in 2025-2026, local school boards were required to develop and adopt or revise existing acceleration policies to create the criteria for students in grades five through eight to be eligible to enroll in advanced or accelerated mathematics. The revised policy is to be fully implemented in the 2026-2027 school year.  

Additionally, in August 2024, the Board of Education approved the School Performance and Support Framework (SPSF), which includes provisions for accelerated mathematics pathways in middle school and a focus on access to advanced high school coursework with the potential to earn college credit.  For students who demonstrate readiness, middle school acceleration provides additional opportunities to enroll in advanced-level math courses early, ensuring they have the opportunity to take college-level math courses in high school.   

As divisions and schools are preparing for scheduling of the 2026-2027 year, VDOE is pleased to provide updated guidance on middle school mathematics acceleration on the VDOE mathematics webpage. This guidance provides program and assessment considerations as well as clarification concerning mathematics acceleration, verified credits, and acceleration as related to SPSF. The anticipated release of the upper-quartile scores to inform middle school acceleration in 2026-2027 is July 2026. 

If you have any questions, please contact supportservices@doe.virginia.gov or call (804) 750-8715. 

The Virginia Board of Education is seeking nominees for vacancies on the State Special Education Advisory Committee. A full list of open seats is available on the VDOE website.

Please note that, by state or federal law or regulation, some of the vacancies on advisory committees require specific categories of expertise, qualifications, or geographic representation (map of the VDOE Superintendent’s Regions).  

Members of advisory committees do not receive compensation for their service but may be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with state travel guidelines.

Educators, parents, administrators, and other individuals are invited to apply by completing this nomination form by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22, 2026. 

The VQB5 spring CLASS observation window ends on May 31. Since May 31 falls on a weekend this year, the following action items will be accepted through June 1.   

1. Verify Educators’ Employment Status – Review and confirm each educator’s current employment status in LinkB5.   
2. Complete and Verify Spring Local Observations – Ensure that all local CLASS observation scores are entered and verified in LinkB5.   
3. Update Curriculum Use (optional) – Review your site’s curriculum use information in LinkB5 and update this information if needed.  

Additional details about end of year VQB5 activities, can be found in the VQB5 2025-2026 Program Leaders Handbook.    

The VDOE has released a new resource containing guidance on Student Record Collection (SRC) coding specific to PreK students. This guidance is effective FY27 (SY26/27). Please review this document thoroughly in preparation for Fall 2026 SRC data collection. Several important notes: 

• This guidance is for FY27 and all future years. It does not impact the upcoming current year (FY26) End of Year (EOY) SRC 
• This guidance is related to coding only. This document is not intended to guide or alter any programmatic processes or decisions. 

This information will be shared again in August and there will be a technical assistance webinar prior to Fall 2026 SRC data collection window. 

The Virginia Department of Education is announcing the availability of Individual Student Alternative Education Plan (ISAEP) grant funds for the 2026-27 school year. These funds are to be awarded to school divisions to support the implementation of ISAEP programs, as set forth in the Code of Virginia §22.1-254.E and approved by the American Council on Education as a GED® Options Program. Funds will support services for students 16 years of age and older who meet program provisions established in the Code of Virginia and in the guidelines of the Virginia Board of Education. 

Please refer to the ISAEP application packet for specific instructions about the submission of application materials. If no program is planned, complete and sign the bottom section of the grant application cover sheet that is included in the Appendix of the application packet and return it to the email address below. 

Applications for the ISAEP grant funds must be received by 4 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2026, and should be emailed to GEDinfo@doe.virginia.gov. 

To satisfy certain requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) must identify all Title I, Part A, schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is important to review poverty data for each school in your school division before completing this survey to determine if there is a change in schools eligible for Title I services. Income data can now be found on the VDOE School and Community Nutrition webpage.

The Office of ESEA Programs annually requests that school divisions update the status of their Title I schools. The accurate reporting of Title I schools is critical when completing federal reporting requirements. The Title I, Part A, coordinator from each division should complete the 2026-2027 Identification of Title I Schools survey using Qualtrics by Wednesday, June 17, 2026.

Section 22.1-100, Code of Virginia, requires school divisions to return unexpended state funds to the Commonwealth at the close of each fiscal year. Chapter 7, 2026 General Assembly, overrides this Code section and permits school divisions that have met required local effort and required local match for fiscal year 2026 to carry forward to fiscal year 2027 any remaining state Direct Aid fund balances that are unexpended as of June 30, 2026.   

This language permits school divisions to use carry forward funds to address any revenue shortfall related adjustments in state funding to the locality, regardless of the original purpose of such funds. The adopted language requires the state carry forward funds to be reappropriated by the local governing body to the school division’s budget for fiscal year 2027.   

This provision does not alter the existing requirement that school divisions must spend the fiscal year 2026 required local effort and required local match amounts before the end of fiscal year 2026, which ends on June 30, 2026.          

Chapter 7 also encourages certain local funds to be carried over into fiscal year 2027 pursuant to the following language (Item 125 B.23.).  To be eligible to carry forward any local fund balances from fiscal year 2026 to fiscal year 2027, school divisions must meet their required local effort and required local match expenditure obligations in fiscal year 2026. 

Chapter 7 provides separate carry forward authority (Item 125 C.5.f.4) for the Textbooks account. A school division must first meet all required local effort and required local match obligations in the current fiscal year prior to carrying forward any portion of its state or local funds for Textbooks to the next fiscal year. If a division meets these requirements without spending all or a portion of its local matching funds for Textbooks, then the division is permitted to carry forward both the state and local shares of Textbooks funding. 

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact budget office staff at (804) 225-2025 or by email at doebudgetoffice@doe.virginia.gov. 

Section 22.1-92, Code of Virginia, requires school divisions to prepare and distribute “notification of the estimated average per pupil cost for public education in the school division for the coming year” as well as “actual per pupil state and local education expenditures for the previous school year.” This communication provides data related to actual per pupil expenditures for fiscal year 2025 as well as a methodology that school divisions may use to estimate per pupil expenditures for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Please note that the 2026-2028 biennial budget is not yet adopted, so FY 2027 data in Table 15 are based on the Governor’s introduced 2026-2028 biennial budget, which was published in December 2025. 

An Excel worksheet providing an illustration of how Table 15 of the Superintendent’s Annual Report is calculated as well as a worksheet for estimating total and per pupil expenditures by fund source for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 is available at Table 15 of the Fiscal Year 2025 Superintendent’s Annual Report. 

Table 15 shows the total and per pupil expenditures for public school operations by fund source for each school division and statewide. The source for this table is the fiscal year 2025 Annual School Report Financial Section (ASRFIN) data submitted by school divisions. Please note that, for purposes of reporting Table 15, data for the three jointly-operated school divisions are combined and reported under the fiscal agent division. 

As a requirement for federal Title I, Part A funding, all school divisions must meet the local educational agency (LEA) maintenance of effort (“MOE”) requirement as specified in Sections 1118(a) and 8521 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Divisions must expend at least 90 percent of the preceding year’s effort from local and state expenditures, including sales tax, either on a total expenditure basis or a per pupil expenditure basis. The Department has completed the ESEA LEA maintenance of effort calculation for fiscal year 2025, as compared with fiscal year 2024. This calculation is based on data from the fiscal year 2024 Table 15 and fiscal year 2025 Table 15, excluding the Community Services sub function, as reported by school divisions on the ASRFIN. The MOE Excel file and associated instructions will be located on the Department’s Web site on the VDOE Budget & Grants Management page. 

If you have questions, please contact the Budget Office at (804) 225-2025 or email at doebudgetoffice@doe.virginia.gov. 

The General Assembly provides funding to provide incentive awards to public school staff members holding an active National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and to teachers pursuing their National Board Certification who are teaching in an identified Title 1 or CEP school to cover the costs of becoming certified. In February 2025, the Virginia Board of Education reviewed and updated the Guidelines for Distributing National Board Incentive Awards. The guidelines state that teachers who have an active National Board Certification as of September 30 in the current school year should be prioritized. If funds remain, teachers pursuing their National Board Certification while working in an identified Title 1 or CEP school should be prioritized next. Finally, any remaining funding should be distributed as incentive awards for other public school staff members who hold an active National Board Certification. 

For this fiscal year, there was sufficient funding to fund all individuals reported during the fall data collection in addition to funding all reported costs for classroom teachers in Title I and Community Eligible Provisional (CEP) schools pursuing either initial National Board Certification or Maintenance of Certificate.  

School divisions should refer to the revised division awards and revised terms of the grant award. Funds will be distributed to employing school divisions on or before May 29, 2026 in a one-time lump sum payment.  

We are grateful to every school division for their steadfast commitment to elevating teacher excellence and supporting professional growth through National Board Certification. 

Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA) Educational Technology Notes Series XXVI and School Security Equipment Grants Series XIV are available to school divisions. The goal of the educational technology grant program is to improve the instructional, remedial, and testing capabilities of the SOL in local school divisions. Proceeds of the Series XXVI notes are provided to: 

• Establish a computer-based instructional and testing system for the SOL; 
• Develop an Internet ready local area network (LAN) capability and high speed Internet connectivity at high schools, followed by middle schools, and then in elementary schools; and 
• Establish a 5-to-1 student computer ratio for high schools, followed by middle schools, and then in elementary schools. 

Series XXVI reimbursement requests will be submitted through the Virginia Public School Authority Reimbursement Process (VPSARP) application in Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) Portal. Additional information about the VPSA program can be found on the VDOE website. 

There are a limited number of business days between the closing date and the end of FY 2026 on June 30, 2026. To ensure sufficient time to process the school division reimbursement requests that need to be received by June 30, 2026, such reimbursement requests must be received by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) electronically within the VPSARP application on the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal, by June 29, 2026. Please note that Series XXI proceeds will expire on June 30, 2026, and available balances should also be claimed by June 29, 2026.

In addition to the grants provided to support the SOL Web-based Technology Initiative, $12.0 million is provided for Series XIV of the school security equipment grants. Proceeds of these additional equipment notes will be used to help offset the related local costs associated with the purchase of appropriate security equipment that will improve and help ensure the safety of students attending public schools in Virginia. Guidelines for the program and the Series XIV application form to apply for funding are available on the VDOE website at: Security Equipment Grant Program Guidelines.

Email requests for technical assistance about the Series XXVI reimbursement process to VPSA@doe.virginia.gov. If you have questions relating to qualifying equipment (i.e., hardware, software) that may be purchased from the VPSA note proceeds, please call Calypso Gilstrap, Executive Director of the Office of Innovation, at (804) 750-8708.  

The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs has released the 2025–26 Virginia Local Food Tracking Tool (Tracking Tool) to capture annual local food purchasing data. SFAs and community sponsors should plan to submit the completed Tracking Tool by July 10, 2026, to Sara Hazan, Farm to School Specialist, via email at Sara.Hazan@doe.virginia.gov. 

The VDOE-SCNP is hosting office hours to support Tracking Tool completion at 2 p.m. on Mondays May 18, June 1, June 8, June 29, and July 6, 2026. Further questions can be directed to Sara Hazan via email. 

The Tracking Tool supports SFAs and community sponsors with tracking year-to-year local procurement and informs the VDOE-SCNP's training, resource, and technical assistance development. Tracking Tool data is essential for measuring progress towards the Virginia Farm to School Strategic Plan’s goal of $24m in local food purchases by School Year 2026–2027. For more information on the updated Tracking Tool, SFAs and community sponsors should reference SCNP Director’s Memo #2025-2026-40. 

(This is the same information in SCNP Director’s Memo #2025-2026-42) 

The 2026 state fiscal year ends on June 30, 2026, and the 2027 state fiscal year begins July 1, 2026. The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs must follow the Virginia Department of Accounts’ deadlines, as they must fulfill federal reporting requirements and will not process claims for reimbursement in June. Please ensure March and April claims are submitted before Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 1 p.m. to receive payment this school year. Claims submitted after May 26 will be processed after July 1, 2026.   

End of the State Fiscal Year Claims Considerations 

Sponsors that do not submit March, April, and/or May claims (if applicable) by May 26, 2026, at 1 p.m. will not receive payment for these claims before the end of the school year on June 30. This may result in a significant portion of the sponsor’s annual reimbursement being delayed until the next financial reporting year. Consequently, the sponsor’s ending balance may appear to be operating at a deficit. Sponsors must record these earned but unpaid claims as accounts receivable in the annual financial report.  

SFSP/SSO Rural Non-Congregate Claims 

The VDOE-SCNP’s SFSP and SSO Claiming Instructions in SNPWeb Download Forms are updated to include directions on submitting rural non-congregate claims. For sponsors who use the claim upload feature for SFSP and SSO, the instructions and Excel file format documents have also been updated in SNPWeb. 

For more information, contact the SNP policy mailbox at SNPPolicy@doe.virginia.gov. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year’s theme, More Good Days, Together, highlights the importance of connection in promoting well-being. This month serves as a reminder of the critical role mental health plays in overall health and wellness.  

To support awareness and action the VDOE Career and Learning Center offers on-demand access to a variety of modules and conference presentations related to improving student behavioral health. Additionally, the VDOE Office of Behavioral Health and Student Safety web page highlights ongoing efforts and initiatives to support student behavioral health across the Commonwealth.