April 20, 2018

Additional Funding to Support Hurricane Evacuees from Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands:

On April 19, 2018, DESE released the first of two fiscal year 2018 payments to assist districts serving students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who were displaced by last fall’s hurricanes. This first payment distributes $6,742,770 out of the total $15 million supplemental appropriation.

These funds are allocated based on each qualifying district’s fiscal year 2018 foundation budget per pupil amount. In other words, the supplemental funding reflects the same proportion of state support per pupil that districts received for their other students. The payment also took into account how many days each displaced student from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands was enrolled in the district between October 2, 2017 and March 1, 2018.

The first payment will be distributed to districts in a single transaction using the same system that DESE uses to issue grant payments. Once districts receive their first payment, it must be deposited in a separate account, and school committees can spend it without further action on the part of the local appropriating authority through June 30, 2019. Any unspent funds during the current fiscal year can carry forward to fiscal year 2019.

The Department will host a conference call at noon on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 to answer any questions that district officials may have regarding this program. Call-in details will be provided to school business officials in advance.

The Department will conduct a second data collection in June for students who were enrolled between March 2 and the end of the 2017-2018 school year. This will determine the second payment. The second count will include students from the first count who are still in the district in addition to any students who enrolled on or after March 2. If the second payment exceeds the $15 million appropriation, payments will be prorated so as not to exceed that amount.

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to Meet:

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will meet on Tuesday, April 24 in Malden. The agenda includes a presentation on civic engagement by Quincy High School student John Kelly, presentations by 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Cara Pekarcik of North Quincy High School and Milken Award Winner Dan Adler of UP Academy Leonard Middle School in Lawrence, an update on Level 5 schools, and discussion of the FY19 education budget proposal from the House Ways and Means Committee.

Public Comment Open on Proposed Amendments Related to LOOK Act:

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is soliciting public commenton proposed amendments that are needed to implement the Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK) Act (Chapter 138 of the Acts of 2017). The proposed amendments are intended to implement the LOOK Act through standards for English learner education programs and the educators who provide them; establish the State Seal of Biliteracy; improve the instruction of English learners in career vocational technical programs through standards for career vocational technical educators; and update certain provisions of the vocational technical regulations relating to licensure.

Copies of the proposed amendments are available on the Department’s website or by calling 781-338-3584. Comments on the proposed amendments may be submitted via an online survey, by emailing LOOKAct@doe.mass.edu, by mailing comments to Sibel Hughes, Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement (OELAAA), Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 75 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148; or by fax at (781) 338-3395.

The deadline for submission of public comment is Friday, May 18. The Board is expected to vote on the proposed amendments at its June 26 meeting.

Reminder on Restraint Reporting:

On April 18, superintendents, charter school leaders, approved special education school leaders, special education directors, and educators with access to the ESE Security Portal Restraint Application Tool should have received a reminder about the data collection process for student restraints for the 2017-2018 school year. Most districts and approved special education schools should use the Restraint Application Tool in DESE’s Security portal to track restraints during the school year, but a small number of districts and approved special education schools that reported high numbers of restraints last year also have the option of using the Restraint Tracking Sheet Template, which is also accessible in the Security Portal.
In June, districts and approved special education schools will receive an email notifying them that a button to certify that their data is complete has been added to the online tool for their access. They should certify their data by Friday, June 29. The 2017-2018 school year collection will close Friday, June 29, and the 2018-2019 school year collection will commence Monday, July 2.

More technical information about filing the data was included in the April 18 email. Anyone with questions about this data collection can contact Susan Fischer at sfischer@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-3365.