PDE Notice from 08/30/2023

On August 30, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced a change to its interpretation of the law regarding the years in which students are eligible for special education.  Previously, eligibility for special education services from local school districts terminated at the end of the school year in which a student attained 21 years of age.  Under PDE’s new interpretation, students can remain in special education programming until the date of the student’s 22^nd birthday.  This does not mean that students get to remain for an entire additional school year, but rather only until the date of the student’s 22^nd birthday. 

Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, students eligible for special education services will be allowed to remain enrolled until their 22^nd birthday if necessary to achieve their transition objectives.  For students who turned 21 during the 2022-2023 school year and who have not yet turned 22 years old, should you wish to re-enroll your child in the District to receive these additional months of service, please contact Regina Rausch, Director of Special Education at rrausch@pennsburysd.org and copy her administrative assistant R. Anne Mason at rmason@pennsburysd.org 

High Leverage Instructional Practices (HLIP)

Pennsbury School District has outlined High Leverage Instructional Practices (HLIP) for classroom teachers. The HLIP are aligned to Act 13 of 2020 and focus on four key areas of practice to ensure our curriculum and instruction is student-centered, universally designed, culturally relevant, innovative and equitable. Recently, we were able to develop a companion document for special educators aligned with PDE's Act 13 guidelines, as well as best practices published by the Council for Exceptional Children. Similar to the HLIP for classroom teachers, the PSD High Leverage Practices for Special Educators provide a common language for Pennsbury staff about the District’s values and beliefs for Distinguished practice in special education.