Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant Competition (reminder)
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates in the District New P-EBT Benefit for DC Families: The District of Columbia has received approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. P-EBT provides additional food assistance to the families of children who receive free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). These families will receive food benefits to subsidize the cost of meals they would have normally received while at school. P-EBT benefits are intended to cover breakfast and lunch and are valued at $28.50 per week, per child. P-EBT will deliver an estimated $26 million in federal food assistance to more than 68,000 children in the District.
Any District child who qualifies for free or reduced-price school meals will receive P-EBT benefits. This includes children in a school that provides free meals to all students. Children whose families have experienced a change in income may also qualify for P-EBT, even if they have not previously received free or reduced-price meals. These families should contact their school to complete a Free and Reduced-price Meal (FARM) application as soon as possible to ensure they can receive P-EBT if FARM-eligible. Newly FARM-eligible families will receive P-EBT for the month they are certified through June 19. FARM applications certified after June 19 will not be eligible for P-EBT.
More information on the District’s P-EBT program can be found online at dhs.dc.gov/p-ebt or by calling the P-EBT Call Center at (202) 868-6663 from 7:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m., Monday-Friday. For questions, please contact OSSE’s nutrition programs team.
Praxis Tests at Home Now Available: Great news for Praxis test-takers! The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is launching the Praxis Tests at Home option. This option allows individuals to take most Praxis tests remotely at home or in another secure location. Registration is now available and testing is open. For more information please visit the ETS website.
Nonpublic School Payments: On May 20, 2020, OSSE released the Nonpublic School Payments Frequently Asked Questionsdocument that provides additional guidance and clarity on questions and concerns raised by nonpublic schools subsequent to the issuance of previously released OSSE guidance documents. For questions relating to this FAQ, please contact Yvonne Smith, manager of the OSSE Nonpublic Payment Unit at, YvonneS.Smith@dc.gov.
Teaching and Learning Educator Content Support Sessions (reminder): Content specialists from the OSSE Division of Teaching and Learning (TAL) are hosting weekly support sessions during extended school closures. The weekly schedule and RSVP instructions can be found on OSSE’s Distance Learning Resource Page. School leaders, instructional coaches, teachers, service providers and other support staff serving in the District are welcome to participate in relevant sessions. Please RSVP by noon on the previous business day.
To give input on content session topics, or to make a request for additional resources, one-on-one support via “office hours,” or customized trainings, please use the Resources and Support Request Form. For questions, please view TAL content specialist contact information.
OSSE Guidance: For access to all COVID-19-related published guidance from OSSE, please visit OSSE's website.
For resources and information about the District of Columbia Government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) response and recovery efforts, please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
Stay Informed of OSSE Professional Development Opportunities for Educators
OSSE's Division of Teaching and Learning provides a robust menu of professional development opportunities that are free to educators and staff in DC public and public charter schools. Here are ways to stay informed of upcoming events and resources: 1) view the May 2020 Teaching and Learning PD Bulletin and subscribe today to receive the monthly newsletter and 2) register for trainings and see what’s coming up on the calendar by visiting OSSE's events calendar.
DC Public Charter School Board Distance Learning Webinars
The DC Public Charter School Board will host a series of webinars to support schools through this challenging time. To view a list of webinars, see DC PCSB’s calendar. Resources from previous webinars are also available. Upcoming webinars:
Friday, May 22, 2020, 9-10 a.m.
Special Education Webinar: Conflict Management during Recovery Planning Meetings
Audience: SPED coordinators and teachers, family engagement coordinators
Faculty and Staff Data Collection: New Documents and Policy Webinar Training (reminder)
Each year, every DC LEA must complete the Faculty and Staff Data Collection. LEAs must report vacant teaching positions as well as faculty and staff roster information, including the role and FTE percentage, for all instructional, administrative and support staff in LEAs and schools filled by direct hire or by contracting. The data reported in this collection should represent the LEA’s faculty and staff roster and teaching vacancies as of the 2020-21 school year enrollment audit, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.
As we discussed during the faculty and staff information session, for the 2020-21 Faculty and Staff Data Collection, OSSE will implement data quality checks with specific requirements for each field. In order to continue to support LEAs with this transition, OSSE has prepared resources found on OSSE's website.
OSSE will host the Faculty and Staff Data Collection policy webinar on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, from 1-2:30 p.m. The webinar will summarize all of the changes and updates to the 2020-21 school year collection to ensure your LEA has enough time to make the adequate changes to your internal data systems. Register
Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant Competition(reminder)
OSSE is now accepting applications for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant competition. Applications must be submitted in OSSE’s Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) by 3 p.m. on Friday, June 12, 2020 in order to be eligible for review.
Eligible agencies include LEAs, community-based organizations, other public or private entities, or consortia of two or more of such agencies or organizations. Organizations that initially received awards in fiscal year 2019 (FY19) or FY20 and are scheduled to receive a 21st CCLC continuation grant award in FY21 are ineligible to apply at this time. Organizations that initially received awards in FY18 and may be applying for a no-cost extension are eligible to apply.
The total funding available for 21st CCLC awards is $8.55 million. The 21st CCLC grant award period will begin July 1, 2020. Successful applicants will be funded for two additional years (FY22 and FY23) subject to funding availability. Applicants will need to create an EGMS username and password to access the 21st CCLC application. The 21st CCLC Request for Applications and application submission guidance are available on OSSE’s webpage. For questions, please contact OSSE at 21stcclc.Info@dc.gov or (202) 442-3255.
OSSE will continue to update and redistribute these resources quarterly. If you have a question not addressed in these resources, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov.
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To subscribe to OSSE's LEA Look Forward, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov and provide your first name, last name, and email address.
