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Dear Colleagues:
We ended last week with a very significant change – pursuant to Gov. Beshear’s Executive Order 2021-386 (EO 2021-386), the Kentucky Department of Education rescinded our flagship COVID-19 guidance document, “Guidance and Safety Expectations and Best Practices for Kentucky Schools (K-12),” commonly known as Healthy at School.
While we all need to continue to be aware and vigilant going forward, make no mistake – this is a significant moment for all of us. It marks a tangible return to pre-pandemic life, and an opportunity for both celebration and somber reflection.
I am deeply appreciative of everyone working in and attending our schools, and how you executed this guidance, kept our schools from being vectors by which the virus spread, and kept learning going in spite of all of our challenges. Many believed that you could not, or would not, be able to accomplish these goals, and you have proven them wrong.
I am grateful for our partnership with the Kentucky Department of Public Health (DPH), which provided continual support and the best available information for our schools. I am also grateful for Gov. Beshear’s courageous leadership in taking action to keep our schools and communities safe. And, I am grateful for our legislature, who insisted on a return to in-person learning once it became clear it could be safely done.
I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the staff at KDE, who performed in an exemplary manner over the course of this pandemic. I am so proud to be associated with all of you.
While we have so much to celebrate and for which to be grateful, we also should reflect on those we lost over this past year, and those who have lingering effects of COVID-19 that they are still battling.
In addition to the experiences COVID-19 robbed from us over this past year, it also has robbed us of loved ones and friends. Let us honor their memories by making our schools and communities better than before COVID-19, as a defiant triumph over this terrible disease.
Some have wondered why KDE would rescind our guidance now, when there are still vestiges of COVID-19 and all our students are not yet vaccinated. There are a few reasons.
First, with rising vaccinations, virus levels are continuing their exponential decline, making it much less likely one will encounter COVID-19 in Kentucky. Second, with virus mitigation efforts lifted in all other aspects of life, it makes little sense to hold out schools as an exception. And finally, without accompanying executive orders giving our guidance document the force of law, neither I nor KDE have the authority to enforce it – effectively returning mitigation efforts to local control.
We do support the recommendation of DPH that schools continue to monitor and follow CDC recommendations going forward, but these are not requirements and have no force of law.
The CDC will update its guidance for the 2021-2022 school year in the coming weeks. Existing guidance can be found on the CDC's website.
KDE will continue to review other guidance documents the agency has issued related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and issue appropriate changes in the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner & Chief Learner
Information Regarding Data Affecting Federal Allocations
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has been informed by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) of an error in data reporting that will affect several federal allocations. On June 4, 2021, USED contacted KDE concerning inaccurate foster care data submitted in October 2018 and October 2019 by the Kentucky Division of Family Support (KDFS), a division within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
This data was submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which then transmitted it to USED for use in determining school year (SY) 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 allocations for Title I, Part A under the Every Student Succeeds Act. KDFS made the following data reporting errors:
- October 2018: Counts of foster care children in both foster placements and those in the Cabinet’s custody within residential care were reported. Those in the Cabinet’s custody within residential care should not have been included.
- October 2019: Counts of foster care children of all ages were reported. Only children ages 5-17 should have been included. Also, those in the Cabinet’s custody within residential care were reported. Those in the Cabinet’s custody within residential care should not have been included.
It should be noted this reduction could affect districts’ Title I, Part A hold harmless percentages released in early January 2021. For further information concerning those percentages, see the Notification of Tentative Census Poverty and Hold Harmless Percentages for the 2021-2022 school year. Although this data primarily affects the Title I, Part A allocation, other programs are allocated, in part, based on that award.
As a result of this discovery, USED is required to make adjustments to Kentucky’s Title I, Part A allocations for both school years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 and to those programs affected by these allocations.
In order to reduce burden on the state and its districts, USED will make reductions when it awards SY 2021-2022 funds for these programs. KDE expects to have these amounts within the next couple weeks and will begin processing allocations at that time.
In addition, the opening of affected applications will be delayed, particularly those in the Grant Management Application and Planning (GMAP) system.
If you have questions, please contact David Millanti at 502-564-3791 or david.millanti@education.ky.gov.
TEDS data deadlines coming up
Here is a snapshot of upcoming CTE Technical Education Database System (TEDS) data deadlines:
Please refer to the Secondary Schools Timeline on the main TEDS website for a one-page document of all TEDS deadlines. For additional information and reminders, please refer to the TEDS Monthly Notes.
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June 15: TEDS End of Year Data entered in IC and imported to TEDS
- End-of-year data includes updating credits, student objectives, etc. (Don't wait to update next school year.)
- Best if completed BEFORE IC End of Year Script is run
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July: Career Readiness data pulled for the Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA)
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August: Follow IC timeline to begin entering 2021-2022 Student data on IC-TEDS tab
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Sept. 1: 2020-2021 TEDS data locked; 2021-2022 TEDS data rollover begins
Nominations Open for 2021 Kentucky Special Education Teacher of the Year
Nominations are being accepted for the 2021 Kentucky Special Education Teacher of the Year award. Any full-time special education teacher in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is eligible for this recognition.
The Special Education Teacher of the Year Award is a tremendous way to highlight the work of outstanding educators. Special education teachers may be nominated by students, parents, teaching peers, superintendents, directors of special education or anyone from the community who has an interest in honoring an extraordinary educator.
Nominations may be submitted online via the 2021 Kentucky Special Education Teacher of the Year Google Form. All nominations must be submitted by July 15, 2021.
This recognition is sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), Office of Special Education and Early Learning (OSEEL), and the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children (KYCEC).
Three special education teachers will be announced as finalists by Aug. 15, 2021. The awards will be announced at the annual KYCEC Conference that will be held from Nov. 21-23, 2021, at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville.
Each finalist will be recognized and honored with a cash prize of $250 awarded from the KYCEC and the Kentucky Council for Administrators of Special Education (KYCASE).
The Special Education Teacher of the Year winner will receive $500 from the KYCEC and KYCASE along with a scholarship to attend the Special Education Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C.
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