Wisconsin’s Rhinelander School District violated a nonbinary student’s Title IX rights when it didn’t properly address sex and gender-based harassment from other students and when multiple teachers used incorrect pronouns for the student, the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found in a July 6th case…
On June 26, 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court (Court) decided not to hear Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier, a case that initially arose in 2016 after parents at a North Carolina charter school challenged a uniform policy preventing girls from wearing shorts or pants. They claimed the policy, which…
In efforts to address barriers for students with disabilities, fix outdated language and align with civil rights laws the US Department of Education (USDE) is expected to publish a proposed Section 504 rule update in August 2023. According to a Spring 2023 announcement, the update is aimed at bringing clarity…
During the week of July 10, 2023 Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Jared Huffman plan to re-introduce the IDEA Full Funding Act. As a member of NASISP, NAPSA is endorsing the Act via a joint letter that will be sent to both chambers of Congress. The only changes from…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is determining final regulations over the expansion of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and stricter school nutrition standards and expects to release final rules in April 2024 on two important school meal proposals, one to expand free meals served to all students at high-poverty…
In May 2023, the U.S. Department's Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) published a toolkit with strategies to help schools. Titled Improving School Safety Bystander Reporting: A Toolkit for Strengthening K-12 Reporting Programs, the toolkit aims to provide schools with actionable, practical,…
On Friday, June 9, 2023, the US Departments of Education (USDE) and Justice (DOJ) released a joint Dear Colleague Letter titled Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. The DCL directed the country’s schools to make sure that their discipline policies and practices do not discriminate against students “based…
On June 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) grant program that supports academic acceleration and provides academic and whole child supports to build and strengthen connections between schools, parents, families, and their…
On June 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced the availability of more than $368 million in new grant opportunities through the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program and the Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive program that advance investments in teacher recruitment and retention. These investments particularly prioritize…
On May 18, 2023, Reps. Susan Wild (D-PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Sean Casten (D-IL) teamed up to introduce the Safe Interactions Act – a bipartisan bill to improve interactions between law enforcement officers and people with disabilities and mental health needs. This legislation will provide enhanced trainings to our…
