Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, April 2, 2020

UPDATE New Guidance on Grades and Graduation Announced - COVID-19: Nationwide Waiver for CEP Deadlines (CA Dept of Education)

New Guidance on Grades and Graduation Announced - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Thurmond Announces New Guidance on Grades and Graduation for Seniors


SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today that the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California State Board of Education (SBE) have issued new guidance on graduation requirements and grading for seniors. The guidance is based on feedback from local education agencies, and was produced in collaboration and alignment with higher education institutions.
“We are thinking of our seniors and the impact that the current COVID-19 public health emergency and subsequent physical closure of schools has had on them, and we hope that this guidance will help relieve some stress and anxiety,” said Thurmond. “We are doing everything we can to support all our schools and students, and will continue to address seniors’ needs going forward.”
“All seniors who are on track for graduation should be able to graduate,” said State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond. “This new guidance further illustrates how students can and should be held harmless in grading, and how their work can be acknowledged.”
The guidance addresses A-G requirements and provides admissions updates for higher education for both current seniors and juniors.
For example, colleges have agreed to accept credit/no-credit or pass/fail grading where districts have decided to use it for A-G courses and other courses without impact on grade point averages. California is also extending flexibility on a wide range of issues, including testing requirements, timing of transcripts, and considerations about financial aid.
The CDE continues working with the University of California, California State University, community college system, and private and non-profit universities on solutions to many ongoing college admissions challenges.
Please find the grades and graduation guidance document as well as more school information and resources regarding coronavirus on the CDE’s COVID-19 web page.
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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
New Guidance on Grades and Graduation Announced - Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education)

COVID-19: Nationwide Waiver for CEP Deadlines


Based on the public health emergency due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)established a nationwide waiver to support the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) while schools are responding to COVID-19.
This waiver makes the following adjustments to annual CEP deadlines:
CEP Requirement: Data Used to Calculate Identified Student Percentage (ISP)
Annual Data Deadline: April 1
New Extended Data Deadline: Anytime between April 1 and June 30, 2020
CEP Requirement: Elect CEP for Following School Year (SY)
Annual Application Deadline: June 30
New Extended Application Deadline: August 31, 2020
To review the complete language of the FNS CEP Waiver, please visit the USDA webpageExternal link opens in new window or tab..
COVID-19 Resources
For updated information, sponsors are directed to visit the California Department of Education COVID-19 Guidance for K–12 Schools and Child and Adult Day Care Meals web page. This page is updated Fridays with new information.
For information on waivers and communication sent out to program operators, please refer to the California Department of Education Nutrition What’s New web page under the Disaster tab.
Background
The CEP is a four-year alternative meal counting and collection procedure included as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The intent of the CEP is to improve student access to free meals in eligible local educational agencies (LEA) and high poverty schools, while eliminating the meal application process. For more information on the CEP, please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) CEP web page.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact your county’s School Nutrition Programs (SNP) Specialist. A list of SNP Specialists is available in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information Payment System, Form ID Caseload.
Questions:   Nutrition Services Division | 800-952-5609

COVID-19: Nationwide Waiver for CEP Deadlines

SSPI Announces Covid-19 Response Funding Available - 
Year 2020 (CA Dept of Education) - https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel0401.asp

COVID-19 Community Response Fund - United Way for Southeastern ...