CSO UPDATES & UPCOMING DEADLINES
Ensure to review pertinent upcoming deadlines and updates below. Deadline dates will be in red for reference. Feel free to contact [email protected] with additional questions.
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IMPORTANT: School Information Sheets
School Information Sheets should have been updated by the due date of September 1st. Updates could have ranged from key staff contact changes to academic highlight and enrollment projection edits. Please ensure that your COVID-19 and Health & Safety protocols are also updated if the school has made any changes.
In the event that a school status has changed following suspected or positive cases that result in a shift to virtual instruction or a classroom, hallway, grade span(s), or building quarantine, please first refer to your School Information Sheet to document this information in the ‘COVID-19 Related Information’ section. The CSO will be updating these sheets in real-time.
As a reminder, School Information Sheets are customized to each school and are intended to serve as a guiding tool that informs the CSO’s internal database records, as well as key partners such as the Board of Education of high-level updates that impact operations. If you have any trouble accessing the Sheet, or have questions about data found within, please contact the CSO at [email protected].
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Emergency Management and School Safety
As outlined in sections 10.11 and 10.24 of the Pennsylvania (PA) Code, schools are required to renew their Annual Building Plan, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their local Philadelphia Police Department every two years. In an effort to support the Office of School Safety with the collection of primary emergency contact information, Annual Building Plans, and MOU statuses, the CSO is requesting that schools complete an Emergency Management and School Safety Form by Tuesday, September 14, 2021.
This survey should take no more than five minutes to complete and asks for only updated and effective dates of both the required Annual Building Plan and the MOU with the local Police Department.
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PA Secure and PIMS
The District’s Information Systems (IS) team has delayed the requirement of PA Secure Identification numbers being mandatory for new students to be entered into Infinite Campus (SIS). Schools should still obtain PA Secure IDs for their new students; however, entering that data into SIS is not a required field to confirm students in the system at this time.
PA Secure IDs are still required and beginning this school year, charters are responsible for obtaining and entering that data into the SIS system. Previously shared information can be reviewed in our Charter Sector Updates (see date August 19th for more details).
Additionally, schools are now able to register for the Wednesday, September 15, 2021 Data Quality Network (DQN) meeting via the link here. Registration, ideally targeted to PIMS administrators, Local Education Agency (LEA) and school administrators, and data teams and specialists, is required for all DQN meetings.
The September DQN Networking activity will allow participants the opportunity to select a virtual breakout room based on LEA size or type, to engage in discussion with peers centered on October Staff/Contracted Staff Reporting. Attendees are requested to review the discussion questions linked here prior to the meeting. The primary topic will be October Staff reporting best practices.
The new PIMS manual and calendar have been released and can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) website here. Please note, Intermediate Unit (IU) 26 liaisons should have received an email with this guidance on September 1st. If correspondence was not received, please contact Jessica Fallon at [email protected].
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Calendar of Collections
Please refer to the following upcoming Calendar of Collections deadline(s) for the month of September:
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Code Website: Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Additionally, as a reminder the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has implemented unexpected changes to the Annual Report submission requirements and process. While PDE does not plan to implement a blanket extension, individual schools may send extension requests to Keptsia Hawkins at [email protected]. For schools who sought an extension, the CSO created an optional Epicenter requirement entitled "Evidence of Annual Report Extension (Optional)" where you can upload a copy of the email exchange. Doing so will ensure that we appropriately evaluate your school for the Timely Annual Report standard for next year's Annual Charter Evaluation (ACE).
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User Verification Processing
As the CSO anticipates an increase in User Verification requests to support with PA Secure and SEPTA Student Fare Card processing via Compass, we wanted to share a reminder with schools that the process for requesting user access can be reviewed on our School FAQs page, specifically within the ‘Access to Various Systems’ section. Please ensure to review the steps thoroughly to support getting requests processed accurately and timely. User requests that are not shared with the CSO directly via the [email protected] email will not be verified nor processed.
Due to the new operational processes highlighted above, we are temporarily allowing an increase in user access per system to five users for individual schools, and six users for network schools. However, we will do outreach later in the school year and request that schools reduce user access to the usual standard limit of three per system, once student data has been updated. If you have systems access and are experiencing login or data issues, please contact [email protected] to troubleshoot.
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New Charter Application Informational Webinars
As a reminder, the 2021-22 New Charter Application (NCA) Guidelines will be released in September 2021. The CSO will host three identical informational webinars regarding the NCA process for those interested in opening a new charter school. Please use the registration links below to access the Zoom meeting details. If you have any questions regarding the information sessions, please email [email protected] or call 215-400-6139
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Previstar
Previstar Everbridge is a Critical Event Management software platform that provides a variety of alert preparation and crisis management support to help organizations assess threats, initiate and manage incidents, and notify their stakeholders. Previstar access makes building plans accessible to Police, Fire departments, and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) at the School District of Philadelphia. If your school needs support with their annual building planning or for more information about Previstar, click here.
If schools are interested in receiving a Previstar template to jumpstart interest, please contact the CSO at [email protected] and we will facilitate the process of outreach.
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