Greetings!
January is always a month of celebrations for non-public schools! And yes, even in the midst of COVID, we have much to celebrate this year too! This week we celebrate both National School Choice Week and National Lutheran Schools Week. “In All Things” is the theme that will unite the 1800 Lutheran schools that are a part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Next week, Catholic Schools will celebrate their contributions to our country with the theme “Faith, Excellence and Service”. In Indiana, we are blessed to provide Hoosier families the opportunity to choose one of many quality non-public schools to partner with in the education of their children. Let’s celebrate!
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2022 Legislative Session Updates
It has been a busy month in the Indiana General Assembly. As the bills move out of committee, we will need our stakeholders ready to engage with their legislators. Watch John Elcesser’s legislative engagement video to learn about the importance of being engaged this session.
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Some bills we are watching:
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HB 1041 deals with schools designating sports as either a male sport, a female sport, or co-ed. The intent is we understand it is to ensure athletes participate according to their birth assigned gender. On Monday, the House Education Committee heard passionate testimony from a standing-room-only crowd. As written, it places enforcement responsibility at the school level. It calls for a local school grievance procedure.
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HB 1107, a various education matters bill, has a stipulation to establish an advisory commission for the new special ed ESA program. HB 1107 passed out of committee 12-0.
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HB 1251 requires the Indiana Department of Education to apply to the U.S. Dept of Education to establish and operate an innovative assessment system. This system would only assess students in grade 3, 5, 8 and 11. This bill will be voted on Monday, January 31.
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HB 1252 would establish Education Enrichment Accounts. These accounts would be for students performing below mastery on ILEARN. Students would receive $500 in their account to utilize for enrichment services. Schools or districts can match the $500 if they choose to. The bill passed out of committee 12-0 and was referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
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SB 123, a bill dealing with dyslexia, was going to require non-public schools to follow the same requirements passed a few years ago, for public schools. Chairman Raatz offered an amendment that removed the requirement for non-public schools. The amendment was agreed to by the entire bi-partisan committee, which was surprising!
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SB 331 is an ESA fix up bill. It passed out of the Senate Ed committee by a vote of 8-3. It addressed a number of obstacles to non-public school participation in the ESA program. Unfortunately, many of the fixes were stripped out by amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee. We are hoping to still address some key issues as the bill moves through the legislative process. A key concern is ensuring that when ESA participants chooses the non-public school as their special education service provider that the school receives the state special education (APC) dollars.
There has been a great deal of media coverage about HB 1040 and HB 1134, which deal with what is being referred to as “curriculum transparency”. This in response to public school parents' concerns over CRT and SEL being taught in their schools. Currently, non-pubs are not in these bills and we hope to keep it that way. The Senate abandoned its version of this bill last week.
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Legislative Liaison Corner
Are you a legislative liaison for your school? Take a look at our Legislative Toolkit on page 5 for a refresher on your responsibilities and tips for how you can help us by engaging in the legislative process!
One of the most helpful ways you can engage school families in the legislative process is to share content in your school’s newsletters. Below you'll find content that you can easily copy and paste from our newsletter to your school newsletter. If there are certain topics you'd like us to cover for your school communities in future newsletters, let us know!
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School Newsletter Topic: Legislative Advocacy 101 with INPEA
Established in 1974, the Indiana Non-Public Education Association (INPEA) has grown into a membership association representing 12 jurisdictions, more than 400 schools, 96,000+ students, and 7,700 educators. INPEA has become the voice of non-public schools in the state but YOUR help is needed during the current legislative session!
Engaging in the legislative process
There are many ways you can engage, including writing a letter or email to your elected representatives to let them know where you stand on certain issues. Legislators want to make their constituents happy, so if they receive a large amount of communication from their community members on an issue, they will listen.
You can easily send a message to your elected representatives via INPEA's Legislative Action Center here. If there are certain bills that are very important to address, we will include a special message on this page with information about the bill.
How legislation at the Statehouse impacts non-public schools
Some legislation has the potential to positively or negatively impact non-public schools, which is why INPEA's top priority is always to protect and defend the programs that positively impact our schools. There are some pieces of legislation that affect only public schools, and some that affect state-accredited non-public schools (not all non-public schools are state-accredited). INPEA's job is to discern how each piece of legislation is going to affect our schools and keep principals and heads of school informed.
Can you explain school choice?
School choice gives parents the power to choose which educational option best fits their child's needs. That could be traditional public school, charter school, private school, or home school. In fact, the most popular form of choice is switching from one public school district to another.
Want to learn more about Indiana Non-Public Education Association? Visit us at www.inpea.org!
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The Statehouse Express Podcast is Back!
Listen to our most recent installment of the Statehouse Express to hear more about what’s happening and what we’re keeping our eye on this session. This is the last week for committee hearings for the first half of the legislative session and now legislation moves to the full chambers.
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Save the Date: INPAC 2022
Join us September 22-23, 2022 at the Renaissance Indianapolis North for sessions that will inspire participants to continue Leading with Passion and Purpose. We are excited to announce that Kim Bearden, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ron Clark Academy will be one of our keynote speakers. Kim is a best-selling author with an education career that spans 34 years as a teacher, curriculum director, principal, and school board member. Our pre-conference program will focus on special education and our general program sessions will include topics related to these strands: Operational Vitality, Instruction and Culture, and All Things Indiana.
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EANS Updates
EANS Office Hours
IDOE will continue to hold bi-weekly office hours meetings from 10-11am EST. Please join these meetings for all updates regarding EANS and as an open platform to ask any and all EANS related questions. Our next meeting will lead with updates regarding EANS II, monitoring expectations and updates, covering our new EANS Vendor Resource Guide, and continuing EANS programming in the absence of EANS funding (thinking of 2024 and beyond).
Upcoming dates are:
- February 9, 2022
- February 23, 2022
- March 9, 2022
Please be sure to register in advance by clicking here! You can join the meeting by clicking here.
EANS Vendor Resource Guide Now Available!
Check out our newly released IDOE EANS Approved Vendor Resource Guide! This guide is a searchable catalog of vendors that have completed the registration process with IDOE and are approved as EANS vendors. The list will open as an Excel file that you can filter using the multiple criteria at the top to assist you in finding the exact service you are looking for. For a walkthrough on using this guide and the filtering processes, please click here!
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Summer Marian LLRP OG Grant Extension
An email was sent out to all INPEA schools assessing interest in participating in Marian University’s Learning Loss Recovery Orton Gillingham Grant Program over the summer. Marian has received additional funding to continue this program and start an OG Math program as well. An additional training for the summer cohort is scheduled to begin on February 21st. The summer cohort will be open to previously trained tutors as well as new tutors who go through the winter/spring training. They are also planning an OG 2.0 for already trained tutors who want to do a deeper dive. If your school is interested in the summer option and you have not already responded, please email John Elcesser or Mary McCoy.
Your feedback is very important as we plan for additional phases of this grant program.
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ESA and ADAC Updates
ESA Program Webinar
The new Education Scholarship Account Program was passed in the 2021 State Budget and is slated for implementation in the 2022-23 school year. If you were unable to attend our ESA Webinar on January 24 or 25, you can view a recording here.
ADAC Study Results
Thanks to all the school leaders who participated in the ADAC special education training and completed the leadership survey. The study is being completed this Month with a final report presented to the INPEA Board and IDOE in early February. Much more to come! Stay tuned.
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Complimentary Virtual Event Series
Guide student growth in a rapidly evolving educational environment. Join these keynote sessions to learn new strategies to re-engage learning this year. These sessions will feature Renaissance Chief Academic Officer and VP Dr. Gene Kerns and Dr. Jan Bryan, VP and National Education Officer.
The Latest in Literacy: Strategies to Support the Science of Reading Across All Grade Levels
Thursday, February 3, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CT
The field of literacy instruction is rapidly changing. Evolving policies around the Science of Reading and insights from cognitive (brain) science about how humans learn to read are reshaping thought around what constitutes “best practice.”
The Critical Role of Focus Skills & Trip Steps to Accelerate Learning
Thursday, February 10, 2022, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CT
Learn about Trip Steps, the most difficult skills for students to master at each grade level. Now, more than ever, educators need to know where to focus to accelerate learning. An intense focus on these most critical skills can profoundly impact teaching and learning.
Recorded content will be shared with all registrants after the live event. Please contact rob.pizzurro@renaissance.com if you have any questions.
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Founders Wanted: Start a NEW School That Impacts Hearts, Minds, and Souls
The Drexel Fund is seeking individuals wanting to open a new and innovative private school in their community - if this sounds like you and you want to learn more about the fundamentals of private school development, register today to attend an information session on Tuesday, February 8 (5-7 p.m.) at The Oaks Academy's Middle School campus in Indianapolis (virtual options are also available). See more information in this flyer or visit www.drexelfund.org.
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Thank You to Our Business Partners! |
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Would you like to be come an INPEA Business Partner or know a business that would be a good fit? Check out our website here or contact John Elcesser at jelcesser@inpea.org for more information!
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Mission
The Indiana Non-Public Education Association serves as an advocate,
promotes engagement, and strives for the advancement of non-public schools.
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(317) 236-7329
1400 N. Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
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