Superintendent's Checklist and Adjustments Due to COVID-19

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The Department creates a superintendent's checklist at the beginning of each school year to help school and district leaders meet a variety of federal and state requirements and responsibilities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department is presenting the superintendent's checklist to you with a companion document outlining how we have modified some of the Department's monitoring and other activities, as permissible under the applicable requirements, in recognition of the challenges that schools and districts are facing.

Attached to this memo are both the Superintendent's Checklist and a list of modifications to the Department's monitoring and other activities. Highlights of those adjustments include:

• Extending Timelines: The Department has extended certain timelines within its authority. For example, the deadlines for submission of documents for the required public school monitoring and educational stability monitoring have been extended, and further extensions may be granted as appropriate. Similarly, the Department has postponed the deadlines for certain data submissions, such as those for 21st Century Community Learning Centers.

• Simplifying Waiver Processes: The Department has streamlined waiver processes in various areas. For example, the Department has simplified the waiver application process for special education age span waivers. The Department also made a number of changes in the licensure area, including streamlining the process for license hardship waivers for educators by accepting internal postings for those educators that were employed in the district in 2019-2020.

• Reducing Onsite Presence: To the extent appropriate and permissible under the applicable requirements, the Department will reduce its onsite presence in schools and districts during monitoring. For example, the Department will conduct certain reviews or components of reviews virtually.

• Eliminated: The Views on Instruction, State Standards, Teaching, and Assessment (VISTA) survey will not be administered in 2020.

Thank you for helping your students grow and learn in the midst of a pandemic. We will continue to support your efforts.

Questions or suggestions for improving the checklist should be directed to Helene Bettencourt, associate commissioner for communication and planning.

Last Updated: November 30, 2020