#2025-35 Virginia Education Update October 20, 2025

In June 2026, Norfolk, Hampton Roads, and Virginia's Chesapeake Bay region will welcome an international fleet of tall ships to commemorate America's 250th anniversary. Sail250® Virginiawill include more than 60 ships from 20 countries, bringing 7,000 visiting sailors, officers, and dignitaries to Virginia's shores.

Adopt-A-Ship Program: Sail250® Virginia events are planned to promote goodwill among nations, inspire patriotism and foster interest in American maritime heritage. Virgina educators are encouraged to take advantage of the Sail250® Virigina education program which include - the Adopt-A-Ship program, a collection of online maritime resources, and suggested maritime themed classroom projects. Reference the information pamphleton the Sail250 History/Educationwebpagefor more information about the Adopt-A-Ship program and how to get involved. If you are interested in the Adopt-A-Ship program, please complete the Adopt-A-Ship Interest Formand return it to Pamela Cook, [email protected].

Sail250® Virginia Speaker Series: Sail250® Virginia will host a three-part series featuring award winning maritime authors exploring important aspects and events of maritime past to present day. Each of these events will include a talk, Q & A session, and a reception with light refreshments. Events are free and open to the public. RSVPs will be requiredto reserve a ticket due to limited seating.

• Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 7 p.m., Nathaniel Philbrick, award winning author and historian, will serve as the first within the speaker series. He will be speaking about the Revolutionary War, the Battle of the Capes, and Chesapeake Bay's legacy in the American Revolution. RSVP here.

VDOE is excited to announce that the 2024-2025 VQB5 Quality Profiles are now live! To view the quality profiles, visit EarlyChildhoodQuality.doe.virginia.gov.

The VQB5 Quality Profile Website includes quality information for over 3,200 publicly-funded sites, including child care centers, family day homes, Head Start, and public school preschool, as well as for privately-funded sites that have opted in to VQB5.

This release also includes new VQB5 Honor Rolls for top performance and significant improvement during the 2024-2025 year. A list of all Honor Roll sites is available via the Download Data tabon the VQB5 Quality Profile website.  

• Each site's 2024-2025 VQB5 Quality Rating Certificate is now available for downloading via LinkB5 reports. 

• It is optional to post certificates at each site, though sites are encouraged but not required to post. 

• View: Tips for Promoting Your Site's Rating

• For additional information, please view the 2025 VQB5 Quality Profiles Overview(PDF Presentation) 

Research from the first year (2023-2024) of Zearn usage through ALL In Tutoring shows that students who completed 3-5 Zearn lessons per week made 22%-24% more math growth on the Virginia SOL Assessment Program than the state average. 

Educators using Zearn Math in 2025-26 can access classroom and community resources to support family engagement and motivate students to complete the research-backed dosage of 3+ grade-level digital lessons each week. Resources include:

• Orientation letters, family guides, and tip sheetsto introduce families to Zearn and encourage them to support their child's math learning this school year.
• Downloadable lesson trackers, classroom posters and bulletin board supplies on Zearn's math motivation hubto inspire and engage students to complete their lesson goals. 

Finally, all school divisions can receive live training from the Zearn team at no cost to support strong implementation and drive impact with students. School division leaders should contact their Zearn representative to schedule live training for teachers and leaders. 

The Virginia Department of Education is required by federal regulation to ensure all Virginia school divisions comply with Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), §300.133, and Appendix B to Part 300 - Proportionate Share Calculation. This mandates that each school division spends a proportionate amount of its Sections 611 and 619 allocations on providing special education and related services, including direct services, to students with disabilities who are home-schooled or parentally-placed in private elementary and secondary schools.  

All school divisions are required to utilize the Special Education Proportionate Set-Aside (Speced-PSA) Application through VDOE's Single Sign-on for Web Systems(SSWS) portal to calculate and report their proportionate set-aside amounts for fiscal year 2025-2026. This is required even if the division has no eligible students with disabilities who are home-schooled or parentally-placed in private schools. The collection window for submission and approval will open on October 20, 2025, and close on November 17, 2025. 

The VDOE's Proportionate Set-Aside Information Documentand IDEA Proportionate Set-Aside Guidance Documentprovide additional information, including instructions on submitting the worksheet and the division superintendent's access to the Superintendent Data Collection Approval Application. A pre-recorded training will be made available, and a Q&A Session via Zoom will be held at a later date. Special Education Directors will receive an email containing the links to access these resources. 

Section 1127 of theElementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, allows school divisions to carry over up to 15 percent of their Title I, Part A, allocation for any fiscal year. School divisions must encumber 85 percent of each award year's Title I, Part A, allocation by September 30thof the following year (within 15 months).

Superintendents of divisions that potentially did not meet the requirement to obligate 85 percent of their FY2024 Title I, Part A, funds by September 30, 2025, based on information in the Online Management of Education Grant Awards application available on the Single Sign-on for Web Systems portal on October 1, 2025 will receive an email from [email protected]by Tuesday, October 21, 2025 outlining the process to either certify that their division did obligate 85 percent of their FY2024 Title I, Part A, funds by September 30, 2025 or choose to apply for a waiver if they have not done so in the last three years. The Certification of Obligation and Carryover Waiver Form must be signed by division superintendents and returned by Wednesday, November 19, 2025.

The 2025-2026 Title I, Part A, and Title I, Part D, federal allocations(XLSX)for each school division, the Additional Required Special Terms and Conditions for Grant Awards or Cooperative Agreements(DOCX), Terms of Grant Award for Title I, Part A(DOCX), as well as the Terms of Grant Award for Title I,Part D, Subpart 2(DOCX), are now available on the VDOE Title I, Part A, and Title I, Part D, websites.

The final school division allocations are based on the Title I formulas applied by the U.S. Department of Education and reflect adjustments made by the Virginia Department of Education to account for state-level set-asides and funding allotted for services provided through the private school services bypass agreement, as applicable. As required in Section 1122(c) of ESEA, the variable hold-harmless provision was applied to the allocations.

The amount of the Title I, Part A, allocation available through the reimbursement process as of July 1, 2025, is 42.72 percent, and the remaining 57.28 percent is available as of October 1, 2025. The total amount of the Title I, Part D, Subpart 2, allocation was available July 1, 2025, through the reimbursement process.

The procedures and forms for submitting an application for Title I, Part A, and Title I, Part D, Subpart 2, were previously provided to school division program coordinators. Applications were due on July 1, 2025.

The Virginia Department of Education will facilitate a quarterly webinar series for division-level leaders, instructional supervisors, curriculum specialists, and instructional technology resource teachers responsible for computer science implementation. Attendees should be engaged in planning, supporting, or delivering computer science instruction and integration. Pre-registration is required for participation.

The upcoming virtual session will extend the work initiated during the summer Navigating CS Implementation workshop and will focus on implementation strategies for computer science instruction aligned to the 2024 Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning. This session will provide guidance for elementary and middle school instructional planning, with emphasis on scalable practices and alignment to state standards.

The Fall session will be delivered in a regional format to facilitate ongoing collaboration and provide tailored support aligned to local implementation needs. Pre-registration is required.

• Region 2 and Region 8 October 29 (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM) Registration
• Region 1 and Region 7 October 29 (1:00 PM - 2:30 PM) Registration
• Region 3 and Region 5 October 30 (10:00 AM - 11:30 AM) Registration
• Region 4 and Region 6 October 30 (1:00 PM - 2:30 PM) Registration

The Virginia Department of Education Division of Special Education and Specialized Populations continues to offer support in implementing the Virginia Literacy Act. The VDOE Office of Special Education Instructional Servicesis inviting up to 90 general education and special education teachers to participatein a no-cost professional development to address the needs of students who struggle with reading. Applicants must be current teachers, Grades 4-12, who work with students at least 60% of the day, preferably in special education. Teachers are encouraged, but not required, to register with a teaching partner from their school or division to maximize learning and application across classrooms.

Teachers who are interested in participating should complete the Application: Lexia Aspire Professional Learning Seriesby 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.Selected teachers will be notified by Monday, November 3, 2025, and providedinstructional materials needed for implementation. Participants are expected to complete all Lexia Aspire learning modules no later than Friday, April 24, 2026, and will receive a certificate of completion for 30 professional learning hours towards recertification. Participants will also receive an invitation to attend optionalCommunity of Practice events.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) requires states to conduct CTE Civil Rights Reviews to determine if school divisions that offer CTE programs and receive federal financial assistance are meeting the requirements of civil rights laws and regulations. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is required to conduct four reviews each school year using a targeting plan approved by the USED and identify school divisions in the current year of a six-year cyclical monitoring schedulefor a review. The VDOE will provide technical assistance throughout the review process. Superintendents of identified school divisions received a notification letter prior to October 15, 2025.

Additional information about CTE Civil Rights and the review process can be found in the USED, Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Vocational Education Programs Guidelines for Eliminating Discrimination and Denial of Services on the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin and Handicap (Guidelines) and on the VDOE CTE webpage.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) requires states to conduct CTE Federal Program Monitoring Reviews to assess school divisions' compliance with related CTE regulations, standards, and state and federal laws. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is required to conduct seven reviews each school year using a targeting plan approved by the USED and identify school divisions in the current year of a six-year cyclical monitoring schedulefor a review. The VDOE will provide technical assistance throughout the review process. Superintendents of identified school divisions received a notification letter prior to October 15, 2025.

School divisions are also required, according to the six-year cyclical schedule, to conduct and submit to the VDOE a comprehensive CTE Federal Program Monitoring Review System Self-Assessmentand develop a corrective action/program improvement plan to address any identified deficiencies and concerns. Additional information about the CTE Federal Program Monitoring Review process can be found on the VDOE CTE webpage.

As specified in 7CFR 210.8(a)(1)before February 1 every year, each school division with more than one school, including residential child care institutions (RCCI), must perform at least one on-site review (accountability review) of the meal counting and claiming system and readily observable general areas of review identified under 7 CFR 210.18(h). These accountability reviews must be conducted annually for each school operating National School Lunch Programand 50% of schools operating School Breakfast Program under its jurisdiction.

Staff conducting accountability reviews should be appropriately trained and have working knowledge of school nutrition program rules and regulations. Additionally, the reviewer should not be a staff member at the reviewed school.

Please review SCNP (Dir.) Memo #2025-2026-20for guidance and resources to support School Food Authorities while conducting accountability reviews.