What's Due in Oklahoma Schools?
September 2023 For Oklahoma School Administrators
The Milestone Mirage
The Milestone Mirage by Tom Deighan
Tiny dust clouds rise as school leaders shuffle across the desert floor. Hot, thirsty, and exhausted, the weary travelers fight despair, but ahead they see an oasis shimmering under the blinding sun . . . but unfortunately, it might be a milestone mirage.
This time of year, school leaders are starting to feel the fatigue of the hot marathon that began last spring, and as we face the grueling reporting season, we experience a phenomenon I call the milestone mirage.
The Milestone Mirage is the false assurance of an oasis ahead . . . if we can just finish the next report . . . if we can just get that next degree . . . if we can just land that next promotion . . . or if we can just survive until the next holiday . . . everything will be better! Milestone mirages persuade us to neglect our health, our relationships, and our spiritual lives with the false promise of a new beginning ahead.
Unfortunately, like the illusion tormenting our desert travelers, the milestone mirage can be elusive and disappointing. When we reach such milestones, we almost immediately face more and more milestones ahead, each more demanding than the other. When we accomplish one, we often still thirst for more, so we chase another milestone, hoping it will deliver.
Real milestones are important, and we should relish and celebrate them, but even the important ones become milestone mirages when we sacrifice our families, our faith, or our health to reach them. Yes, we have hard seasons when we must push ourselves to the limit, but milestone mirages convince us to always be in overdrive. Always pushing. Always focused on a goal. No one can maintain such a pace indefinitely.
Unfortunately, we cannot always disengage or take a vacation, but we should not underestimate the regenerative power of a real lunch break, an extra 15 minutes in the morning, or a power nap in the car! Give yourself and your people permission to take a break during the long hard seasons. The mirages will be there (or not) when you get done.
Someday soon, you will have completed those reports, that degree, or landed that dream job. If that accomplishment fails to reenergize, you may have pushed too hard and placed too much anticipation in a milestone mirage. Many of us have experienced such disappointment. Milestones are important, wonderful, and motivating, but they are short moments in a larger life that can be lived well, even when holding demanding positions.
Like weary desert travelers, we must remember that mirages are not real, and in doing so, we might just discover that our oasis has always been around us. Our faith, friends, colleagues, and family refresh us, not the milestone mirages. When we invest in eternal things, milestones are become accomplishments of joy, satisfaction, and meaning. When tired, weary, or disappointed, we cannot give up or become bitter. Instead, we must simply learn where to place our hope, for unlike a milestone mirage, true hope does not disappoint.
By Grace,
Tom Deighan, Ph.D.
September 2023 Governance and Accountability Deadlines and Resources
What’s Due in Oklahoma Schools
Monthly Accountability
September 2023
(I delayed releasing this month’s list until today in hopes of not unnecessarily cluttering minds before Labor Day.)
1. This list compiles deadlines and resources directly from multiple OKSDE newsletters and Reporting Requirements Calendar as a resource for Oklahoma school officials, but sources may not be accurate, and this list is never comprehensive. Always ask, email, or call OKSDE officials if you have any questions or concerns. Your best resources are always the hard-working staff inside the OKSDE.
2. Subscribe to OKSDE updates and newsletters: https://sde.ok.gov/
3. OKSDE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS CALENDAR – New and Updated!
4.
Critical School Resources:
a. Required Professional Development for Schools
b. Required Safety Drills for Oklahoma Public Schools
d. New Laws for 2023-24 Courtesy of CCOSA
e. 2022 School Law Book Courtesy of OSSBA
5.Currently Posted Deadlines for September 2023
(New Reporting Calendar not yet accessible – keep checking.)
a. CLICK HERE TO DESIGNATE YOUR EL COORDINATOR
b. September 1: WIDA Recertification Training Available (Test Administrators) Assessment Training | WIDA Secure Portal Please reach out to Hanna.Hensley@sde.ok.gov with any questions.
c. September 7: Supplemental Postsecondary Opportunities Coursework Review Window Closes -- A summary of eligible courses and guidance for this window can be located here.
d. (Suggested) September Board Meeting: School Days to Hours Notification Due to OKSDE by October 15 (405-521-3335)
e. September 15 to 30: Class Size Application (Ask Accreditation, RAO)
f. Available September 1 through June 30
a. Postsecondary Opportunities Coursework Available through June 30 (405) 522-5169
b. Chronic Absenteeism Medical Exemption Window
g. October 1: RSA Beginning of Year Sufficiency Report Due in SSO (405-522-1591)
h. October 1: Final SPED Expenditure Report in SSO/GMS (405-521-3351)
6. Reporting Season Planning: Most state and federal program applications are due between now and November. Map these out with staff and identify critical checkpoints to help avoid the dreaded reporting snowball. Unlike the other list, this list is organized based on the START dates for the reports. The current OKSDE calendar does not include these dates, so I used last year’s calendar. The list will grow in September, October, and November. (*Indicates projected timeline based on 2022-23 Reporting Calendar.)
Remaining August Open/Start Dates
a. August 1 to October 15: Renewal of AP Courses (405-522-3219)
b. August 1 to November 1: RSA Promotion and Retention Report Due in SSO/Wave (405-522-1591)
c. August 15 to October 15: GT Educational Plan and Budget Summary
September Start/Open Dates
d. Federal Programs Allocations and Applications Opening up in GMS
e. 376 School Officer/Safety Program Application Open
f. September 1 to November 31: October 1 Consolidated Report Due in WAVE (405-521-3020) October 1 Consolidated Report Guidance
g. September 1 to October 16: Initial Certified and Support Personnel Reports Due in SSO (405-521-3369)
h. September to November 1: RSA Promotion and Retention Report Due in SSO (405-522-1591)
i. September 1 to November 15: Local School District Salary Schedule due in SSO (405-521-3369)
j. September 1 to October 31: SPED Child Count in EdPlan (405-521-3351)
k. September 5 to November 30: First Quarter Statistical Report (405-521-3460)
l. September 1 to November 30: Title I, Part A and D Neglected or Delinquent October Child Count (405-521-2846)
m. September 11 to November 3: Flexible Benefit Allowance (FBA)
n. Opens September 30, no due date yet: Comprehensive District Academic Plan (CDAP) (405) 521-2846
o. October 1 to October 15: Annual Accreditation Report on SSO (405-521-3335)
p. October 1 to October 15: District Transfer Capacity Report in SSO (405-521-3335)
q. October 1 to October 15: Incoming Transfer Results in SSO (405-521-3335)
r. Strategies and Tips for Reporting Season
a. Many data repeat – create standard resources to use across district and sites
b. Start as soon as reports are open
c. Use Last Year’s report as your guide – personnel are often the only changes
d. Do not expect much progress during August as school opens and starts
e. Ask your OKSDE representatives when you have questions
f. Federal Applications are routinely rejected
g. Allow you and your staff to set aside other priorities during reporting season – you can only do so much and run a school
h. Several more things open in October. Focus on them when they open.
Coming next month: OCTOBER START Dates for Reports
Remember: The August, September, and October Lists are organized by availability, not due date. They all seem to be due at once!
7. OKSDE Resources and Training Opportunities
- WIDA Recertification Training – Opens September 1 Assessment Training | WIDA Secure Portal Please reach out to Hanna.Hensley@sde.ok.gov with any questions.
- EXTENSIVE LIST OF SPED TRAININGS FROM OKSDE – Project 613
- Registration Closes Soon: Oklahoma Math Tutoring Corps: Math Tutoring Corps webpage.
- Alternate Diploma Codes, subject codes, titles, and course descriptions (HB 1041 Compliance)
- October 12-13: Oklahoma Autism Conference https://okautism.org/Training/Conference
- 2023 Oklahoma Academic Standards for Health
- 2023 Oklahoma Academic Standards for Physical Education
h. Behavioral Science for Teachers (BeST)
i. EdPlan June Update Document.
j. OAAP Criteria Checklist for Assessing Students with Disabilities on Alternate Assessments.
k. Imagine Math: Free for 22-23
l. CHATGPT and AI Resources for Teachers
m. SPED Boot Camp Opportunities
a. ECU – East Central University
b. OSU - Oklahoma State University
c. SNU - Southern Nazarene University
d. NSU - Northeastern State University
e. SWOSU - Southwestern Oklahoma State University
f. CU - Cameron University
g.
n. SPED MTSS Support Training: Application for SPDG MTSS Implementation Support.
o. SPED Training: Alternative Pathways for General Education and Alternative Pathways for Special Education.
p. OSU SERC CENTER for SPED Training: SERC CENTER INFORMATION
q. Monthly SERC Dispute Resolution Seminars: https://okserc.org/
r. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM SITE VISIT EVIDENCE CHECKLIST FOR FY24
s. Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Training 2023-24 Dates save the date
t. 2023-24 PARAPROFESSIONAL Conferences, August - March: Register for one of FOUR Locations
u. ELL/Title III Webinars: Reporting, Data, Consortiums
v. Academic Advisement and Policy Guidebook – Very Helpful Guidebook
w. Concurrent Enrollment Guidance Document (HS College Enrollment)
Although everything seems due at once, they do not all “open” at once, and much of the information repeats. No single person can do this all alone, and everyone needs to pace themselves. Give and receive grace this season, and don’t fall for the milestone mirages. They are not oases in the desert.
By Grace,
Tom Deighan, Ph.D.