Phase 1: Immediate Implementation (July 2026)
Provision | Summary | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
Section 1511.2 | The new law establishes the Pennsylvania Seal of Biliteracy in state law. PDE must establish criteria and a toolkit for school entities to award the Seal to graduating high school students who demonstrate proficiency in English and at least one other world language. For the purposes of this law, a school entity is a school district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school, charter school, cyber charter school, or regional charter school. Beginning with SY 2026-27, school entities that award the Seal of Biliteracy:
PDE must submit an annual report on the efficacy of the seal to the General Assembly beginning December 1, 2027. | SY 2026-27 |
Section 1327.2 | A cyber charter student who does not complete the required weekly benchmark shall receive an absence under the cyber charter school attendance policy. The prior option to impose an alternative consequence is removed. | Applies to benchmark policies approved for SY 2026-27 |
Section 1218.2 | The Classroom Monitor Permit program is revised as follows:
School entities must continue ensuring that students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). | July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029 |
Section 742.1 | Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, school facilities where children attend school may test drinking water annually for lead. Results above 0.005 mg/L require an immediate exposure-prevention plan and alternative drinking water. A school entity that does not test must discuss lead issues at a public meeting. Results above 0.005 mg/L must be reported to PDE for public posting. | SY 2026-27 |
| Sections 701-A and 702-A Public School Facilities Inventory | Article VII-A School Facilities charges PDE with collecting information from each school entity for each public school. PDE will establish a form and process for collecting the required data by April 1, 2027. Schools will have until December 31, 2027, to submit. The law defines "athletic facility," "public school facility," "school entity," and "department". Athletic facilities are specifically included within the definition of public school facilities subject to inventory. Data points include ownership, address, grade configuration, enrollment and 10-year projections, building capacity, facility type, square footage, acreage, ownership versus lease status, maintenance responsibility, building age, and major renovations. Inventory updates are required every five years and whenever there are significant changes in ownership, occupancy, use, closures, or major damage. | Immediate |
Section 1327.4 | The law requires school districts to conduct weekly wellness checks for students receiving full-time virtual instruction through the school district's virtual program for the full school year. School districts must visibly see and communicate in real time with each full-time virtual student at least once during each instructional week of three or more instructional days. The law establishes outreach, written notice, conference, in-person follow-up, mandated reporting, policy posting, documentation, and enforcement requirements. | SY 2026-27 |
Section 1333 Procedure for When | A habitually truant student may not transfer to a cyber charter school during the school year unless a judge determines it is in the educational best interest of the student. The law establishes procedural requirements for educational best interest hearing. When determining the educational best interest of a student, the judge must consider numerous factors, including attendance, grades, prior enrollment history, safety concerns, bullying, mental health, trauma, academic programming, disciplinary history, family support, and the student's likelihood of success in the proposed educational setting. | Immediate |
Section 1333.2 | The law updates procedures after a truancy citation is filed. Hearings that result from the filing of a truancy citation must include the student’s current school and a parent or person in parental relation residing with the student. Hearings must be conducted in person unless two-way simultaneous communication is authorized under court rules. | Immediate |
Sections | The law revises bullying/cyberbullying policy and implementation procedures. Every school entity must maintain a bullying and cyberbullying policy that identifies the appropriate staff member to receive reports, promptly investigate every reported incident, and promptly notify parents or guardians of all students involved after a determination is made. Policies must be posted on the school's website and available in every classroom, displayed prominently within each school building, reviewed with students within 90 days after adoption and annually thereafter, reviewed by the school entity every three years, and submitted annually to PDE with information describing prevention, intervention, and education efforts. The law also adds statutory definitions for "artificial intelligence-generated or modified media," and “cyberbullying”. School entities (school districts, intermediate units, career and technical centers, charter school entities) may continue applying their policies to off-campus conduct that substantially affects the school environment. | Immediate |
Section 1306-B | PCCD is authorized to use up to $8.3M of unexpended, uncommitted money from the School Safety and Security Fund to train school employees, school safety coordinators, security personnel and threat assessment teams and provide technical assistance to schools. PCCD is allocated the following for grants to schools:
Schools can use school safety grant funding to purchase automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and to pay for AED training. | Immediate |
Sections 1309-B, 1310-B and 1316-B | School safety coordinators’ duties and required school safety training are expanded to address suicide and cyberbullying awareness and prevention. | Immediate |
Section 1322-B | This new section establishes procurement and data-security requirements for contracts for school mapping services that utilize state funds. Public and nonpublic schools using state funding for mapping services must follow statutory standards governing mapping data, provider capabilities, law-enforcement access, data security, breach notification, and related contracting requirements. | Immediate |
Sections 1402, 1408 and 1512.1 | The law revises body mass index (BMI) communication, reporting, and instructional practices. For school screening purposes, student height and weight may only be collected by a school nurse or other health care practitioner. Parents or guardians may request an exemption in writing and school entities must notify parents and guardians of the process by which to request an exemption. BMI calculations are limited to state reporting purposes. BMI data submitted to the PA Department of Health must exclude personally identifiable information. Schools may not provide a student’s BMI to the student or parent without written parent/guardian permission. BMI may not be calculated as part of academic instruction (including Physical Education or Health classes) and the calculation must be performed by a school nurse or other health care practitioner employed by the school entity for that sole purpose. Any collection of height and weight for instruction must be confidential. | Immediate |
Section 1426 | Schools must make state-developed eating disorder resources available to students and families. PDE and the PA Department of Health must develop age-appropriate resources. At a minimum, school entities (school districts, intermediate units, career and technical centers, and charter school entities) must annually post these resources online for students in grades 6-12, parents. State materials must be updated at least every five years. | Immediate |
Section 1504.1 | The new section establishes a process for school districts to implement later school start times. A school district considering later start times must post the proposal online, solicit community comment at two public meetings, and, if adopted, report the new start time and implementation funding source to PDE. | Immediate |
Section 1551 | A rigorous course with targeted personal financial literacy content may satisfy the statutory requirement even when the financial literacy content is embedded within another course and does not itself equal to 0.5 credit. A rigorous course of study is defined as an academically rigorous college-level course, including Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International, dual credit, or a concentrated career and technical education (CTE) program. Schools should review high school course alignment with the personal financial literacy requirement. | Immediate |
Section 1511-D and 1515-D | Intermediate units are eligible to serve as a PreK Counts Program provider; and approved PreK Counts Programs may provide either a minimum of 180 days or 900 hours of prekindergarten instruction for a full day program/450 hour for half-day program. | Immediate |
Section 1723-A | Before enrolling a student in a cyber charter school after the school year begins, the cyber charter must confirm the student is not habitually truant and request the student’s attendance/truancy record from the student’s prior school. No later than five (5) business days after receiving the cyber charter school's written request, the student's prior school entity or nonpublic school shall provide the cyber charter school with the student's attendance and truancy record. A cyber charter school may not enroll a student who is habitually truant during the current school year or receive payment from the student's school district of residence unless a judge determines the transfer is in the educational best interest of the child. | Immediate |
Section 1743-A | Prior to a new student’s first day at the cyber charter school and annually for all students, a cyber charter school must provide the student’s parent or guardian with information regarding courses, standardized testing, anticipated meetings, contact information, extracurricular activities, school policies, and the academic calendar. The information provided now also must include the school’s wellness check policy, wellness review conference information, and resources supporting compulsory attendance. | Immediate |
Section 1748-A | Initial Enrollment Notification: Within 10 days of a student's enrollment, the cyber charter school must notify the student's school district of residence using the PDE Charter School Enrollment Form. For students enrolling between July 1 and September 15, this notification satisfies the annual residency notification requirement for that school year. Annual Proof of District Residency: Cyber charter schools are responsible for ensuring the Cyber Charter School Annual District Residency Verification Form and proof of residence are received from each student’s parent/guardian and for transmitting that information to the student’s school district of residence. Each year, cyber charter schools must:
Returning Students Without Residency Verification: If a returning student's parent/guardian does not submit the required residency verification documentation by November 15, the cyber charter school may submit a PDE-developed Cyber Charter School Alternate Residency Notification Form with supporting residency information and documentation of at least five attempts to contact the parent/guardian, including at least one attempt through certified mail. If a school district does not agree that the student is a resident of the district, the district may use the appeal process outlined in the law. Tuition Payments: A school district may withhold tuition payments, and PDE will not process cyber charter tuition deductions, until the required residency documentation is received. After compliant documentation is submitted, any outstanding tuition payments must be made within 30 days for the period of the student's enrollment. Students identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento Act are not required to provide a home address or annual proof of residency. | Immediate |
Section 1748.1-A | The law revises the process and timelines that cyber charter schools must follow when conducting weekly student wellness checks. Cyber charter schools must submit a wellness check policy to PDE by March 1 each year for approval and post the approved policy on the school website. | Immediate |
Section 1859 | Beginning with SY2026-27 and continuing through SY2028-29 (three years), CTE students may, but are not required to, complete their approved CTE programs before grade 12. Schools should review their local CTE program sequencing and student options. | SY 2026-27 – SY 2028-29 |
Section 1703-D | The Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot Program is extended through the 2028-29 school year. | Immediate |
Phase 2: Fall 2026
Provision | Summary | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
Section 1333 | The law updates truancy notification requirements and establishes educational best interest hearings before certain students can transfer to cyber charter schools. Beginning October 10, 2026, notices issued after a student's third unexcused absence must now include:
The statute creates procedures allowing a parent or a student aged 15 or older to request an educational best interest hearing before a citation is filed. A judge must hold the educational best interest hearing within 10 days of receiving the hearing request or citation, and the student’s current school is required to attend the hearing. The hearing venue must be based on the location of the school that the student currently attends or based on the student’s residence, if the student is enrolled in a cyber charter school. Hearings must be conducted in person unless two-way simultaneous communication is authorized under court rules. | October 10, 2026 |
Section 1506 | The law requires all public schools to report to PDE how they use Flexible Instructional Days (FIDs) and other remote/virtual days each year beginning with SY2026-27. Before finalizing the 2027-2028 school calendar, and each year thereafter, public schools must discuss the planned use of flexible instructional days and other remote or virtual instructional days at an open meeting. | Reporting begins in SY 2026-27 Public meeting must be held prior to SY 2027-28 |
Phase 3: Winter 2026-June 2027
Provision | Summary | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
Sections | PCCD’s School Safety and Security Committee must develop suicide and cyberbullying awareness and prevention training standards. | January 8, 2027 |
Section 1205.2 Professional Education | Professional educators certified and employed in another state may submit continuing education credits or hours approved by that state to maintain an active Pennsylvania certificate, subject to PDE review for comparability. If an educator moves out of Pennsylvania, PDE must notify them of this option. | January 8, 2027 |
Sections 1327.4 | School districts operating full-time virtual programs must adopt and post their annual wellness check policy by March 1 of each year. Cyber charter schools must submit their wellness check policy to PDE for approval by March 1 annually. Once approved, the cyber charter school shall post the policy on its website. | March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter (for SY 2027-28 and beyond) |
Section 121.2 | The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee must conduct a study of standardized testing and federal accountability requirements and post its findings by June 9, 2027. | June 9, 2027 |
Section 1218.2 | School entities must report classroom monitor permit data to PDE by June 30, 2027, and each June 30 thereafter. Annual reporting requirements include the number of classroom monitors used, days of service, and substitute compensation rates. | June 30, 2027, and annually thereafter |
Section 1506 | Schools must report annual use of FIDs and other remote/virtual days to PDE in the form and manner prescribed by the department. | July 31, 2027, and annually thereafter |
Section 1303.1-A | Schools must revise and implement their bullying/cyberbullying policies and reporting procedures. Every school entity must submit annually to PDE the information describing prevention, intervention, and education efforts. | July 31, 2027, and annually thereafter |
Phase 4: 2027-28 School Year and Later
Provision | Summary | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
Sections | The law updates professional education and leadership compliance practices by expanding the definition of "school or system leader" to include Superintendents serving under Commission Qualification Letters and those serving as Assistant Career and Technical Directors. These school or system leaders, as defined, are now subject to leadership continuing education requirements. | July 1, 2027 |
Section 1512.2 | School entities must build recess into elementary schedules by the start of SY2027-28. School entities must provide at least 30 minutes of recess each full school day for full-day kindergarten through grade 5 and at least 15 minutes for half-day kindergarten. Lunch may not be shortened to provide recess. If instructional time is reduced, reductions must be proportionate across tested and non-tested subjects. For purposes of this section, school entities include school districts, intermediate units, area career and technical schools, charter schools or regional charter schools. | SY 2027-28 |
Section 702-A | Public schools have until December 31, 2027, to submit the statutory information required for the new school facilities inventory administered by PDE. | December 31, 2027, and every five years thereafter |
Section 1511.2 | School entities that award the Seal of Biliteracy must report data for the prior school year to PDE by October 31, 2027, and by October 31 each year thereafter. Students who are awarded the Seal of Biliteracy must have the seal noted on their transcripts beginning with SY 2026-2027. | October 31, 2027, and annually every year thereafter |
Sections | No later than May 13, 2029, each school entity and nonpublic school shall ensure:
Each school entity and nonpublic school that participates in interscholastic athletics also must ensure that the individuals trained in the use of an AED have access to the AED on the premises of the school entity and nonpublic school; and that AEDs are readily accessible for students participating in interscholastic athletics and practices. | No later than May 13, 2029 |