This section of the EdUpdate includes important notifications from the Mississippi Department of Education to school and district superintendents and administrators. These announcements will remain posted for 90 days. View information about professional development opportunities and resources in other sections of the EdUpdate.
Licensure Call Center Alert
To maintain the safety of MDE staff and to better serve education stakeholders, the Educator Licensure Call Center will reopen on an abbreviated schedule with a limited number of staff…
Brigance Screener III
Beginning August 2020, each local school district must administer the Comprehensive Early Learning Observational Assessment, Brigance Screener III to every public pre-kindergarten student. The Screener will be administered twice per…
MDE Early Childhood Specialized Training
This training is offered to teachers that need to acquire twelve hours of approved early childhood coursework to teach in pre-k classrooms. The completion of this training program will be…
Mississippi Early Childhood Association Conference
The Early Childhood Education Conference that occurs in July has been cancelled. As an option for teachers and administrators of pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms the Office of Early Childhood is…
CARES Act Recommendations for District Expenditures
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, 2020, allows states and school districts to devote more of their federal resources to…
REQUIRED ACTION FOR SUPERINTENDENTS DUE MAY 11: 2020 Bus Driver Summer Training Request
Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. ยง 37-41-1, all public-school bus drivers are required to be re-certified every two years through the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), Division of Pupil Transportation….
REQUIRED ACTION FOR SUPERINTENDENTS DUE MAY 14: Digital Access Surveys for Families and School Employees
As school closures continue and as the state develops plans to direct resources to the areas of greatest need, the MDE has prepared two brief surveys for districts to circulate:…
REQUIRED ACTION FOR SUPERINTENDENTS DUE MAY 15: Learning-at-Home and Summer Enrichment Plan
We appreciate the time you took in early April to respond to the initial request from the MDE regarding current efforts to support students who are learning at home. In…
Proof of Residency for Returning Students
Superintendents, In an effort to free you and your staff from a burdensome process, I contacted State Auditor, Shad White, to request an exemption to the requirement of proving residency…
MS ACTE Update Announcement
With all of the uncertainty around the COVID-19 outbreak, and out of an abundance of caution for your health and well-being, we have made the difficult decision for MS ACTE…