Special Education Plan

Superintendent Mrs. Angela Marley shared that the district’s Special Education Plan has been officially reviewed and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The district achieved full compliance in its state monitoring cycle for Indicator 13, a federal benchmark evaluating how effectively we prepare students with special needs for adulthood through measurable postsecondary goals, transition assessments, and agency coordination.

Special Education Cyclical Monitoring

Mrs. Marley shared about the special education cyclical monitoring that the PA state will conduct in the coming year. She explained that this will cause very minimal disruption to the learning environment, as it involves a lot of information and data sharing up front, followed by site visitation for classroom observation and interviews with staff and families.

2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey

The 2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) data offer a point-in-time snapshot of 472 Cocalico School District students across grades 8, 10, and 12. Mrs. Marley explained that the survey details students’ self-reported behaviors, mental health, screen habits, and perceptions of school safety.

She noted that the survey results capture student experiences at a single moment in time to help guide district support, rather than to serve as a permanent metric.

Federal Programs Grants

Mrs. Marley reported that the district’s projections for the Federal Programs grants (Title I, II, and III) came in lower than last year’s amounts by $12,900. She explained that this is primarily due to declining enrollment.

She shared that per the approved state budget, the district will be receiving an additional .4% increase in basic education funding, a 1.8% increase in special education funding, and a flat rate of $50,000 for Ready to Learn because the district did not qualify for adequacy gap funding. Mrs. Marley explained that those three areas total $134,308, which is a 1.1% increase in state funding for Cocalico. She noted that increase percentage is the second lowest in the county, with ELANCO receiving a .9% increase. Factoring out ELANCO and Cocalico, the average increase Lancaster County schools will receive is 6%, and the state average for increases is 6.1%.

Mrs. Marley stated that as we navigate these funding challenges, our administration remains committed to practice prudent fiscal management and pursue additional funding opportunities to ensure we maintain high-quality programs and services our students deserve.

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