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2026-27 Back to School Guide for Students and Families

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The Education Law Center-PA (ELC-PA) has updated our annual Back to School Guide with new publications and updated information on multiple education topics to help students, families, and child-serving professionals. 

Click on the topic to jump down to that section.

If you have questions about a particular issue at your school, fill out ELC-PA’s online intake form (in English or en español).

You can also leave a message on our Helpline at 215-238-6970 (Eastern and Central PA) or 412-258-2120 (Western PA). Para español, llame al 215-789-2488 (for Spanish speakers, please call 215-789-2488). We also offer interpretation services for most languages — you may call our main Helpline numbers if you speak a language other than Spanish or English.

Besides learning about the legal rights explained in this guide, you can visit your school district’s website for specific information about how your school educates and supports students. Check your school’s policies to see whether students have protections that go beyond the scope of this guide. Check back with us periodically, because we will continue to update our materials throughout the school year.

The Education Law Center-PA (ELC-PA) is a nonprofit, legal advocacy organization with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, dedicated to ensuring that all children in Pennsylvania have access to a quality public education. Through legal representation, impact litigation, community engagement, and policy advocacy, ELC-PA advances the rights of underserved children, including children living in poverty, children of color, children with disabilities, children in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, multilingual learners, LGBTQ+ youth, children experiencing homelessness, and children at the intersection of multiple underserved identities.

ELC-PA’s publications provide a general statement of the law. However, each situation is different. If you have questions about how the law applies to a particular situation, contact ELC-PA’s Helpline for information and advice or call 215-238-6970 (Eastern and Central PA) or 412-258-2120 (Western PA) ― or contact another attorney of your choice. Para español, llame al 215-789-2488. Or you can fill out an online intake form here.

WHAT’S NEW?

New resources

In our 2026-27 Back to School Guide, you’ll find new fact sheets explaining recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings affecting the rights of LGBTQ+ students, the scope of regulatory changes to federal anti-discrimination laws, and changes in state laws, such as Act 47, which establishes new requirements for students enrolling in and attending cyber charter schools. We also celebrate important advancements, including the adoption and implementation of Pennsylvania’s CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act, which expressly prohibits racial discrimination based on natural hair textures, protective hairstyles, and head coverings.

ELC-PA has also updated many fact sheets from prior years to reflect changes in case law, statutes, and regulations, including Lawful DEI in Public K-12 Schools, The Rights of Students Experiencing Homelessness, Student Rights to Free Speech & Expression, How to Create Equitable, Affirming Codes of Conduct and more. We’ve also updated and developed free, fillable self-advocacy tools to support caregivers, educational decision-makers, and others to make requests to schools, file administrative complaints, and advocate for students’ rights.

Across all of this work, ELC-PA recognizes that structural and systemic racism, as well as individual racial bias, continue to drive educational inequities that Pennsylvania children experience in our schools. These inequities appear throughout our public education system, from disparities in school funding and exclusionary school discipline beginning as early as preschool, to residency barriers and unequal access to educational opportunities. This understanding guides our work to:

  • Advocate for bold state investments to advance equitable school funding. Pennsylvania must accelerate funding for its most under-resourced schools and close the significant remaining adequacy funding gap, which disproportionately harms Black and Brown students as a result of entrenched systemic racism. Adequate and equitable school funding is required to achieve the constitutional compliance demanded by the Commonwealth Court’s landmark 2023 decision. Learn more about joining our advocacy efforts here.
  • Push back against federal efforts to threaten public education and students’ civil rights. ELC-PA continues to challenge efforts to undermine public education, deprive public schools of critical resources, eliminate enforcement of federal civil rights laws, and dismantle federal oversight and accountability.
  • Represent and advocate for students and families across Pennsylvania. Through legal representation, advocacy, and community engagement, ELC-PA works to ensure that students have access to a quality public education.

Continue reading this year’s Back to School Guide to learn more.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

New & Notable

Ending preschool pushout: ELC-PA continues to lead the charge to end ableist and racially discriminatory preschool pushout — in Philadelphia and statewide. Learn more about families’ experiences with preschool pushout in ELC-PA’s 2026 report, Ending Preschool Pushout in Pennsylvania: Parent Testimonies and a Path Forward. And be sure to check out our new fact sheet Ensuring Access to Inclusive Early Childhood Education Settings, which discusses the benefits of inclusive programs, the legal rights of young children with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment, and strategies for effectively advocating for your child to be included in classrooms with typically developing peers.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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STUDENT ENROLLMENT

New & Notable

New enrollment requirements for cyber charter schools: Act 47 of 2025, which was amended in 2026, introduced new enrollment restrictions, residencyverification requirements, and wellness check requirements for students planning to enroll or already enrolled in cyber charter schools. Our new fact sheet Act 47: New Requirements for Enrollment, Attendance, & Wellness Checks for Cyber Charters & Virtual Programs discusses these requirements and more.

Protections for survivors of crime: ELC-PA’s new fact sheet on Pennsylvania’s Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) explains how survivors of certain crimes can keep their residential addresses confidential. This fact sheet explains who can participate, how participation affects school enrollment and transportation, and how schools must uphold students’ rights while meeting their obligations under federal laws.  

Navigating school closures: Our new fact sheet School Closures, Consolidations, & Reconfiguration of School Buildings discusses Pennsylvania’s school closure laws, the impact of school closures on communities, and what families can do if their school is slated for potential closure or reconfiguration of school buildings.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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ADDRESSING ATTENDANCE BARRIERS (‘TRUANCY’)

New & Notable

New Act 47 requirements: Act 47 of 2025, which was amended in 2026, introduced new laws regarding truancy and attendance requirements at cyber charter schools. Our new fact sheet Act 47: New Requirements for Enrollment, Attendance, & Wellness Checks at Cyber Charters & Virtual Programs discusses this new law in depth. We updated our truancy fact sheets and MDJ Guide to reflect the new role of judges in implementing Act 47.

Fact Sheets & Resources

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans

New & Notable

Supporting students with disabilities: Children with disabilities have a right to make up “related services,” such as speech therapy, counseling sessions, etc., when required by their IEPs and their school district has not provided them. In response to a complaint filed by ELC-PA , the School District of Philadelphia has a new process for notifying families and making up related services, which is outlined in our fact sheet on Related Services. We have also published a new fact sheet that includes a companion checklist to assist parents in navigating Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings: How to Navigate an IEP Meeting. And be sure to check out our new fact sheet Ensuring Access to Inclusive Early Childhood Education Settings.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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STUDENTS INVOLVED IN FOSTER CARE OR JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS

New & Notable

Summary citations and referrals to law enforcement: ELC-PA has created a new fact sheet on summary citations and referrals to law enforcement by schools — a far too common practice when students are cited by law enforcement for minor misbehaviors that were once handled by school staff. The fact sheet explains students’ rights and the long-term harms caused by these practices. It also urges schools to pursue effective alternatives and address the institutionalized racism and individual racial bias that result in Black and Brown students disproportionately receiving summary citations and being referred to law enforcement at far higher rates than their white peers — even when white students engage in the same behavior.

Updated Act 1 tools for students experiencing educational instability: We created two new self-advocacy tools for caregivers, Education Decision-Makers (EDMs), Juvenile Probation Officers (JPOs), advocates, and others to support students who have experienced educational instability due to experiencing homelessness, foster care, involvement in the juvenile justice system, or court-ordered placements. Separate tools are available for students in grades K-8 and grades 9-12. These tools help ensure that all students receive the protections to which they are entitled under Act 1, including a student-specific graduation plan for youth in grades 9-12 and methods for ensuring that partial and full credits are counted toward earning a diploma. We also link to a new Act 1 Graduation Plan Toolkit for school liaisons that the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Center for Schools and Communities issued.   

New Residential Placement Education Complaint Form: In March 2025, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) launched a new complaint system to report educational concerns regarding students who are “publicly placed” in residential facilities by courts or county children & youth agencies. Examples include juvenile justice placements, child residential facilities, detention centers, and state prisons. ELC-PA’s new self-advocacy tool facilitates the filing of such complaints, which can be submitted by anyone on behalf of a specific student or all students.

Pennsylvania’s Address Confidentiality Program (ACP): ELC-PA’s new fact sheet on ACP explains how survivors of certain crimes — including students in or exiting foster care — can keep their residential address confidential.


Fact Sheets & Resources

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STUDENTS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

New & Notable

Updated Act 1 Tools: See ELC-PA’s new self-advocacy tools (linked below) to support students who have experienced educational instability due to homelessness. We also link to a new Act 1 Graduation Plan Toolkit for McKinney-Vento liaisons.      

Fact Sheets & Resources

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IMMIGRANT STUDENTS, MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS, AND THEIR FAMILIES

New & Notable

Upholding the rights of immigrant students & keeping ICE out of schools: As immigration enforcement actions have increased and become more violent across the U.S. and Pennsylvania, more schools are reporting increased absences due to ICE enforcement. ELC-PA has effectively represented many students facing truancy citations and advocated for them to access learning from home.

In addition, we successfully advocated for multiple schools to adopt “Welcoming Schools” policies, joined in advocating for Philadelphia City Council to adopt a broad “ICE Out” package that places new limits on federal immigration enforcement activity, and advocated for new state Welcoming Schools legislation (SB 1125 and HB 2148) to ensure the safety of all Pennsylvania children.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education also issued revised guidance that reminds schools that all children have a right to attend public school and that schools cannot inquire about a child or guardian’s immigration status. It also urges local education agencies to “develop clear, written policies and procedures for what to do if immigration enforcement agents arrive on LEA property or seek information about students, family members, employees, or others for immigration enforcement reasons.”

ELC-PA continues to offer trainings and resources to explain protocols and best practices for schools to clearly message that immigrant students and families are safe and welcome at school. These resources outline immigrant students’ rights, including enrollment, non-discrimination protections, and how schools should respond to ICE. Find our collection of resources here.

Translated resources: ELC-PA has translated many of our fact sheets into Spanish (Español), Chinese (中文), Nepali (नेपाली), and Arabic (العربية). Our translated 2026-27 updates are coming soon. Schools, advocates, and parents can also use common school forms translated into several languages from this translation library associated with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Fact Sheets & Resources

LGBTQ+ AND GENDER-DIVERSE STUDENTS

New & Notable

PA schools have continuing obligations to support LGBTQ+ students: LGBTQ+ students continue to face attacks at the federal, state, and local level that seek to undermine their opportunity to thrive and be successful in school. Despite intensifying political attacks and ongoing legal challenges, LGBTQ+ students still have rights in our public schools, as described in our updated fact sheet. And while the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision allows states to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams, its decision does not require states or school districts to adopt such bans, as detailed in our analysis. See our updated fact sheets and contact ELC-PA’s Helpline for support in making a complaint about harassment or advocating against school board policies that create a hostile environment for queer and transgender students.

Supreme Court ruling does not require schools to ban transgender girls from sports. In June 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the case B.P.J., ruling that state laws banning transgender girls from participating on girls’ school sports teams are allowed under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. This harmful decision undermines the protections and purposes of our civil rights laws. Importantly, Pennsylvania does not have a state law banning trans students from playing sports, and the Court did not rule that such bans are required by states or school districts. School districts should continue to support all students to play sports on teams that align with their gender identity. Read more in our analysis, Equity in School Sports, and contact our Helpline for advice or representation.

Title IX complaints at school: Title IX is the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in public schools. Currently, schools must follow the 2020 Title IX rule, which does not include explicit protections based on gender identity or sexual orientation. However, Title IX does prohibit sexual harassment of LGBTQ+ students and other forms of sex-based discrimination. Schools have continuing obligations to prevent and respond to sex-based harassment and discrimination under Title IX case law, the 2020 Title IX rule, and Pennsylvania’s anti-discrimination law. Learn more in our new fact sheet, Students’ Rights & K-12 Schools’ Obligations Under Title IX to Ensure Freedom from Sexual Harassment.


Fact Sheets & Resources

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AFFIRMING & SAFE SCHOOLS FREE FROM RACISM

New & Notable

Implementing Pennsylvania’s CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair): Our fact sheets on Pennsylvania’s CROWN Act and How to Create Equitable, Affirming Codes of Conduct provide important guidance and model language for complying with this new law, effective Jan. 24, 2026, which amends the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) to explicitly ban race-based discrimination based on hair texture and protective hairstyles such as locs, braids, twists, coils, Bantu knots, afros and extensions. The Act also prohibits discrimination against religious head coverings and hairstyles “historically associated with religious creed.” To learn how to advocate to your local school board, see ELC-PA’s The School Board, Its Power, and How to Advocate.

Federal attacks on DEI: Since January 2025, the federal administration has issued multiple executive orders, novel and factually inaccurate federal guidance, and has rescinded prior guidance seeking to dismantle and eliminate Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across federal agencies and in K-12 schools. ELC-PA has updated our analysis in light of recent changes, highlighting recent federal court decisions where courts have struck down anti-DEI policies and practices and explaining the scope of changes to Title VI regulations. Public schools have continuing obligations to ensure safe, affirming, and inclusive schools that provide all students equal access to learning and promptly remedy racial discrimination under federal and state laws.  

Reducing summary citations and referrals to law enforcement: ELC-PA continues to advocate to eliminate summary citations in school and significantly reduce referrals to law enforcement, which disproportionately target Black and Brown students. See our new fact sheet on the rights of students here.

Challenging discriminatory parent exclusions: Check out our new tool to assist parents or caregivers to challenge their exclusion from their child’s school through “parent exclusion letters” or verbal demands or threats.    

Fact Sheets & Resources

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INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS AND HONEST EDUCATION

New & Notable

We have updated many fact sheets to support advocates to respond to extremists who continue to attack the rights of LGBTQ+ students and students of color at the federal, state, and local levels. This includes a newly revised fact sheet with updated caselaw on the Rights of LGBTQ+ and Gender-Diverse Students, a new fact sheet on Students’ Rights & K-12 Schools’ Obligations Under Title IX to Ensure Freedom from Sexual Harassment, and an in-depth analysis of the Supreme Court’s recent decision on access to sports for trans students and what it means in Pennsylvania in Equity In School Sports: The Supreme Court’s Decision and Why PA Schools Should Let All Students Play.  

Parents advocating for inclusive schools statewide: ELC-PA continues to fight against school board policies excluding transgender students from school, banning books, and otherwise creating hostile school environments for LGBTQ+ students and Black and Brown students. The statewide coalition Pennsylvanians for Welcoming and Inclusive Schools (PA-WINS), which ELC-PA co-founded, has become a strong community of parent advocates supporting each other and standing up for our students across the state. Check out the coalition’s resources about fighting book-ban policies, and join the group for advocate meetings and additional resources.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

New & Notable in school and significantly reduce referrals to law enforcement, which disproportionately target Black and Brown students. See our new fact sheet on the rights of students here.

Students’ right to protest: In response to an increase in anti-ICE student-led protests and community challenges, we updated Student Rights to Free Speech & Expression in Public Schools to clarify students’ rights.

New Tools: ELC-PA created new Self-Advocacy Tools to help students request that expulsions and suspensions be removed (expunged) from their education record, as well as a tool to support caregivers to appeal their exclusion from school.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

New & Notable

Updates to Pennsylvania’s School Code: We have updated our Cyberbullying fact sheet and bullying & harassment resources to reflect July 2026 changes to Pennsylvania’s School Code, which include the following:

  • School policies must expressly recognize and address cyberbullying, which has been defined as “bullying” through the use of electronic technology or communication (including through social media or artificial intelligence [AI], among other means of electronic communication).
  • Once a school has determined that an incident of bullying or cyberbullying has occurred, they are required to notify the parent or legal guardian of the student as soon as possible.

ELC-PA’s bullying and harassment resources and tools are linked below and are now also found at ELC-PA’s new landing page here. ELC-PA’s quick reference fact sheet explaining what parents, guardians, and students can do to address bullying and harassment is available in Spanish (Español) and Chinese (中文). (Updated versions coming soon.)

Sex- or gender-based harassment complaints at school: Schools have continuing obligations to prevent and respond to sex-based harassment and discrimination under Title IX case law, the 2020 Title IX rule, and Pennsylvania anti-discrimination law. See our new explainer on the Title IX process at schools.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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CREDITS AND PLANNING FOR GRADUATION

New & Notable – Act 1 Implementation

Updated Act 1 Tools to support students experiencing educational instability: ELC-PA created two new self-advocacy tools for equal access to schools and timely graduation. Check out our new K-8th grade tool and 9-12th grade tool for students who are entitled to student-specific graduation plans.  

Comprehensive graduation planning resources released by the Center for Schools and Communities: The Pennsylvania Department of Education and Center for Schools and Communities recently released a comprehensive revised Graduation Plan Toolkit that offers robust resources for local education agencies to support students who are Act 1 eligible. The Toolkit includes fillable Graduation Plans for students in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, a self-assessment for students, a proposed rubric for graduation plan assessment, and practice tips for school staff.

Fact Sheets & Resources

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SELF-ADVOCACY TOOLS

ELC-PA created a series of free and fillable self-advocacy tools for eligible students, parents, guardians, educational decision-makers (EDMs), surrogate parents, and advocates to address some of the most common barriers to school success. You will find them referenced in the sections above and also listed below. Each tool is free to use; most are fillable forms.

To learn more about specific education rights that students have across a variety of topic areas, please review the sections above and see the fact sheet section of our website.

Check out our new self-advocacy tools & resources: We are delighted to share that we have expanded our collection of self-advocacy tools, including new tools to support children “experiencing educational instability” under Act 1, to oppose caregiver exclusions from public schools, file a state complaint on behalf of a child with a disability with the Bureau of Special Education, file a residential placement education complaint, and expunge expulsions and suspensions from a student’s record.

Resources

Enrollment

Attendance

School Discipline

Inclusive Schools and Honest Education

Special Education

Right to Be Free from Racism

Multilingual Students and Families

McKinney-Vento Eligible Students (Students Experiencing Homelessness)

Students in Care and in the Juvenile Justice System

Addressing Bullying/Harassment

Credits and Graduation Planning

Happy Back To School!

-September 2026

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