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April 2026 Education Update

Oregon Achieves... Together!

A Message from Oregon Department of Education Director Dr. Charlene Williams

ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams 

Dear Education Community,

I hope you were able to renew and refresh over Spring Break in preparation for the last push towards the end of the school year and graduation season.

With the legislative session now concluded, we have final budget direction for the State School Fund and agency spending. Last fall we shared that all state agencies, including ODE, were asked to prepare potential options for budget reductions ahead of the 2026 legislative session. Thankfully, those options will not be implemented as program reductions. K-12 education funding will essentially stay the same for the upcoming biennium. We know the budget cut scenarios created uncertainty and that a stand-still budget means there are challenging decisions to be made, especially as we all experience cost increases. Thank you for the professionalism and commitment you continue to bring on behalf of Oregon’s students, schools and communities.

Special Visits

This is my third school year as ODE Director and my favorite job duty continues to be visiting districts to see policy in action, improving the lives of our students and giving them every opportunity to choose their path to college and career.

Last month I had the honor to accompany Governor Kotek to Estacada High School where we talked with teachers, administrators, staff and students about how the district’s cell phone policy has changed the learning environment. We heard that students are more engaged in class and interact more with their peers. Students are getting more work done, getting better grades and there is a greater sense of community at the school.

These results are exactly why Governor Kotek enacted her Executive Order last summer requiring districts to adopt a policy prohibiting cell phone use by students. Now that every district in the state has enacted their own policies we are hearing similar stories from across the state. We have amazing technology today that can connect us across the world but, like everything, it has its time and place, and classrooms should be exclusively for learning.

Speaking of connecting across the world and favorite duties, I again got to meet with students visiting Oregon from the Toyama Prefecture in Japan. This is a tradition that goes back three decades, and I’m honored to keep the exchange of ideas and cultures going. Like Oregon, Toyama is on the coast, with mountains, forests and great fishing. And, like their peers in Oregon, the Toyama students wanted to hear about how schools here support the mental health of students and the options they have while in school to discover and nurture their interests. It’s amazing that with all of the differences in our languages and cultures, students in Japan and Oregon have so much in common.

Let's Celebrate!

Spring is a time for celebrations and I encourage you to read all of the articles below about some of the commemorations this month. But I wanted to highlight a couple and mention a special day as well. This year’s Month of the Military Child has added significance following the passage of House Bill 4066, which includes a technical update to the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. When military families relocate across state lines, there can be transition issues, such as enrollment, placement, attendance, eligibility for programs and activities, graduation requirements and transfer of records. The Compact creates consistent policies across states so children of military families are not disadvantaged simply because their parent’s service requires frequent moves. The adjustment approved by lawmakers preserves our commitments to those students and avoids unintended legal issues.

School Library Month is the perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on an important sanctuary of learning in our schools. I always get to see the library on school visits because it’s a perfect gathering place. School libraries and their staff are a crucial component of our focus on literacy as a place where students can learn crucial reading skills and then open their minds to new worlds within the pages of each book. I can’t thank our librarians enough for the work they do each and every day to help our scholars learn to read and then read to learn.

Thank You!

Finally, I have to shout out to all of the Assistant Principals for Assistant Principals Appreciation Week that started April 6. Having been an administrator at the school and district level before coming to ODE, I know all too well the important role our assistant, associate and vice principals play in running a school. Use these resources to celebrate these unsung heroes of education and let them know your school wouldn’t be the same without them.

The end of the school year will be here before you know it, so let’s make the most out of each and every day for Oregon’s scholars.

In Love and Justice,

Dr. Charlene Williams


April Is...

April has many celebrations and commemorations that can be brought into the classroom. They include:

April Is Arab American Heritage Month

April is National Arab American Heritage Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the rich cultural heritage, history and contributions of the more than 3.7 million Arab Americans nationwide, including 31,000 in Oregon. Arab Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, representing enormous ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity. Arab Americans have made extraordinary contributions to our country, but those stories remain underrepresented in most standard curricula. In 1978 Oregon elected the first Arab American governor in the U.S., Victor Atiyeh, and in 2021 was one of the first states to permanently designate April as Arab American Heritage Month by state law.

Connections to the Classroom

Exploring heritage celebrations aligns to many Oregon Social Science Standards. For younger students (K-5), Arab American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to build foundational understanding of cultural diversity, family and community, exploring how people from many backgrounds contribute to shared American identity. For older students (6-12), the month opens deeper inquiry into U.S. immigration history and the experiences of historically marginalized communities.

Resources

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, a time dedicated to increasing understanding, inclusion and support for individuals on the autism spectrum. At the Oregon Department of Education, we believe raising awareness and encouraging acceptance helps create a more inclusive Oregon where everyone is valued and supported. In the 2024-25 school year, 13,428 students were identified for autism in the Oregon educational child count (birth to 21).

In Oregon, community-based and advocacy organizations host a wide range of events and programs throughout April (see links below) and year-round. These activities provide opportunities for families, educators, and community members to connect, learn, and show support while helping reduce stigma, building understanding and fostering meaningful connections. Local parks and recreation districts further promote inclusion by offering adaptive and sensory-friendly experiences for people of all ages. Autistic Oregonians, along with their friends and caregivers, participate by sharing stories and advocating for inclusive practices in schools, workplaces and community spaces.

For more information and to explore current events and register for activities, visit:

Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Each April, ODE commemorates Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month as an opportunity to recommit to creating environments where every young person in Oregon is safe, supported and able to thrive. This is especially important today as news coverage retelling sexual violence and abuse stories are shown on TV and shared through social media. Such reports can be distressing and surface personal experiences and concerns among staff, colleagues and students. Taking time this month to specifically review resources and provide support in violence prevention and response can help throughout the rest of the year as well.

Resources on the ODE website reflect our commitment to stopping cycles of violence and providing education that can save lives and help victims heal. These include Title IX protections to address sexual violence and discrimination based on sex, implementation of the 2023 Health Education Standards, Erin’s Law and the Healthy Teen Relationships Act and the School Safety and Prevention system across the state.

Comprehensive health and sexuality education is a central part of the prevention landscape. When students learn to identify and communicate their needs, practice setting and respecting boundaries, understand rights to bodily autonomy and recognize what safe and equitable relationships look and feel like, they develop lifelong skills that reduce violence, assault, bullying and discrimination. These grade-appropriate skills begin in kindergarten and continue throughout their school years:

  • Elementary School: supporting emotional expression, identity development and seeking help.
  • Middle School: recognizing safe and unsafe relationship dynamics.
  • High School: analyzing media messages, consent, equity and power.

Real prevention is a long-term commitment to building communities rooted in respect, connection and belonging. Together, we can help Oregon’s students be safe, supported and able to thrive!

Resources

Genocide Awareness Month

April is Genocide Awareness Month because four significant dates of past genocides take place in the month: the Armenian genocide (1915), the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), the anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh and start of the Cambodian genocide (1975), and the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (1994). Teaching the history of genocide helps students understand how ordinary societies can collapse into mass violence, identify warning signs and learn what individuals and institutions can do to intervene. 

Connections to the Classroom

For younger students (K-5), the Oregon Social Science Standards offer grade level entry points focused on foundational democratic values: fairness, inclusion and standing up for others. For older students (6-12), genocide education builds analytical tools to examine how prejudice escalates and to grapple with the roles of bystanders, upstanders, perpetrators and rescuers. Oregon's Senate Bill 644 (2019) mandates Holocaust and genocide education across K-12. Use the Oregon Social Science Framework to explore resources on Genocide and the Holocaust.

Celebrating School Libraries and School Library Staff

April is School Library Month, a national celebration that recognizes the vital role in student learning played by school libraries and library staff, particularly licensed teacher librarians. It highlights how libraries support literacy development, strengthen school culture and serve as centers for instructional collaboration and educational equity.

Established in 1985 by the American Association of School Librarians, School Library Month raises awareness about the unique contributions libraries and librarians make to teaching and learning. At its core, School Library Month celebrates the joy of reading. School librarians are uniquely positioned to connect students with books that reflect their interests and cultures. Helping foster lifelong reading habits and a sense of belonging, libraries often serve as a hub for school and community meetings and events, bringing the broader community together.

Research consistently shows that schools with well-funded libraries and licensed teacher librarians experience higher reading scores, stronger research skills and increased student engagement. By expanding access to diverse materials and inclusive practices, libraries help reduce opportunity gaps and ensure all students see themselves represented in educational materials. This dedicated month offers an opportunity to share these outcomes with educators, families and policymakers.

So take this opportunity to elevate the importance of access to information, the power of literacy and the value of collaboration and community. Typical School Library Month celebrations can include author visits, book talks, reading challenges and student-led discussions and recommendations. Use the resources below to help spread the word about the importance of school libraries!

Resources

ODE In the News

Student Spotlight



Oregon School for the Deaf Student Wins State Poetry Out Loud Competition

Congratulations to Emma Keen, a high school junior at the Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD), for winning the 2026 Oregon Poetry Out Loud competition in Salem! Keen will represent the state in the national competition in Washington, D.C., next month.

Keen, who is student body president at OSD, performed “Low-Tide," by Edna St. Vincent Millay, “From One Who Stays" by Amy Lowell and “I am Like a Leaf" by Yone Noguchi to capture the title. It’s the third time in the last five years that an OSD student won the competition and the fourth win overall for the school. The runner-up was Bena Rodecap, a senior at Grant High School in Portland who won last year’s competition. More in this story from I Heart Radio.

OSD’s previous winners are Kari Morgan (2023), Trayshun Holmes-Gournaris (2022) and Tiffany Hinano Hill (2009).

Oregon Summer EBT food benefits are back for 2026!

Giving families more access to food during the summer means students will show up for the first day of class ready to learn. Last year, more than 361,000 children participated in the Oregon Summer EBT food benefits program. The 2026 Summer EBT program kicks off this June, continuing our commitment to supporting students and families all summer long.

Program basics remain the same in 2026. Families will receive one payment of $120 on an Oregon EBT card for each eligible child. Children ages 6-18 are eligible for benefits.

Who is automatically enrolled in Summer EBT?

  • Most families will get Summer EBT automatically if they are receiving other benefits. This includes families who received Summer EBT in 2025 and continue to meet eligibility requirements. These families do not need to apply.
  • Automatically enrolled families will receive benefits on their existing Oregon EBT card starting on June 4, 2026.
  • Families who need a new card should call 855-328-6715.

Who needs to apply for Summer EBT?

  • Families who meet household income requirements and have children attending a school with the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program, but who did not participate last year and are not receiving other benefits from the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) need to apply.

Important dates

  • The online application opens on June 5, 2026. The last day to apply is Sept. 1, 2026.
  • Paper applications are available on the Summer EBT website now.

Need more information?

The Summer EBT call center will be open from June 1 - September 25, 2026, to help with Summer EBT-related questions. Call 1-833-ORE-SEBT (1-833-673-7328). Discover your path to receiving Summer EBT by visiting the Summer EBT website or the Spanish language version of the Summer EBT website.

Elevating Education-System Employee Wellness

Welcome back from Spring Break! The Employee Wellness column is brought to you by ODE’s School Wellness, Inclusion Safety & Health Team (SWISH). This month we will learn about the great work happening in Glide School District, get a refresher on the interconnectedness of wellness work using the ecological model, and then lighten our mental load with wellness podcasts from The Teaching Well.

District Spotlight

Glide School District has supported over 90% of its employees with its employee well-being programs! The district has partnered with Thrive Umpqua to maintain a team of three wellness coordinators; this team works with a group of staff members to implement ongoing activities throughout each school year.

Using the Flourish Grant from Oregon Well-Being Trust, the wellness team has provided many wellness opportunities, such as snow tubing, cross-country skiing, on-site chair massage, a Women on Weights club, in-service lunch days, self-defense and art classes, and the very popular soup-and-smoothie delivery during workdays.

The strongest well-being programs work to include all staff, and Glide School District’s wellness team truly embodies this idea. Employees in the Transportation Department, for example, don’t always have the time or availability to participate in on-campus activities, but a member of their team requested a foldable picnic table to use when the weather is nice. This purchase has helped the transportation staff enjoy spending time together outdoors, and it demonstrates that creativity and listening to the needs of employees are a cornerstone of well-being work.

Interconnectedness of Wellness Work

In Creating a Culture of Care, the authors describe how “an ecological systems lens supports leaders in understanding how culture and various experiences, relationships, environments and systems influence an individual, a group and/or a system.” The three levels of this ecological system can be described as follows:

  • Individual refers to what is going on within individual people (biologically, psychologically).
  • Collective refers to individuals’ interactions with each other; it includes relationships, community, and collective experience.
  • Systems refers to infrastructure, processes, organizational aspects, resources and policies that establish conditions for the ways people think and act.

To effectively address education-level employee well-being, efforts need to be made on all three levels of this ecological system. This four-page summary offers a way of thinking about wellness practices and how they can transform school systems in a way that are inclusive and sustainable.

The Teaching Well is an organization of educators and clinicians that seeks to stabilize schools by equipping educators with the resiliency and social-emotional skills to communicate and collaborate more effectively. The Teaching Well does a beautiful job of weaving all three levels of wellness work into their professional development and support services. If you have some time, why not listen to a podcast on your way to or from school? Check out their podcasts on topics such as burnout, boundaries, rest and recovery, compassion fatigue and Holding Fast: Staying Steady When you Need it the Most.

Big shout out and thanks to Oregon Well-Being Trust for sharing the work of districts and ESDs across the state to be featured in this newsletter. If you are interested in being featured in future communications, please reach out to Nat Jacobs. We would love to hear from you!

Harvest for Schools Award

The Oregon Harvest for Schools Award honors Oregon's farm to school community – the growers, educators, food service professionals and advocates who bring innovation and dedication to connecting children with Oregon-grown food. These champions cultivate lasting change by enriching student education and strengthening local food systems. This award celebrates their vision and commitment to ensuring that Oregon's next generation grows up with healthy meals, meaningful food education, and a deeper connection to land and people who feed them.

Do you know an Oregon farm to CNP champion whose dedication deserves to be recognized and celebrated?Nominate them for an Oregon Harvest for Schools Award to shine a light on their impact!

If you have questions, please contact the ODE Farm to CNP Team.

Month of the Military Child

April marks the Month of the Military Child (MOMC), a time dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the resilience, sacrifices, and contributions of military-connected children. Did you know Oregon’s schools serve approximately 3,100 military-connected students spread across 115 of the 197 school districts? Their impact is felt in nearly all communities in Oregon.

The life of a military child is a unique blend of adventures and challenges. It's important to acknowledge their service to our country as part of a military family. Let's celebrate their bravery, pride, and strength together. Join us in honoring the incredible children who play a vital role in our nation's military families and in Oregon’s school communities, not just during April, but all year long.

Resources

  • Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children was passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2016 and addresses key transition issues encountered by military families related to education. You can find more information for Oregon’s parents, school officials, and public administrators at the link above!
  • Month of the Military Child Toolkit: Download and utilize resources such as:
    • Purple Up posters celebrating #PurpleUp day & military kids
    • Yard Sign designs for local printing
    • Certificates of Recognition for Military-connected Kids
    • Templates for stickers
    • Activity sheets
    • The 2026 MOMC T-shirt design
  • Purple Up Day: Wear purple on April 15th to celebrate military kids. Purple represents the joint environment of the military, combining the colors of all service branches. When we wear purple in their honor, we let them know we support them in all branches of the military - Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force.
  • Call for the Arts: Encourage military-connected children in your school community to participate in the MCEC Call for the Arts program. This program invites kids from all service branches to share their interpretations of what it means to be a military-connected child through art. Visit the Call for the Arts page for eligibility and guidelines.
  • Hashtags: Use #MOMC and #BraveHeartsBrightFutures for discussion every April, and #PurpleUp for promotion and celebration of your area’s Purple Up Day. And all year long, please tag #MCEC when you recognize military-connected kids and their stories!

Let's come together to celebrate the unique challenges and triumphs of Oregon’s military-connected children. Your support and recognition mean the world to them and their families.

For more information on how to implement the military compact in your school district please reach out to Tenneal Wetherell.