Launching Data Modernization
For OSSE, reimagining systems means ensuring effective, efficient and sustainable internal systems and processes across the agency, from procurement and grants to communications and
data infrastructure, so that staff are equipped and ready to provide high quality services to students, families, educators and schools.

Part of those internal systems and processes include the authoritative, citywide data collections with close to 108 million data points collected annually. In 2022, OSSE launched data modernization to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of OSSE’s data operations, fixing legacy data siloes, modernizing and aligning with data management best practices, and reducing burden on LEAs, while reengineering key programmatic business processes to be more efficient in programmatic ventures.

This work will allow OSSE to centralize and control more standardized citywide data across DCPS and charter schools, improving our ability to conduct more and better research, analysis to shape citywide policies and planning. It will also transform our understanding of District students and enhance the way we use data so we can better serve learners, families and schools to improve education outcomes across the District.

Electrifying Our Bus Fleet
In October, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe and White House senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu visited John Lewis Elementary School to announce a nearly $1 billion investment into the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. That investment includes $7.6 million in rebates to replace older buses in the OSSE Division of Student Transportation (DOT) fleet with 20 new electric school buses. The clean school buses will help OSSE DOT to reduce emissions and produce cleaner air in and around DC schools and communities.

Providing Transparent Recovery Spending Data
OSSE continued its administration of the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER) program in 2022, awarding and monitoring local education agencies’ use of $600 million of stimulus funds. This included successful close out of the first ESSER grant (CARES) and ongoing compliance with all federal grant administration and reporting requirements.

In parallel to creating and maintaining strong operational and compliance systems, OSSE also committed to providing clear, transparent information on how nearly $1 billion in federal recovery funds are being leveraged by the state and LEAs by publishing an interactive recovery dashboard. The dashboard includes an at-a-glance summary of all federal stimulus funds received by OSSE, a dashboard depicting the 90 percent of ESSER funds granted by OSSE to local education agencies (i.e., public school systems) via formula grants, and a breakdown of planned and actual spending by OSSE.