ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 18
POLICY CODE: KLL/DIC
TO: Superintendents of Schools
FROM: Angela Faherty, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education
DATE: October 4, 2010
RE: Reporting Requirements and Deadlines
A current “Reporting Deadlines for Subsidy Calculations” list is now available on the Department of Education Reporting Forms website:
http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/forms.htm
The link “Reports that Impact the ED 279 Subsidy Printout or other Portions of General Purpose Aid Funding” provides a schedule of data submissions that impact the calculation of State subsidy for 2011-12 and will assist you in allocating employee resources during the early Fall to ensure that data deadlines are met.
These data submissions include reporting for staff data, student data and financial data and are broken into two categories: one is the initial report due date and the other is the final date for any revisions that will impact the 2011-12 State subsidy calculation.
Over the past few years, school units have been submitting required data very late, resulting in delays of State subsidy calculations and causing difficulty for the Department in carrying out the statutory requirements of Chapter 606-B – The Essential Programs and Services Funding Act.
Examples of “required data” are the following:
- All financial data necessary to calculate components of the Essential Programs and Service Funding Act.
- All staff data necessary to calculate components of the Essential Programs and Service Funding Act.
- All student data necessary to calculate components of the Essential Programs and Service Funding Act.
You will note that the final date for any revisions (for Essential Programs and Service Staff Positions only) for MEDMS Staff Information is October 15, 2010. This deadline is necessary to have sufficient time to use the data to update the Staff Salary Matrixes for presentation as part of my 2011-12 recommended funding level to the State Board of Education in December 2010. The website also includes a list of the staff positions that specifically impact the calculation of the Essential Program and Services matrixes and special education allocations. The MEDMS Staff Information will also be used in the calculation of the Minimum Teacher Salary Adjustment and verification of eligibility for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Salary Supplement.
I strongly encourage you to review your unit’s data for accuracy prior to submission, to reduce or avoid the need for revisions. Should your unit fail to meet these deadlines, the most recent data will not be used for your unit’s calculation of 2011-12 State subsidy and that could adversely impact your unit’s amount of State subsidy. Additionally, subsidy payments in the current year may be withheld until the submission requirements are met and/or you may incur a penalty for the late submission of the data pursuant to 20-A MRSA Chapter 606-B §15689-B sub-sections 7 and 7-A.
Please make it a priority to submit this important required data by the “Report Due” date as it allows Department of Education staff to review the data and accept final revisions before the “Date Revisions Must Be Received” deadlines.