ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 9
POLICY CODE: GCB
TO: Superintendent of Schools, Directors of Career & Technical Education Regions
FROM: Angela Faherty, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education
DATE: September 10, 2010
SUBJECT: Reporting 2010-11 Staff Information – Due Date: September 30, 2010
Staff information for 2010-2011 will be collected in the MEDMS (Maine Education Data Management System) Staff module exclusively. Please have your staff review the instructions below before entering and updating data.
The updated 2010-11 staff information will be utilized for the following purposes:
- To meet state and federal reporting requirements;
- To calculate the Minimum Teacher Salary Adjustments;
- To verify staff for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Salary Supplement; and
- To update the data for the Essential Programs & Services (EPS) calculations, including the salary matrixes and calculating Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) numbers.
A list of staff that impacts the EPS Matrixes is available at the following website: http://www.maine.gov/education/data/eps/fy10/medmsstaff200910.pdf
Topics in this letter:
- Data standards documents
- General instructions for all users
- Special instructions
- Reporting guidance for Alternative Organizational Structures (AOSs)
- Training available
Data standards:
Data standards documents are available to support users in understanding the meaning and format of required fields. Please review the standards by visiting: http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/XMLlinks2Stage.htm .
General instructions for all users:
- In the MEDMS Staff module, most of the data entered last year will appear in the 2010-11 screens, but all three pages must be verified for the current year and will require new data to be entered for 2010-2011.
- Staff members who are not returning for the 2010-2011 school year must be exited in MEDMS, using the applicable “Reason for Leaving”, and a “Termination Date” on or after July 1, 2010.
- In order for the Department to accomplish its reporting in accordance with new federal requirements, the ethnicity and race of all staff and students will be collected in a new way beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. This will require you to collect race and ethnicity identifications using a new question for all staff, even though they were already identified using the old system. This change was made nationally to better reflect the growing diversity across the country. The federal government has created a two-part question to recognize Hispanic ethnicity and race as two separate and distinct identities. This change also allows individuals to be identified with multiple races. For each individual, the following questions will be required:
Is the individual Hispanic/Latino? (choose one):
No
Yes
Is the individual from one or more of the following races? (choose at least one):
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Black or African American
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
White
These ethnicity and race choices are described in our data standards documents: http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/XMLlinks2Stage.htm
- E-mail addresses are now required for Superintendent and Principal positions. For any staff e-mail addresses, please be sure to only enter business or work e-mail addresses. This is to protect the privacy of your educational staff.
- The “Educational Experience in Public Education” on the Staff Personal screen, and the “Years Worked for This SAU” on the Staff SAU screen were updated automatically with an additional year. The “Yrs. Non-education experience in Voc/CTE” subject area field on the Staff Personal screen was not updated, and therefore will require new data to be entered for 2010-2011.
- The “Date Work Started” field on the Staff SAU screen, and the “Annual Salary for this Position” and the “Funding Percentage of Salary” fields on the Job Function screen will be blank and will require new data to be entered for 2010-2011.
Special instructions for reporting salaries, days, hours and staff with multiple or split positions (Job Function in MEDMS):
Annual Salary:
- The amount reported for the Annual Salary should reflect the salary based on the local salary scale; please do not include stipends.
- For those staff who will be eligible for the 2010-11 Minimum Teacher Salary Adjustment (below $30,000), please enter the salary amount based on the local salary scale for the position (do not enter $30,000).
- Eligible Minimum Teacher Salary Adjustment positions are Classroom Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Literacy Specialist, Librarian/Media Specialist, and Guidance Counselor.
Staff with multiple positions:
- If a person is employed in multiple positions, each Job Function/District Assignment should be listed individually.
- The annual salary and the total hours (days times hours) should be prorated appropriately for each position.
Multiple schools or school administrative units:
- If a person is employed in multiple schools or school administrative units, a prorated portion for each school or school administrative unit should be listed individually.
- The annual salary and the total hours (days times hours) should be prorated consistently. Example: If the prorated total hours (days times hours) represent 50% of the full-time total hours, then the salary should also represent 50% of the total salary.
Salary/Days/Hours for prorated positions:
- The Annual Salary, Days, and Hours fields should be prorated for each Job Function/District Assignment.
- The total of all Job Functions/District Assignments for a staff member should not exceed a full-time position.
Staff who do not work a full year:
- The Annual Salary and Days fields for staff who are employed by the SAU for part of the school year should be prorated. For example – a teacher who is employed for the full school year may be paid a salary of $36,000 and work 180 days. If the teacher is hired for half the year the salary would be $18,000 and the days worked 90.
Reporting guidance for Alternative Organizational Structures (AOSs)
Guidance related to reporting data for Alternative Organizational Structures (AOSs) is available in Informational Letter #6, dated July 24, 2009. Please visit http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=edu_letters&id=76958&v=article to read the letter.
Training available:
Training (recorded) for using data standards and verification reports is available here: http://www.maine.gov/education/lds/training.html
If you have any questions regarding the MEDMS Staff module, please contact the MEDMS Help Desk, Tel. (207) 624-6896 or mailto:medms.helpdesk@maine.gov .
If you have any general staff questions, please contact Ruth Sherman, Tel. (207) 624-6809 or mailto:ruth.sherman@maine.gov .
If you have any questions regarding the Minimum Teacher Salary Adjustment or the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Salary Supplement, please contact Suzan Beaudoin Tel. (207) 624-6790 or mailto:suzan.beaudoin@maine.gov .