The Maine Department of Education is proposing refinements to three chapters related to adult education.
Summaries of the proposed changes are as follows:
- Chapter 221: Adult Education Administrative Cost Reimbursement – Refinements due to statutory changes
- Chapter 229: Adult Education Fees – Language change to reflect term used in the federal law, separate courses are no longer offered specifically for students with disabilities, and college transition program was not offered at time of rule origination
- Chapter 230 Adult Education Program Requirements – To facilitate student placement, school boards should establish local policy regarding who can approve the agreement rather than needing to bring it to a school board meeting, and decisions to offer courses should be based on review of syllabi that demonstrate courses are rigorous and based on researched based standards. In addition, curricula for academic, ESL and workforce courses should also be reviewed and kept on file.
Full proposed language of rules Chapters 221, 229 and 230 can be found here.
The public hearing for the proposed rules will be held September 9 in room 500 of the Cross State Office Building in Augusta. The times are:
- Chapter 221, 9 -10 a.m.
- Chapter 229, 10 -11 a.m.
- Chapter 230, 11 a.m. to noon
The deadline for comments is October 14. Comments may be sent to State Director Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy Gail Senese at gail.senese@maine.gov or call 624-7655.