Day: January 5, 2017

Update 2016 Refresh of MLTI Devices

Recently, many districts received an invoice to cover the cost of broken and damaged devices from the 2016 Refresh of MLTI devices.

Understanding the difficulty that districts face in paying unanticipated invoices that arrive in the middle of a school year, the Department has been working to identify solutions to alleviate the financial burden on school districts.

As a result of this review, the Department eliminated the costs to districts for all affected districts for broken and damaged devices.  This does not include the costs for missing devices, which are still the responsibility of the district.

In the future, the Department will work with districts to find strategies to ensure that devices are maintained in good working order and that districts have sufficient notice of any costs that might be incurred. We understand that this recent series of events has not reflected the high level of support that you have come to expect from MLTI and we will work to re-earn your confidence.

If you have questions, please contact the MLTI Office at 624-6834.

Maine DOE Update – January 5, 2017

From the Maine Department of Education

Notices and Reporting Items

More Notices | Administrative Letters | Reporting Calendar

News & Views

CHAPTER 124: PUBLIC PRESCHOOL PROGRAM STANDARDS GO INTO EFFECT JULY 1, 2017

As you will recall, the Maine Department of Education Regulation, Chapter 124: Public Preschool Program Standards go into effect July 1, 2017 for all SAUs. | More

REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 126/261 REGULATION

Immunization Requirements for School Children were adopted on December 21, 2016.| More

REGIONAL SCHOOL CALENDARS DUE BY MAY 5

School administrative units and private schools approved for tuition purposes are expected to establish regional school calendars, in coordination with their local secondary career and technical education school, by May 5, 2017. | More

MAINECARE SEED PAYMENT ADJUSTMENTS TO BE MADE, REPORT REVIEW BY JANUARY 13

The 2016-17 subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for local schools will reflect adjustments in January 2016 for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Maine DOE on behalf of school administrative units (SAUs) for the following:| More

QUARTER 2 (Q2) REVIEW DUE DATE APPROACHES

The quarterly report review, which includes truancy, behavior, ADA/ADM and bullying are due January 15th. | More

INDIRECT COST RATE INFORMATION

MAXIMUS Consulting Services will be managing the indirect cost rate calculation process on behalf of the Maine Department of Education for sub recipients of Federal funds passed through the Department. | More

More Dispatches | Press Releases | Priority Notices

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities

Acting Commissioner Hasson Announces $3 Million Available for Grants to School Administrative Units for Regionalization and Efficiency Efforts

Department will develop application for integrated regional school construction.

On January 3, Acting Commissioner Robert Hasson announced that the Maine Department of Education has identified $3 million in funds that will be made available through a competitive application process for school districts pursing regionalization and efficiency efforts. An application for School Administrative Units (SAUs) is available on the DOE website at http://www.maine.gov/doe/.

“There is a clear appetite across Maine to discover new, efficient ways to increase educational opportunities for students in Maine.  The Department encourages every district considering innovative approaches to achieve efficiencies and deliver educational services in new or collaborative ways to apply for these funds. We hope to see ambitious proposals that serve Maine students and free up resources that can enhance educational opportunities,” said Acting Commissioner Hasson. “The Department has been urged by many stakeholders to provide support and incentives for voluntary efforts to regionalize and pursue cost efficiencies. We have heard those calls and are thrilled to take this step to support local efforts.”

“We carefully manage General Purpose Aid for Local Schools (GPA) to ensure that all available funds are available for our schools,” said Acting Deputy Commissioner Suzan Beaudoin. “When we passed the budget last year, we estimated the amount of funds that would be needed for adjustments to state subsidy. Based on the timing of bond issuance and the way that events unfolded, we believe that there are $3 million in funds that would not be dispersed. This grant will allow us to distribute those funds to school districts as adjustments to promote regionalization and efficiency, as allowed under GPA.” According to Acting Deputy Commissioner Beaudoin, undispersed funds resulted from sources such as delayed bond issuance for school construction and money set aside for districts that did not qualify for sudden and severe adjustments.

Acting Commissioner Hasson also announced that the Department is developing an application for regional schools construction projects. The process will support multiple districts working together to program and provide space for students. More details will be made available when the application is finalized and released.

INDIRECT COST RATE INFORMATION

MAXIMUS Consulting Services will be managing the indirect cost rate calculation process on behalf of the Maine Department of Education for sub recipients of Federal funds passed through the Department.

Sub recipients of Federal awards are not required to recover indirect costs; doing so is optional for a sub recipient.

Recovered indirect costs are considered revenue to a sub recipient’s general fund.  This revenue will have the effect of lowering expenditures which are used in the calculation of tuition rates and EPS per pupil rates.

Indirect costs may only be recovered once; if a cost is included in the indirect cost rate calculation, it cannot also be charged as a direct cost to a Federal award.

Indirect cost rates are applied only to the amount of the award actually expended, not the total amount budgeted/awarded.

Including indirect costs in an award application budget does not mean the amount of the award will be increased.  The amount of entitlement awards (supplement not supplant grants) available to be applied to direct services will be reduced by the inclusion of indirect costs.  Including indirect costs in discretionary grant application budgets may result in increased funding.

Two indirect cost rates will be calculated for a sub recipient; restricted indirect cost rates are utilized with Federal awards that have a “supplement not supplant” requirement.  Restricted indirect cost rates are lower than unrestricted rates meaning, a lesser dollar amount will be recovered under indirect costs for “supplement not supplant” awards.

A template is available to provide sub recipients of Federal awards through the Maine Department of Education with a format for calculating both restricted and unrestricted indirect cost rates.  The template, with instructions for submission, is available here:

http://www.maine.gov/education/audit/indirectcostrate.shtml

*Important Notice: Quarter 2 (Q2) review-due date approaches:

The quarterly report review, which includes truancy, behavior, ADA/ADM and bullying-are due January 15th.

Certification is not required for Q2.  Certification for each of the data sets, for each of these reports, will be obtained on the Quarter 4 (Q4) report.

Truancy and Behavior reviews are located in Infinite Campus State Edition (ICSE):
https://maine.infinitecampus.org/campus/mese.jsp

ADA/ADM review reports are not yet available in ICSE: Reviews will not be required until Quarter 3 (Q3).  You are still asked to submit the student level data into ICSE for ADA/ADM. The MDOE needs the detail data elements in order to properly create reports for your review by Q3.

Bullying review is located in NEO:

https://neo.maine.gov/doe/neo/brs

All due reports are listed on the MDOE reporting calendar:

http://www.maine.gov/doe/reporting/calendar.shtml

If you have difficulties navigating to ICSE or NEO call the Helpdesk at 624-6896 or email at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov

All quarterly reports are based on the following months and are cumulative:

  • Quarter One (Q1) – As of Oct 1 (to include July, August, Sept) – due Oct 28
  • Quarter Two (Q2) – As of Jan 1 (to include July through Dec) – due Jan 15
  • Quarter Three (Q3) – As of April 1 (to include July through March) – due April 15
  • Quarter Four (Q4) – As of July 1 (to include July through June) – due July 15