In April 2020, to ensure continuity of learning when schools closed to in person instruction due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) launched ConnectKidsNow! with funding from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER). Through this program, connectivity was ensured by providing hotspots to 26,702 students, which met 100% of the need reported by schools between April 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Though the State is no longer funding the wireless service to the hotspots that were provided to and remain with the requesting schools, Maine schools can purchase discounted wireless service for these hotspots through the state procured contracts with three cellular providers. Information about the cost of service and vendor contacts can be found on our website: https://www.maine.gov/doe/Learning/LTT/ConnectKidsNowProviders

Additionally, the Maine DOE is providing technical assistance to School Administrative Units who are applying for the federal grant Emergency Connectivity Fund, which can provide funding for these wireless devices to support at home learning.

The Maine DOE is available to support schools with new account set up, wireless service activation, and resources for connectivity.

For more information on the ConnectKidsNow! Initiative, ECF funding applications, and wireless support for at home learning, please reach out to Brandi Cota at Brandi.M.Cota@maine.gov.

The next meeting of the Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children will be held virtually on Wednesday October 27th at 9:00am. Interested parties may email Tyler Backus at tyler.backus@maine.gov to receive the agenda, meeting materials, and instructions on how to attend the meeting.

All 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, belong to the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3). Each state appoints a council to oversee the implementation of the Compact at the state level.

States that sign on to the Compact commit to doing what it takes to:

• Enroll children of military families at their new schools as quickly and seamlessly as possible, even in the absence of normally required official records and immunizations; and
• Ensure that students with parents in the Armed Forces stay on track to graduate on time, even when such students’ academic records don’t comply perfectly with local graduation requirements.

More information about MIC3 is available at http://www.mic3.net/ or https://www.maine.gov/doe/military

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Data team will be holding a training session on October 5th at 1pm to discuss how School Administrative Units (SAUs) and private schools should be submitting English Learner data to the state.

The target audience for this training includes both data coordinators and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) educators. We will have April Perkins, Maine DOE’s World Languages & ESOL/Bilingual Programs Specialist on hand to answer any specific questions about students who are learning English. We will also be joined by Jodi Bossio-Smith, the Maine DOE’s Alternate & WIDA Assessment Coordinator and Dan Weeks, the ESEA Title III & Title V Coordinator.

Register Here

Currently, public Pre-K in Maine is not universally available for all 4-year-olds. While the cognitive and social-emotional benefits of high-quality Pre-K are well documented, there are a variety of factors that contribute to the ability of School Administrative Units (SAUs) to offer public Pre-K and the extent to which they are able to enroll all eligible and interested 4-year-olds.

As part of the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, Governor Mills allocated $10 million of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds appropriated for Maine for public pre-k infrastructure to increase the number of 4-year-olds enrolled in public pre-k across the state.

Maine SAUs interested in starting or expanding public pre-k are encouraged to apply for funding to support expansion through the Pre-K Expansion Request for Applications (RFA). SAUs will be able to use the funding, in combination with Essential Programs and Services allocations, to start new pre-k programs and/or expand existing programs from part-day/part-week to full-day/full-week programs.

A timeline for the RFA process is provided below.

• September 24, 2021–RFA released
• October 7,2021–Informational session for interested parties, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
• October 15, 2021-RFA question submittal deadline
• October 21, 2021—RFA answers to questions posted publicly
• November 4, 2021—RFA submission deadline
• November 15-17, 2021—RFA scoring

An informational meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, October 7 from 3-5pm. Those wishing to learn more about the Pre-K Expansion RFA and ask questions can attend through this link. This meeting will be recorded and made available on our Early Childhood Professional Learning and Resources page.

All questions about the Pre-K Expansion RFA should be submitted to the Pre-K Expansion Grant Coordinator identified on the Grant RFPs and RFAs webpage.

Additional questions regarding this announcement should be directed to:

Early Childhood Specialist: nicole.madore@maine.gov