Category: Funding

VIRTUAL TRAINING: New or Recent Maine School Business Manager Training

Please join the Maine Department of Education’s School Finance & Compliance Team for a brief overview of requirements, resources, and contacts useful for all Maine School Business Managers.

September 21, 2022
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Virtual Training

Agenda:

  • 9:05 – 9:20         MEFS System features for Code Combinations – Denise
  • 9:25 – 9:45         MaineCare, EF-S-07/214, Audits – Stephanie
  • 9:50 – 10:05       Coding Handbook, State vs. Federal Codes – Mary
  • 10:10 – 11:10     Website Walk Through – ED279 Explained – Paula
  • 11:15 – 11:35     EPS Formula, Gifted & Talented, Special Ed, and CTE – Ida
  • 11:35 – 12:00     Questions and answers

To register and receive meeting info, or for further questions, please contact Stephanie Clark at stephanie.clark@maine.gov. 

National Board Salary Supplement and Scholarship Information FY23

Salary Supplement Request

National Board Certified Teacher Salary Supplement Request Due October 15, 2022

Do you have National Board Certified Teachers on your staff? Awesome! We are sending along a reminder to those fortunate superintendents, or directors of a publicly-supported secondary school, Education Service Center (ESC) as authorized under Chapter 123, or Career and Technical Education (CTE) region, with eligible staff who have attained National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification prior to July 1, 2022. Please let us know so we can provide you with their legislatively allocated salary supplement!

In order to qualify for the salary supplement, eligible staff must be currently employed by a Maine public school, ESC, or by a publicly-supported secondary school or CTE region in Maine. Eligible position titles include classroom teacher, special education teacher, literacy specialist, math specialist, long-term substitute teacher, library media specialist, school counselor, and teaching principals who have attained certification with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization.

The amount of the salary supplement for fiscal year 2022-23 is $5000 for teachers employed in a school in which 50% + students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, and $3000 for teachers employed in a school in which fewer than 50% of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, unless proration is necessary.

The submission form and further information is available on our National Board Certification Salary Supplement page. 

Scholarship Applications

National Board Scholarship Applications Due October 15, 2022

Are you a Maine public school, or a publicly-supported secondary school, or CTE school teacher who is interested in becoming National Board Certified? Are you a district who is eager to offer this exceptional professional learning opportunity to your teachers?  State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A subsection 5 & 6; as amended by PL 2012 c. 702, established the National Board Certification Scholarship Fund to encourage teachers to apply to, and enroll in, the certification program offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization.

A school administrative unit, or a publicly supported secondary school or CTE region, may request scholarship funds on behalf of its teachers who meet the requirements.

This fiscal year, the Maine DOE will allocate $75,000 to the scholarship fund, and shall award an amount equal to the cost of the certification program, less any other funds received by the applicant to not more than 30 teachers accepted into the program annually. Priority will be given to teachers who have already begun the process and teachers employed in high needs schools.

For more information and eligibility requirements, please visit our National Board Certification Scholarship page. 

If you have questions about the National Board Salary Supplement Program or the National Board Scholarship Program, please contact Emily Doughty at emily.doughty@maine.gov.

 

Computer Science Professional Development Grant Application

Are you interested in computer science professional development opportunities for your school? Maine’s 130th legislature, through a bill sponsored by Senator Pouliot, created a pilot grant program to provide funding for high-quality, teacher-developed or teacher-led professional development for PK-12 computer science pedagogy and content. 

Priority will be given to applicants that: 

  • do not currently offer computer science learning opportunities; 
  • serve socioeconomically disadvantaged school districts; 
  • prioritize student populations traditionally underrepresented in computer science; 
  • demonstrate a commitment to pursuing high-quality educator professional development that emphasizes integration of computer science into other course work and curricula or establishes or expands access to courses that offer college credit and other certificates of value, or both; and 
  • collaborate or partner with other entities, including but not limited to other local education agencies, the business community, nonprofit organizations and private entities. 

The application window opens Thursday September 1, 2022. Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are received.  

There is no limit to the grant amount awarded per applicant; however, funds will be dispersed equitably across all applications based on county and throughout PK-12. 

Have questions? Want to learn more? Interested in applying? Check out our website to learn more and submit an application. 

Need assistance applying? Contact the Computer Science Specialist, Emma-Marie Banks, emma-marie.banks@maine.gov 

SpiritSeries Maine ARP Grant Opportunity to Support Academic and Social Emotional Learning Loss

We are excited to kick off the Maine Department of Education – SPIRIT SERIES partnership with SpiritCorps, their three week, project-based, writing and self-discovery program designed for students from 7th to 10th grade.

“I’ve been having wonderful conversations with teachers and administrators around the state about SpiritCorps and its power to support, engage and inspire students while bringing joy back to teaching. It is a great vehicle to help address both academic and social-emotional learning loss and build 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.” – Christina O’Neal, Director of Program Partnerships for SPIRIT SERIES

The personal stories of Courage, Conscience and Compassion that students craft, record on video and share with their classmates can be a profound experience, building confidence, strengthening connection and fostering community. Our 2022-23 calendar is filling up fast, but plenty of slots remain available. Participating schools are given a 100% scholarship in the first year, thanks to DOE partnership and a federally funded DOE grant. SPIRIT SERIES has successfully delivered programming in Maine since 2014, serving over 6,000 students in more than 20 partner schools. We now look forward to bringing our interdisciplinary storytelling program to schools across the state. “I would absolutely recommend Spiritcorps to any educator. It was easy to use. It was fun for the students. It was great! I think that the process is so well organized…It was so easy from an educator’s perspective to integrate this curriculum into my classroom and have it feel organic.” – Scott Arritt, Gr. 7/8, Durham Community School

To learn more about the program, take a look at this short video Introduction to SpiritCorps. For further information and/or to schedule an engagement at your school, make an appointment with us on our calendar (scroll below video) or email Christina directly at coneal@spiritseries.org.

National Board Scholarship Application Window Now Open 

Are you a Maine public school teacher who is interested in becoming National Board Certified? Are you a school administrative unit that is eager to offer this exceptional professional learning opportunity to your teachers?  State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A subsection 5 & 6; as amended by PL 2012 c. 702, established the National Board Certification Scholarship Fund to encourage teachers to apply to, and enroll in, the certification program offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization. 

A school administrative unit, or a publicly supported secondary school or CTE region, may request scholarship funds on behalf of its teachers who meet the requirements. 

In school year 2022-23, Maine Department of Education (DOE) will allocate $75,000 to the scholarship fund, and shall award an amount equal to the cost of the certification program, less any other funds received by the applicant to not more than 30 teachers accepted into the program annually. Priority will be given to teachers who have already begun the process and teachers employed in high needs schools.

For more information and eligibility requirements, please visit our National Board Certification Scholarship page:  https://www.maine.gov/doe/cert/nationalstandards/scholarship 

Please Note:  The application will be open from August 8, 2022 through October 15, 2022.  If you have questions about the National Board Salary Supplement Program or the National Board Scholarship Program, please contact Emily Doughty at Emily.doughty@maine.gov.