Maine schools have positive climates and State agencies are proactive in providing them meaningful safety-related resources, but there are extensive opportunities to better ensure safety.
Those are the high-level findings of two school security reports the Maine DOE overviewed to the Legislature’s Education Committee this week. Continue reading “Security reports suggest improvements to keep schools, students safe”
Focusing funding on professional development, communicating early and often with educators and parents, and the need for strong leadership were the leading learnings that emerged in an analysis of the case studies currently featured on the Maine DOE’s Center for Best Practice. Continue reading “Themes emerge in transition to proficiency-based system”
The Department will be accepting applications for the Federal Qualified School Construction Bond (QSCB) Program through March 14. Continue reading “School construction tax credit bond applications due”
LEWISTON – Maine Department of Education Acting Commissioner Jim Rier will tour two Lewiston schools this Thursday that are undertaking significant initiatives to improve student outcomes.
Continue reading “Acting Education Commissioner Rier to visit Lewiston schools Thursday”
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 1. Continue reading “Regional school calendars due by May 1”
On Saturday, many of us paused to remember the courage of so many in the face of the evil of one on the anniversary of the senseless school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary. Just one day before, a 17-year-old senior was critically injured by a classmate, who later shot himself, in a shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, just 10 miles away from Columbine, another tragic reminder of our need to always be prepared even for the most unthinkable.
Here in Maine, schools have always taken the safety and security of their students and staff seriously, but even more so since Newtown. Continue reading “School security strengthened since Sandy Hook”
All school administrative units (SAUs) that receive funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are reminded to review two important requirements governing those funds to ensure compliance with them. Continue reading “IDEA’s excess cost and MOE requirements”
The Department will accept applications for the Federal Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) Program through Feb. 14. Maine DOE currently has $2,924,000 of QZAB issuing authority to distribute to qualifying schools units. Continue reading “QZAB Tax Credit Bond applications due”
The December subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools will reflect additional adjustments for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Maine DOE on behalf of school administrative units (SAUs) for the following: Continue reading “MaineCare Seed payment adjustments, report review”
Grants are now available to Maine schools through the Maine Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program, a federally-funded partnership of the Maine Department of Transportation, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and communities throughout the state working to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and encourage more students to walk and bike to school. Continue reading “Maine Safe Routes to School grants available”
Maine DOE Newsroom 