Note: This dispatch was revised on Oct. 6 to reflect a public hearing on Nov. 3 and an extension to the comment submission deadline.
The Maine DOE is proposing changes this fall to the rules regarding major capital school construction projects.
Category: Facilities
Due date extended for MEDMS Staff Data Collection
Due to the recent performance issues with the Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS), the reporting requirement for school administrative units to complete the MEDMS Staff Data Collection for 2014-15 has been extended to Oct. 15.
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Maine DOE seeking members for NCLB committee
The Maine DOE is seeking recommendations to fill vacancies on the Title I Committee of Practitioners.
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Showing up to promote school attendance
It’s been said that the first step to success is showing up and nowhere is that more true than in our schools.
Chronic absenteeism – defined as missing 10 percent of the school year (18 days here in Maine) – increases achievement gaps and decreases student outcomes. Absences add up quickly. In fact, students who are chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are much less likely to read proficiently by the end of third grade and are more likely to have poor attendance in later grades. By middle and high school, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign that a student will not graduate on time or even at all. Chronic absenteeism especially hurts children with disabilities or from low income families who are both more likely to miss school and who often lack the resources to make up for lost time in the classroom.
Superintendents asked to complete survey of public preschool programs
The Maine DOE is committed to supporting and expanding high-quality public preschool programs. The Legislature passed two bills, now Public Laws, which focus on public preschool programs for children four years of age.
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Maine DOE warns of scam targeting schools
The Maine DOE is warning schools to think twice before paying invoices from a Las Vegas based company calling itself Scholastic School Supply.
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Reminders about events that trigger duty to provide parents with procedural safeguards
The Department is reminding school administrative units (SAUs) that, in addition to the requirement that they provide parents of children receiving special education (or adult students receiving special education) a copy of the procedural safeguards once each year, the following events also trigger a duty to provide the procedural safeguards:
Informational meetings on new rural funding scheduled
A new grant is now available to 25 rural schools in Maine to implement a program which has proven to increase academic growth and achievement for first-year high school students by providing a proven, flexible, data-driven system centered on the relationships between students and teachers.
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Department releases leased space approvals
The Department has completed its review of FY 2015 leased space applications and posted the results here.
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Revisions proposed to Maine School Facilities Program and School Revolving Renovation Fund rule
The enactment of PL 2013, Chapter 506 (LD 1805), authorizes the repeal of several unfunded or burdensome mandates, including the requirement that all school administrative units use State-mandated templates and software to plan facility maintenance and capital improvement plans.
Maine DOE Newsroom 