Celebrating 30 years of wellness

Teams representing 22 Maine school districts benefited in June from their experiences at the 30th Annual Maine Schoolsite Health Promotion Program & Wellness Conference, Back to the Future – Celebrating 30 Years of Wellness.

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Free school-based emergency course for rural districts and law enforcement

A free course on school-based emergencies for rural Maine districts and law enforcement will be offered on Aug. 20 in Belfast at the Waldo County Public Safety Building (Emergency Operations Center).

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School Nurses aim to improve the health of our kids

Eight school nurses from Maine were among the more than 1,300 school nurses from around the country that met in Philadelphia last month at the National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference, aimed at improving the health of school-age children.

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Safety top focus at school transportation conference

School transportation directors, supervisors, mechanics, bus drivers, and computer technicians from all over Maine will be traveling to Sugarloaf Mountain for the annual intensive training on school transportation.

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Summer health review needed

The Maine DOE reminds district administrators that health care plans developed for students who require services during the school year must be reviewed if those students are attending extended school year (ESY) programming. The plans must be reviewed and revised by the school nurse, parent and primary care provider as needed for these summer learning opportunities. If the students required nursing services during the school year, the same is true for ESY.

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Commissioner’s Conference

In case you missed the 104^th Annual Commissioner’s Conference, here is a recap with valuable links.

Acting Commissioner of Education, Thomas Desjardin opened and closed the conference at Sunday River with timely updates on the ongoing FY16 budget discussions and voting at the State House at the time. He also acknowledged the ever changing educational climate and the hard work and successes of school leaders and Maine DOE’s support through its multi-faceted services.

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Commissioner’s Update – June 4, 2015

From the Maine Department of Education

Maine’s top Career & Technical Education students were honored as students of the year recently at a ceremony at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center.

It was a great night to celebrate the best CTE students in Maine. Twenty six centers were represented. State School Board Chair, Peter Geiger, indicated that it was the best celebration for students he has seen. Senator Brian Langley, Education Committee Chair, was also impressed and gave the audience a superb presentation with his remarks aligned to CTE in Maine.

Each of the 26 students was presented with an award certificate and two received scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each at the event sponsored by the Maine Administrators of Career & Technical Education (MACTE).

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Notices and Reporting

End-of-Year Student Enrollment Responsibilites, due June 30
End-of-Year Behavior Reporting, due June 30
End-of-Year Special Education Exit Reporting, due June 30
End-of-Year Truancy Incident Reporting, due June 30
Aggregate Daily Attendance / Membership Reporting, due June 30
End-of-Year MEDMS Staff Data, due June 30

More Notices | Administrative Letters | Reporting Calendar

News & Views

FFA students celebrate accomplishments at 85th annual state convention

Secondary and middle school students in the Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) celebrated numerous accomplishments during the annual state convention held on May 14-15 at the University of Maine. | More

Data training sessions announced

There are many changes coming in the 2015-16 school year. In order that accurate student and staff data is reported to the Maine DOE, it is important that the appropriate staff attend one (or more) of these training sessions. | More

Learning Disability Report (LDR) form guidance

In a letter dated February 23, 2015, the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services directed the Maine DOE to issue guidance clarifying the use of the Learning Disability Report (LDR) form. | More

Office of Special Services notice of changes in special education forms

The Maine DOE Office of Special Services has revised the forms listed below. Revised forms are to be used effective August 1, 2015. | More

Maine DOE provides assistance for Civil Rights Data Collection to districts

The Maine DOE is offering some assistance to local districts who are working to comply with the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection. | More

Fact sheet highlights academic performance and student health risk

A newly available one-page fact sheet on the relationship between Academic Performance and Student Health Risks is available. | More

School and workplace violence training Aug 19-20

The National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and the Brewer Police Department will host a two-day training event on school and workplace violence on Aug 19-20 in Brewer. | More

More Dispatches | Press Releases | From the Commissioner

LATEST DOE Career/Project Opportunities

School and workplace violence training Aug 19-20

The National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and the Brewer Police Department will host a two-day training event on school and workplace violence on Aug 19-20 in Brewer.

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Fact sheet highlights academic performance and student health risk

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey! Results should be available by December. In the meantime, a newly available one-page fact sheet on the relationship between Academic Performance and Student Health Risks is available. This fact sheet highlights findings from the 2013 Academic Performance and Student Health Risk-Technical Report.

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Commissioner’s Update – May 14, 2015

From the Maine Department of Education

LD 131 “An Act To Amend the Laws Related to Public Funding of Charter Schools” was signed May 8, 2015 by Governor LePage. Under the new law Maine DOE will make monthly payments directly to approved public charter schools starting in FY16, the same way the Department has long distributed funds to traditional public school districts.

Currently, districts that lose students to public charter schools are billed directly by the receiving charter school. The Maine DOE will provide financial relief to traditional school units since they no longer must include these payments in their annual budgets.

The new funding method will relieve the unpredictable financial impact of charters to individual (sending) districts and was overwhelmingly supported by leaders of Maine’s school districts, including the 100 or so that now have at least one student enrolled in one of the state’s five bricks-and-mortar charter schools or the virtual Maine Connections Academy. The change also allows Maine to move beyond the divisive debate about charter school funding and refocus on how to create opportunities for students to be most successful at Maine public schools, whether they be charters or traditional.

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