The Maine Suicide Prevention Program, as part of the Building Caring Connections in Maine (BCCIM) youth suicide prevention grant, is offering a series of workshops for school personnel to create and strengthen protocols around suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
Category: Health and Safety
Schools recognize National School Bus Safety Week, Bus Driver Appreciation Day
Schools in Maine and across the nation are recognizing National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 20 through 24. During the same week, schools will acknowledge the importance of bus drivers to a student’s education with Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
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Federal School Bus Replacement Rebate Program announced
The United States Environmental Protection Agency will again make funds available for the School Bus Replacements Rebate Program beginning this fall. This is the second time the EPA will open the Diesel Emission Reduction Act School Bus Replacement Funding opportunity.
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Notice of proposed rule changes: Chapter 101, Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty
The Maine DOE is proposing changes this fall to the rules regarding the provision of child find, early intervention services, and special education and related services to eligible children with disabilities age birth to 20.
Guidance to Maine schools on EV-D68
The following guidance on Enterovirus D68 from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention was distributed by the Maine DOE to all Maine school nurses on Friday, Oct. 3.
Each year, millions of people become ill due to respiratory illnesses. Some of the more common respiratory illnesses in schools may include influenza, pertussis and the common cold. The common cold can be caused by many viruses including enteroviruses, one strain of which (EV-D68) is responsible for several outbreaks in the United States in 2014, including one recent case here in Maine. Schools should be aware of these illnesses, how to prevent them and what is reportable. Continue reading “Guidance to Maine schools on EV-D68”
Maine DOE offers bomb threat report training for superintendents
The Department is encouraging all superintendents to attend NEO bomb threat report training to learn how to enter data, submit a report and track district submittals in the new NEO data management system.
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Governor LePage proclaims October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month
AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage today joined state and local officials, representatives from law enforcement, business and community leaders and victims’ advocacy groups at the Blaine House to mark the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Continue reading “Governor LePage proclaims October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month”
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:
Keeping Maine students safe from mosquito borne illnesses
In response to recent positive tests in mosquito pools in southern Maine, the Maine Department of Education in collaboration with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) is sharing this important guidance developed by the Maine CDC to schools regarding mosquito borne illnesses. Continue reading “Keeping Maine students safe from mosquito borne illnesses”
Student behavior management and update on restraint and seclusion rules
Safely and effectively managing student behavior in class can be a challenge.
A recently-adopted rule regarding the use of restraint or seclusion in schools (Department of Education Rule Chapter 33) limits the use of restraint or seclusion to manage behavior to situations in which the health or safety of a student or others is at risk, and other less intrusive methods have failed to alleviate the risk or have been deemed inappropriate.
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