Home Instruction Portal Now Open for 2024-2025

The Home Instruction Portal is now open for filing the 2024-2025 Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction. Important information to note:

The Notice of Intent is due by September 1 for those continuing in home instruction, and also for those beginning home instruction for the first time at the start of the new school year.
For reporting purposes, regardless of variable student instruction schedules, the current school year ends on June 30, 2024, and the new one begins on July 1, 2024.
An annual assessment is required for students who ended the 2023-2024 school year as a home instruction student. Assessments must be provided by the parent/guardian (not by the person administering the assessment) with the annual Notice which is due by September 1st.
Parents or guardians submitting final home instruction assessments for students who will not be returning to home instruction (graduated, moved, or enrolling in school) do not need to file a Notice for the new school year. Parent/guardian must submit the assessments for the 2023-2024 school year to the local superintendent’s office. When submitting the home instruction assessment, parents/guardians should also include the date and reason for discontinuation. Parents/guardians are encouraged to contact the resident superintendent’s office to discuss home instruction questions. For general information about Home Instruction, including Frequently Asked Questions, please refer to the Maine DOE’s home instruction webpage at: https://www.maine.gov/doe/schools/schoolops/homeinstruction. General information may also be requested by emailing schoolquestions.doe@maine.gov

A Reminder to Maine Home Instruction Parents and SAUs Regarding Annual Assessment Requirement

A reminder to those families who have opted for home instruction during the 2024-2025 School Year that, per Title 20-A: 5001-A , an annual assessment of academic progress is required.  

Notice and Assessment Requirement

Parents providing home instruction are required to submit a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction within 10 days of starting a home instruction program and then again, each year by September 1 for continuing/subsequent year students. This notice must contain, among other things, a “statement of assurance that indicates that the home instruction program will include an annual assessment of the student’s academic progress that includes at least one of the forms of assessment described [in statute].” The continuing/subsequent year home instruction notice submission deadline (September 1) occurs after the conclusion of the previous school year, which is defined as the period July 1 – June 30. Please note that parents of ongoing home instruction students may choose to deliver instruction on a schedule which does not coincide with the reporting period; however, the school year definition is always used for the purposes of counting the required 175 instructional days. Since the annual assessment is designed to assess academic progress, the assessment should be administered toward the end of the school year for which progress is being assessed.

An annual assessment can be a teacher letter written by a Maine certified teacher who performs a home instruction student portfolio review and looks at items in the portfolio such as the attendance record, lesson plans and sample work, to ascertain whether adequate progress has been made by the student. A different, but equally acceptable, assessment method could be to administer a standardized achievement test such as the California Achievement Test, or the Stanford or Iowa Achievement Test, and submit a copy of the test summary page. Or the student could, with prior permission and according to established local unit policy and protocol, participate in school administrative unit testing. Please see the full range of assessment options as outlined in the attendance statute, Title 20-A: 5001-A.   

Assessment Submission for Students Discontinuing Home Instruction

“If the home instruction program is discontinued, students of compulsory school age must be enrolled in a public school or an equivalent instruction alternative… The receiving school shall determine the placement of the student. At the secondary level, the principal of the receiving school shall determine the value of the prior educational experience toward meeting the standards of the system of learning results as established in section 6209.”

For parents who discontinue the home instruction program and re-enroll a student in a public or equivalent instruction school before completing the school year, an assessment may not have been completed yet. The receiving school, according to their policy, may choose to review student assessments or portfolio materials that might aid them in determining placement and/or credit value for students transferring in from home instruction programs. Parents of students who will not be returning to home instruction (graduated or enrolling in school) may provide notification and submit final assessments to the superintendent’s office.

Assessment Submission for Student Continuing Home Instruction

For continuing/subsequent year students in home instruction, the completed home instruction assessment must be submitted together with the Notice of Intent/Subsequent Year Letter (they may not be submitted separately, or by anyone other than the parent submitting the Notice) via the Home Instruction Portal, or by submitting with the paper Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction to the Superintendent of their resident school administrative unit. Either method will serve as the single notification needed to both the resident Superintendent and the Maine Department of Education, as required by law, and will prompt an acknowledgment to parents who supply a valid email address.

More information, Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction forms, and other resources regarding home instruction are available on the Maine Department of Education Home Instruction webpage.

Please note that the State does not issue transcripts or diplomas for home instruction students.

Downeast School Teachers and Staff Distribute Books to Children via Bicycle Library

Submitted by Kathy Harris-Smedberg, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Bangor School Department.

Downeast School teachers and staff are volunteering their summer time to distribute books to the children of Downeast School via the bicycle library.

Pictured: Stephanie Seccareccia, kindergarten teacher; Kim McNutt, librarian; Tina Hinkley, secretary; Ashely Enright, grade 2 teacher; and Melissa Metivier, speech pathologist alongside community members.

These dedicated faculty and staff make four stops in the neighborhood, passing out books, helpful reading strategies parents/guardians can do at home with their children, and information about school and learning. The Bangor School Department strongly believes in the value of reading and strives to find a variety of ways to ensure that children are never without a book.

New Homeschool Portal and SAU Superintendent Office Online Entry Underway

The Department is pleased to announce the opening of the new Online NEO Homeschool Portal for school year 2019-2020, and the more efficient Notice of Intent to Homeschool form. The new portal brings some changes to the Homeschool Notice process, including an enhanced role for superintendents and/or SAU homeschool administrative designees who will now share responsibility for entering information into the new portal.

Summary of changes:

Parents submitting a Notice for 2019-2020 no longer need to submit the information in two places or use certified mail to ensure the delivery of the form. They may use one of the three methods described below.
The portal will be the point of entry for parents. Superintendents or SAU and DOE homeschool administrative designees who enter information on behalf of resident parents who choose option 2 or 3 below will also utilize the portal for data entry.
The new Notice of Intent to Homeschool combines and replaces the previous Notice of Intent and Subsequent Year forms.

The new portal will allow parents to submit the Notice of Intent and Subsequent Year Letter and assessments once in one of three ways:

Enter information directly on the new NEO online homeschool portal, and upload prior year required assessment information;
Complete the form by hand and take it, with prior year required assessments, to the resident Superintendent’s Office for upload and entry into the system; OR
Complete the new paper form and mail it with prior year required assessments to the Department of Education or to the Superintendent’s Office, where it will be entered into the new system.

Submission using one of the below methods will result in the automatic generation of an acknowledgement to the parent/guardian via email; please ensure that a valid and correct email address has been provided.

Superintendents and/or designees will utilize the new online homeschool portal in NEO in 2019-2020 to:

Enter paper forms received from parents. The Department will also be entering paper forms, so a duplicate check must be performed prior to entry.
Assist resident parents in completing the online homeschool process.
View a list of all the resident homeschool students in the Superintendent’s SAU.
Comply with homeschool roster requirements in Maine DOE Rule Chapter 125, sec.12.02 Roster of Resident, Tuition, and Transfer Students

A) The superintendent of each school administrative unit shall maintain a roster of all resident and tuition students attending schools operated by the unit.
B) The superintendent of each school administrative unit shall maintain a roster of all students eligible to attend school within the unit who are receiving equivalent instruction in an approved or non-approved private school, or in an approved equivalent instruction program.

Parents may read Maine’s statute related to homeschooling, including information about required assessments using this link: Title 20-A, Section 5001-A, Sub-section 3(A)(4).

Please note that online Homeschool Portal functionality works for the 2019-2020 school year forward; it may not be used for 2018-2019 school year homeschool students.

Please direct any questions or concerns to our Pamela Ford-Taylor at pamela.ford-taylor@maine.gov or 207-624-6617.

MEDIA RELEASE: Student Nutrition Continues Beyond School Year with Summer Food Service Program

AUGUSTA — With the assistance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine public schools have long offered a nutritious breakfast and lunch meal program to thousands of children in Maine during the school year. With summer right around the corner, it’s time to think about keeping children healthy while school is out. The Summer Food Service Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, operates at hundreds of sites across Maine to ensure children get the nutrition they need when school is out.

“The National School Lunch Program is an important element of the Maine public school system’s dedication to providing a healthy learning environment for students, and we are equally dedicated to ensuring that healthy environment can be extended to them even when school is not in session through the Summer Food Service Program,” said Maine Department of Education Commissioner Robert G. Hasson, Jr.

“This program seeks to address a clear health need during the summer months wherever it may be evident in Maine, and while it has been successful in doing so in the past, the Department expects that increased participation this summer will further foster this success and, as a result, the continued health of Maine students.”

The Summer Food Service Program may be offered statewide in areas or at sites where more than 50 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced meal benefits under the National School Lunch Program or census track data supports the need. Eligible sponsoring organizations include schools, nonprofit residential summer camps, government agencies, and tax-exempt organizations including faith-based organizations.

In 2017, 120 sponsors participated in the program, serving meals at 438 sites throughout the state. In 2018, these numbers are expected to grow. The 2018 program begins statewide today, Monday, June 18. Sponsors operate open sites in all 16 counties in Maine; anyone 18 and under may come to eat at no cost. To find nearby Summer Meal sites, please visit USDA’s Summer Meal Site Finder website at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks, text “Summer Meals” to 97779 or call Maine 211. Information is available mid-June.

For more information about the Maine DOE’s Summer Food Service Program, contact adriane.ackroyd@maine.gov, call 624-6726 or visit http://www.maine.gov/doe/nutrition/programs/sfsp/index.html.

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In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the Agency ere they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, heard of hearing, or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or

(3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. In accordance with State law this institution is prohibited from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs)

To file a complaint of discrimination, write Maine Human Rights Commission, 51 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0051. Maine is an equal opportunity provider and employer.