Teach in Maine! Specially-designed Webinar for Out-of-State Educators #TeachMaine #LiveAndWorkInMaine

Are you interested in teaching in one of the most healthy, healthful, beautiful, and interesting states in the nation? One that values autonomy, innovation, and creativity in teaching? One that values equity and diversity? Then this is the session for you! Our team is excited to share information with you regarding Maine’s certification process, tips for successful searches for current openings, avenues for completing coursework, supports in place for newly-hired educators, and the benefits of teaching in Maine! #TeachMaine #LiveAndWorkInMaine

Date: August 11, 1:00 PM (EST)

Host: Maine Department of Education: Office of Higher Education and Educator Support Services (Session will be recorded and available on the MDOE web site)

Contact: For more information contact Emily Doughty at Emily.doughty@maine.gov or 207-592-0314

Register now for this webinar

Notification Regarding the Maine Department of Education Accommodations Policy

A policy on Requesting Reasonable Accommodations in dispute resolution matters has been reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and adopted by the Maine Department of Education.

The Maine DOE is making this information available by posting it on the Maine DOE’s Special Services website. The link to the policy and procedures is available at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/specialed/director

Professional Learning Opportunity: Reopening Maine School Libraries

The Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm to explore the issues around the reopening of Maine school libraries.

With Janet McKenney, from the Maine State Library, Jennifer Alvino, Director of the Windham Public Library, along with representatives from Maine’s CDC and the DOE, the webinar will identify solutions to the problems librarians will face as they plan to safely reopen their facilities this fall while continuing to facilitate learning, support curriculum, and promote literacy.

To register for this free event, open to all Maine educators, visit this link: http://www.maslibraries.org/events

English Language Arts, Life and Career Ready, and Mathematics Standards Updated

Final adoption of Chapter 132 is effective July 18, 2020, following the submission of all required Administrative Procedures Act (APA) documentation with the Secretary of State’s Office. Chapter 132: Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction revised the English Language Arts, Life and Career Ready (formerly Career and Education Development), and Mathematics standards.

The Maine DOE will be providing guidance and resources to SAUs in making the transition to the revised standards throughout the school year. There is no pre-determined date when SAUs must make the transition to the revised standards. It is the Department’s expectation that SAUs will use their own professional judgment and phase in the revised standards at a pace that makes sense for their students and for their educational practice. While, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person events are not planned at this time, digital resources, virtual training, and “office hours” with content specialists are ongoing and will support professional learning about the updated standards.

The updated English Language Arts standards are streamlined, edited from the previous standards to clarify related or similar learning goals; the standards are slimmed to focus on the essential outcomes for literacy development; the updated standards are also reordered to emphasize that the language strand is central to the development of the other ELA strands. Visit English Language Arts/Literacy content standards here and contact Danielle “Dee” Saucier for K-5 and Morgan Dunton for 6-12 supports.

The Life and Career Ready content standards build from and update the 2007 Career and Education Development standards and include the braiding of social emotional learning with career development. Visit the Life and Career Ready Standards here and contact Diana Doiron for K-12 supports.

The updated Mathematics standards are reformatted, edited and streamlined from the previous standards to better articulate the progression of learning within and across the grade spans. Visit Mathematics Standards here and contact Jennifer Robitaille for K-5 and Michele Mailhot for 6-12 supports.

Juniper Hill School to Provide Summer Educator Institute Focused on Outdoor Learning in August

Juniper Hill School will be running a Teaching with Nature, Summer Educator Institute this summer in person August 5-8th at Juniper Hill School (with safety measures in place). It will be an opportunity for anyone interested in establishing outdoor learning at their schools or programs this fall.

They will be focusing on the uniqueness of this coming year and especially the First Six Weeks outdoors–academics/curriculum, setting up an outdoor classroom, community learning, and risk management.

For more information or to register visit Juniper Hill School’s Website or contact info@juniperhillschool.org with questions.

Get to Know the DOE Team: Meet Julie Pelletier

Maine DOE team member Julie Pelletier is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Campaign. Learn a little more about Julie in the question and answer below.

What are your roles with DOE?

I am the administrative support for the Special Services Monitoring Team. I maintain all their schedules for Monitoring, Professional Development and travel as well as supporting them with the clerical aspects of the monitoring process.

What do you like best about your job?

I like that my days are never the same. From working with the team on monitoring, communicating with Special Ed Directors to facilitating meetings and trainings my day is never dull!

How or why did you decide on this career?

I didn’t chose a career in education, it pretty much chose me. After years in the Insurance world I started volunteering in my daughters elementary school while taking the time to decide what I wanted to do next. Before I knew it I was the Admin in a K-5 elementary school and loved it! I was there for 15 years before coming here to the Maine DOE!

What do you like to do outside of work for fun?

Be it by the fire or celebrating life events, I love spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy a good book, hiking, kayaking, snow shoeing and old movies!

Maine DOE Provides Complimentary 2020-2021 Law Books to Superintendents

The Maine Department of Education has acquired enough copies of the Maine Education and School Statutes 2020-2021 Edition law book from the publisher, Swan Island Press, to distribute one, at no charge, to each superintendent of schools in Maine.

The law books are in the mail and should be received soon. To purchase additional copies of this law book directly from Swan Island Press, please contact Aaron Chase of Swan Island Press at swanislandpress@gmail.com.

Annual Audit Reminder: Key Dates and Important Information for District Admins

We know that superintendents are extremely busy this summer, preparing for a new school year in a climate full of unknowns. As there is much to organize, we are providing an annual audit reminder, with key dates so that you can mark your calendars and take any initial steps needed.

Initial Report to the Commissioner Due November 1st:

As is required by Title 20-A MRSA 6051 §4, statements of assurance and Maine Education Financial System reconciliations are due to the Department by November 1, 2020. Please submit via email to DOE.audit@maine.gov .

Any adjustments identified by these reconciliations should be uploaded to the Maine Education Financial System in NEO by November 30, 2020.

Annual Audit Reports Due December 30th

Annual audit reports are due within six months after the end of the audit period (e.g., reports for the fiscal year ending June 30th are due on or before December 30th).

Per statute, the auditor is required to review the audit with the school board.
Per statute, it is the school board’s responsibility to submit the annual audit document unless it is stated in the engagement letter that the audit firm will submit the audit to the Department on behalf of the school board.
Municipal school units are required to submit either a combined annual audit or a school department audit and a municipal audit to the Department. The municipal annual report (a.k.a. town report) cannot be accepted in lieu of the complete municipal annual audit.
Per statute, Maine DOE must receive a Schedule of Expenditure of Federal Awards (SEFA), which includes federal award expenditures for all reporting entities, even if a Single Audit (formerly A-133 audit) is not required to be conducted. The SEFA provides information needed by Maine DOE to conduct sub-recipient monitoring as required by the US Department of Education and is due at the time of the annual audit.

- Municipal school units, please note: where a combined audit is not conducted, Maine DOE should receive two audits: an audit with a SEFA for the school department, and an audit for the city/town including a SEFA.

If a management letter is prepared by the auditor, a copy must be submitted to Maine DOE with the annual audit, as this letter provides us with information needed to conduct sub-recipient monitoring, as required by US DOE.

Extensions and Subsidy Payments

If an extension or exception is needed for the deadline to submit either the municipal or school department audit, the superintendent must contact us to request the extension.

The forms are available on the Fiscal Review and Compliance webpage, under forms on the menu bar.

Extensions will expire no less than 30 days from the date the extension was submitted.
Extension requests will be considered until June 30th (six months after due date); extensions will not be valid after June 30th and all municipalities and school administrative units with overdue audits that have not submitted an extension request before May 31^thmay have a delay in subsidy release. Those who have not submitted an extension request will have subsidy withheld until addressed.

Exception for a Municipal School Audit

Municipalities that do not operate a school and have different fiscal year end than the school may request an exception for the school audit. The exception form and more information may be found on the Fiscal Review and Compliance webpage.

Please submit all annual audit documents, reports, information requests, questions and other audit correspondence via email to DOE.Audit@Maine.gov or via the direct link provided on the Fiscal Review and Compliance webpage.

MSAD 54 Serves 500k Meals, Travels 48k Miles to Feed Kids During Pandemic

Our MSAD 54 family has had great success in feeding our students during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of our transportation department, administration, ed techs and of course or school nutrition team we were able to serve close to 500k meals and traveled 48k miles between the months of March-June.

We received many words of appreciation, cards, photos of the children, and signs around the towns thanking us for all that we have done. It has been a great and humbling experience for all of us that have been involved over the last couple of months.

This story was submitted by Jana Wacome, Director – School Nutrition, RSU 54/MSAD 54 as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email it to Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Efficiency Maine Helps Brighten More than 50 Maine Public Schools with Incentives to Support Lighting Upgrades

More than 50 Maine public schools are upgrading the quality of their interior and exterior lighting through a special Efficiency Maine initiative.

The principal goal of Efficiency Maine’s School Lighting Retrofit initiative is to reduce electric energy consumption from Maine K-12 municipal schools and to accelerate the conversion to efficient LED lighting. The offer supported project work for electricians and encouraged schools to complete the lighting conversions over the 2020 summer while school buildings are unoccupied.

“We were very glad to see broad participation stretching from Kittery to Calais to the County,” said Michael Stoddard, executive director of the Efficiency Maine Trust.

Eligible electrical efficiency lighting retrofit projects include interior and exterior lighting upgrades in classrooms, hallways, lobbies, entryways, stairways, auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias, offices, gymnasiums, parking lots, and public restrooms.

“This grant program will help 50 schools across the state to have better lighting while conserving energy and reducing costs,” said Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office. “This initiative not only helps our state meet its energy goals, but it allows schools to use the savings to support students and teachers in other important ways.”

Limestone Community School in Limestone is among the schools that has benefited from the incentive program. The school received more than $38,000 in incentives to upgrade lighting in its classrooms, auditorium, library, offices, bathrooms and parking lot. The school will see an estimated annual savings of more than $19,000 (129,975 kWh) and will realize a return on investment in an estimated 2.3 years.

According to Superintendent Bill Dobbins, they are elated with the results and already have received inquiries from other district schools interested in pursuing similar projects.

“We viewed this project as a way to create a better atmosphere for the educational growth of our children,” explained Dobbins. “Efficiency Maine’s School Lighting Retrofit program enabled us to combine and accelerate two projects that our budget alone couldn’t accommodate in the same year. We were able to complete it using less money from Limestone taxpayers and while the children weren’t in school. We’re hoping the new brighter, uniform lighting will make it easier for them to do their schoolwork. In the meantime, we’ve already heard from our local police department that it’s easier for them to patrol the school grounds because the exterior lighting is so improved.”

St. John Valley Technology Center in Frenchville is equally satisfied. The school contributed approximately $20,000 to the project and Efficiency Maine contributed $13,000 to upgrade lighting in its entryways, hallways, and gyms. The school will see an estimated annual savings of nearly $7,000 (46,163 kWh) and will realize a return on investment in an estimated 2.8 years.

“There’s no question, improving lighting enhances the ability of students to learn,” said Kevin Lavoie, director of St. John Valley Technology Center. “We’re reducing our carbon footprint because LED lighting is more energy efficient. This program also has reduced the tax burden on our community and has created jobs for Maine’s workforce. That’s a triple win as far as we’re concerned. In addition, we’re especially pleased we could complete the project this summer.”

Songo Locks Elementary School and the Educational Services building for the Lake Region Vocational Center in Naples have brighter futures, as well. Together, the schools received more than $10,000 in incentives to upgrade exterior lighting and will see an estimated annual savings of more than $5,000 (39,481 kWh).

Andrew Madura, director of Transportation, Facilities and Food Services for Naples schools, is confident the projects will help the schools save money and energy. Two years ago, Madura managed an interior lighting project using incentives from Efficiency Maine, which resulted in a 20% to 25% reduction in energy consumption for those measures.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to be more efficient,” explained Madura. “With a limited budget, this program was very helpful. We were able to complete both projects without allocating additional capital funds. It has particularly benefited the Educational Services building, which houses our buses and equipment. The exterior lighting at the building is on constantly in the evenings for security purposes, making the energy consumption fairly high.

“The nighttime staff have noticed and appreciate the improved lighting,” said Madura. “Aesthetically, it’s much more attractive. It’s also more controlled lighting, ensuring that our residential neighbors don’t experience light spill. Overall, we now have better lighting that requires less maintenance and uses less energy. To me, that’s an efficiency trifecta.”

Louis DiFrederico, facilities manager for the Millinocket School Department, managed projects at Stearns Junior – Senior High School and Granite Street Elementary School. DiFrederico already is a firm believer in the savings he can derive from Efficiency Maine initiatives, having managed a similar lighting upgrade 10 years ago with incentive funds. This time around, the projects improved lighting in the gymnasiums and corridors at the high school and upgraded lighting in the elementary school classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, and lobby. By matching Efficiency Maine’s incentives, DiFrederico estimates the school department will save $7000 a year for the elementary school and $6000 a year for the high school.

“Given the nature of limited school budgets and funding, I had to look for creative ways to get the job done,” explained DiFrederico. “This was a relatively easy process that was readily available and translated into real dollar savings up front and long-range. Without Efficiency Maine’s incentives, I would not have been able to complete these projects.”

DiFrederico was especially keen after he did the math. He calculated that by upgrading the lighting in all the elementary school classrooms energy load dropped from 1100 watts per classroom to 400 watts. Together, both projects will save an estimated 87,000 kWh annually.

“It used to cost $1.33 a day to light each elementary school classroom and now it costs 48 cents,” he said. “The new LED fixtures not only provide better light, but they look better, and provide a modern update to the buildings. Teachers and staff have also thanked me for brightening their classrooms and the building. To me, those benefits are a win-win for the district.”

Efficiency Maine accepted applications for the School Lighting Retrofit Funding Opportunity Notice (FON) between February 10, 2020, and June 1, 2020. The funding opportunity is now closed. Funding was calculated based on the amount of electricity saved by each project in the first year and was subject to caps of 80% of the total project cost and $100,000 per school district.

Efficiency Maine’s Prescriptive Program, which funded the school initiative, offers fixed incentives to reduce the cost of projects and to improve energy efficiency for businesses, municipalities, schools and higher education facilities, manufacturing and other industrial facilities, other non-residential facilities, and multifamily and condominium buildings with five or more units.

To learn more about the Efficiency Maine Prescriptive Program and how to maximize its benefits visit https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-work/ci-prescriptive-incentive-program/.

About Efficiency Maine Trust
Efficiency Maine Trust is the independent administrator for programs to improve the efficiency of energy use and reduce greenhouse gases in Maine. The Trust does this primarily by delivering financial incentives on the purchase of high-efficiency equipment or changes to operations that help customers save electricity, natural gas and other fuels throughout the Maine economy. The Trust is a quasi-state agency governed by a Board of Trustees with oversight from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Visit www.efficiencymaine.com for more information.