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.
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 .
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).
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.
Exception for a Municipal School Audit
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.
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.
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.
The Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) have collaborated on two COVID-19 graphic tools to aid school staff in screening a child for COVID-19 if the child appears or feels unwell. An additional pre-screening tool with a list of COVID-19 symptoms has been created for schools to distribute to families to help them determine if a child is well enough to attend school.
The two infographics above have also been linked to the Framework for Returning to Classroom Instruction and the Maine DOE’s COVID-19 webpage under Health Resources.
In addition, the CDC has produced a series of factsheets for young adults, ages 15-21. The factsheets cover a variety of topics, including what test results mean, how to stay safe at the pool or beach, how to wear a face covering and other preventive measures.
If schools have further questions about these health resources, please contact Maine DOE School Nurse Consultant Emily Poland at emily.poland@maine.gov.
Maine DOE Team member Paula Nadeau is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Campaign. Learn a little more about Paula in the brief question and answer below.
What are your roles with DOE?
My role within DOE is Office Specialist I. What that means within Child Nutrition is that I take care of RFPs, contracts, our website, scheduling webinars and training and whatever else comes my way. Now that our meetings and upcoming trainings are virtual, that’s added a new spin to it all.
What do you like best about your job?
I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with. I also love that no two days are really ever the same; I can come in thinking it is going to be a relatively quiet day and before I know it, it is 4:00 and I haven’t stopped.
How or why did you decide on this career?
How I chose this career? Well, that’s a long story and it chose me.
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
Outside of work, I love to spend time in my craft room, sit on my front porch reading a book or working on my somewhat green thumb.
Every year when students enrolled in Todd Papianou’s Lifetime Pursuits physical education class at Mountain Valley High School when they return from April vacation, they are given the opportunity to choose their next unit. The Lifetime Pursuits course is an outdoor skills based class, and in the spring, students are able to choose between kayaking, canoeing, and biking. This year, things looked a little bit different.
About 15 years ago, in a combined effort between RSU 10 and the Dirigo District (RSU 56), Todd Papianou, a physical educator at MVHS, applied for and was awarded a federal physical education program grant, specifically, the Carol M. White Physical Education Grant. With the award from the grant, he and a group of physical educators were able to purchase 110 bicycles to be shared between 4 schools.
Papianou collaborated with the Bike Coalition in conjunction with the DOT to pilot bike education curriculum in Maine. With the Coronavirus impacting schooling and forcing a switch to distance learning, Todd jumped at the opportunity to adjust his bike curriculum and continue to make it accessible during this period of remote learning. His adjusted unit has a focus on bike awareness and commuter safety. To make this work, he has implemented a new plan that uses content, videos, and teaching tools produced by the League of American Bicyclists.
Papianou knew that he wanted to get the bikes out to students, but was not able to at first. The school was being deep cleaned and he couldn’t get in. After a conversation with his principal, Matt Gilbert, they decided that it was time to “roll out” the bikes. After gaining permission from the principal, Todd rushed home, got his trailer, and headed back to the school so that he could load up the bikes. He brought all 25 bikes home and stored them in his barn which became a makeshift bike shop. He then tuned each bike before sending them out to his students.
Over the course of two days, Todd Papianou and Matt Gilbert drove around delivering bikes to students by placing them at the end of each student’s driveway. Todd said that the bike roll out was exciting and that he was happy to see both students and parents (from a distance) while dropping off the bikes. He has received a lot of positive feedback from parents who were grateful that their children now had an additional option to get outside and to get active.
Todd has taken advantage of new technology to assist in the bike roll out and distance learning. He set students up with an app called Strava, which tracks ride analytics including distance and time. This data was shared between himself and his students so that he could see the progress they were making. In relation to using this new technology, Todd said “Being ready for the past decade with a comprehensive ‘Commuter Bike/Trail Bike Unit’ online already makes me feel proud that I had the foresight to prep and commit myself to Senator King’s vision to transition our learning/teaching delivery to include technology.”
To wrap up the school year, Todd planned an in-person assessment day for his students to show of their new skills, demonstrate bike control, and return the bikes. On this day, Todd focused on discussing what worked and what didn’t work in regards to remote instruction with his students. Todd said that both personally and professionally, the biggest takeaways from distance learning were that “nothing replaces instantaneous feedback, discussion, and banter…[and that] teachable moments arise and present themselves.” In a time where many of us have been stuck at home, Todd provided an option to get outside and be active for his students, his determination and innovation made the bike roll out highly successful.
This article was written by Maine DOE Intern Aidan Sachs in collaboration with Todd Papianou, a physical educator at MVHS 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.
Morse High School, Bath, ME: Amidst the uncertainty and chaos that ensued following the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, rising juniors at Morse High School, Isabel Strelneck and Isaac Ensel, came up with an inspiring idea to bring friends back together and bring joy to their community. Together, they rallied over 40 of their classmates to work together to produce a music video to show their community what their lives as high schoolers have looked like since the onset of social distancing. You can watch the video here.
One day, Isaac Ensel called Isabel Strelneck and asked her to listen to the song “Carry On” by Fun. As she listened, he described how a music video would be a perfect way to capture their daily lives, and the vision for the project became clear. Isaac and Isabel filmed some portions of the video together, from a distance, and reached out to friends to get clips from their days. In the video, you can see everything from practicing lacrosse to an online English class. Isabel and Isaac were able to create and provide a platform for their friends to share and validate their own experiences during this time of uncertainty.
Isabel says that they were inspired by wanting to bring joy to people and to talk to friends who they had not seen recently. The two filmmakers said “we created this video to bring light to the pandemic while demonstrating what students have been doing” Isabel and Isaac wanted to document this rare time, and making a music video was something they had always wanted to do. The combination of these ideas has made an amazing impact on their community.
When asked how well the video captured how she and her friends are handling this time of social distancing, Isabel said “I think it’s harder to describe how I’m feeling and spending time during quarantine, but the video shows a good representation of the ways [my friends and I] are trying to get through it…If anything, it was also a reminder to me that there’s a positive side to all this time-so many new things to try and practice.”
Teachers, classmates, and community members alike have left comments on the video sharing their love and support. Leah Heyman, a science teacher at Bath Middle School, and former teacher of many students in the video wrote “I love this, miss you! An amazing way to work together, [and] stay connected.” Many others chimed in with praise, love, and pride. “This is SO SWEET! Got me a little teary-eyed. So great to see all those fantastic Morse students!” commented another viewer.
When asked what the message behind the video was, Isabel said that “the message behind the video is that [Coronavirus] is impacting every single person differently, but there’s ways to make the best of it and ‘carry on’…it’s also a reminder that we can all stay connected even when we can’t be together at school.” With well over 5,000 views on YouTube, Isabel and Isaac have been able to spread this message to their community and beyond. Isabel and Isaac hope that their video can make people’s day, bring them joy, and hopefully inspire them. After reading through the comments on the YouTube page, as well as having conversations with community members, Isabel said that she and Isaac “really weren’t expecting people to have emotional reactions to the video but rather for it to be something enjoyable, but it touched a lot of people and we think that’s really cool.”
In talking with Isabel, who is also a member of the Commissioner’s Student Cabinet, she reflected further on the impact her video has made on the community. When asked further about responses from teachers and fellow students looked like she responded with:
At first, Isaac and I thought it would be a fun, lighthearted video that would only reach our closest friends. Once we posted it, students thought of it as fun and entertaining, as we originally thought it would be, but teachers and adults treated it more sentimentally. We’ve received many thank-yous and grateful notes on how the video had impacted people’s lives and made a difference in their day. It may have been how much time we spent working on the video or something else, but we overlooked the possibility that it could really be so meaningful-a lot of people have reached out to us, even saying they’ve cried from it! -Isabel Strelneck
This article was written by Maine DOE Intern Aidan Sachs in collaboration with rising juniors at Morse High School, Isabel Strelneck and Isaac Ensel 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.
Team Long Run, a non-profit organization that supports active play for kids, has a series of free programs they have developed and are distributing to schools, community organizations, and families who are trying to help kids stay active and fit during a time when many summer programs have been disrupted by COVID-19.
Getting Started Running Program – is a free, online training program made for kids 12 and up. It’s designed by Team Long Run founder Chuck Wilcoxen, who has 18 years of experience coaching running at the university level and holds Olympic-level certifications from the IAAF and USATF. The program features daily videos which outline the exercises for the day, and lasts for 8 weeks. The program can be accessed here. This program also comes with a series of printable worksheets available on the Team Long Run website.
Active Play for Any Age – a series of videos, in which Chuck and some of Team Long Run’s participants demonstrate activities that are perfect for the younger crowd. The program can be accessed here.
Thank you to schools, educators and anyone who can help spread the word about these no-cost options for keeping kids physically active while they stay physically distanced this summer.
For further questions about Team Long Run or these programs, please visit https://www.teamlongrun.org/ or contact Hilary Harper-Wilcoxen, Director of Mission Advancement, Team Long Run at hilary@teamlongrun.org.
Maine DOE team member Lisa Perry is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign, learn a little more about Lisa in the brief question and answer below.
What are your roles with DOE?
My role in the Department is secretary to the Adult Education team. I process contracts, invoices, work with the clients that have taken their HiSET and Diplomasender, which is where clients can get their diplomas/transcripts. I work with the Adult Education staff in processing Maine College and Career Access and AEFLA Contracts and everything in between.
What do you like best about your job?
I love working with the Adult Education Team and the Adult Education programs. They help so many people that otherwise may not be able to get their high school diploma and help them on a career pathway for college and anything else they may need to succeed in life.
How or why did you decide on this career?
When I was at Endicott College and did my work study I was placed in adult education. I loved working with the people and my boss. I knew this was what I really wanted to do. I took a few detours to get there but I really love my job.
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
I love spending time with my family. I have 5 grandchildren ranging from 15 to 5 months. We do a lot of family trips up until the COVID-19. But we still enjoy BBQ’s and get togethers.
Maine DOE Newsroom 