Maine Department of Education to hold a Public Information Session in Presque Isle on February 1st concerning Regional School Construction

REVISED 1/30/16: A correction in the date of the Biddeford session has been made.

Acting Commissioner Robert G. Hasson will lead a public information session, accompanied by representatives from the Maine Department of Education and the Senior Education Policy Advisor to Governor LePage. The public session will be held from 6:00PM to 8:00PM on February 1^st at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Campus Center, 181 Main Street, Presque Isle.

The information session will focus on providing answers to public questions concerning the recently announced 2017-2018 rating cycle for an innovative, regional school construction pilot. The “Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 School Construction 2017-2018 Rating Cycle Application” is now available on the Department website.

Additional evening information sessions will be held across Maine, including February 6th at the University of New England in Biddeford and February 27th at the Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

All questions and answers discussed at the session will be posted on the Department’s website.

Approval of FY 2017 School Revolving Renovation Fund applications

Maine DOE has awarded $12.2 million in School Revolving Renovation Fund (SRRF) loans to 21 school districts. The loans will be used to complete 40 health, safety and compliance projects at 28 schools including structural roof repairs, indoor air quality improvements, ADA upgrades, and hazardous material removal. A portion of each loan is considered a grant and is forgiven while the remaining balance of the loan is paid back at a zero percent interest rate.

The complete list of approved projects can be viewed at http://www.maine.gov/doe/facilities/renovation/index.html.

For additional information about the SRRF program please contact Ann Pinnette at 624-6885 or ann.pinnette@maine.gov.

Department releases application for innovative, regional school construction pilot

Department releases application for innovative, regional school construction pilot

AUGUSTA – Acting Commissioner Robert G. Hasson today announced that the Maine Department of Education, in concert with the State Board of Education, has released an application for innovative, regional school construction and is encouraging school districts to work together to apply for the 2017-2018 rating cycle. The “Integrated, Consolidated 9-16 School Construction 2017-2018 Rating Cycle Application” is now available on the Department website.

The Department hopes to identify a pilot project that results in the construction of a new, regional high school that integrates career and technical education (CTE), collaboration with Maine’s higher education institutions, and expands programming and services to students throughout the region.

“This is an exciting step forward to create new opportunities for Maine students,” said Dr. Hasson. “We hope that communities around the state have heard the clarion call that the Department of Education will stand behind voluntary efforts to collaborate and deliver education in new, innovative ways.”

The application for school administrative units and their partner organizations consists of two parts. Part 1, in which school administrative units must identify partner organizations and their envisioned partnership, will be due to the Department on May 1, 2017.

“The application process is intended to be straightforward and to follow existing statute and rules,” said Scott Brown, Director of School Construction Programs. “This new pathway for regional collaboration provides new opportunities for collaboration while following best practices from the State’s traditional construction programs.”

Following the scoring of Part 1, the Department will determine whether there are applicants that qualify to move forward to Part 2. The Part 2 application is due 6 months after receipt of formal written authorization to proceed from Part 1.

“We have designed a process and a timeline that is equally aggressive and measured,” said Dr. Hasson. “Based on the number of grassroots efforts around the state looking for support for a project of this kind, we are hopeful that there will be several strong proposals resulting in a pilot project that leads the way for future efforts.”

The Department will hold public information sessions around the state where members of the public and interested parties (including superintendents, school leaders and school board members) may ask questions. Those questions and answers will be posted on the Department’s website in an effort to provide all schools with the same information.

The information sessions will take place in the evening, as follows:

#1: Wednesday, February 1 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle
- Location: Campus Center, 181 Main Street, Presque Isle, ME
- Time: 6pm – 8pm
# 2: Monday, February 6 at the University of New England in Biddeford
- Location: Harold Alfond Forum, 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, ME
- Time: 6pm – 8pm
#3: Monday, February 27 Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor
- Location: Rangeley Hall, Room 107, 354 Hogan Road, Bangor, ME
- Time: 6pm – 8pm

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Additional guidance is provided, below:

2017 Application Cycle to Identify an
Integrated, Consolidated 9 – 16 Educational Facility Pilot Project

Under the provisions of 20-A MRS §15905 and Chapter 61 State Board of Education Rules for Major Capital School Construction Projects Section 15 the Commissioner and the State Board have initiated an application process which will identify an Integrated, Consolidated 9 – 16 Educational Facility pilot project. The intent of Section 15 is to create a new regional high school integrated with a career and technical school, the University of Maine System, and the Maine Community College System and that supports industry training programs leading to recognized licensure and certification. The preferred pilot project will combine three or more high schools (additional grades would be considered) and will create a new governing school board. Schools units are encouraged to work with neighboring school districts on this new process.The Integrated Consolidated 9 – 16 Educational Facility application consists of two parts. Part 1 includes an initial letter of intent, responses to four prompts, and evidence of interest from potential partners. Upon receipt, review, and rating of all Part 1 applications the Commissioner will establish a points threshold to determine those applicants approved to proceed to Part 2. Only those applicants who receive formal written authorization will proceed to Part 2. The Department may provide support to assist in completion of Part 2 of the application.

The Part 2 application requires an overview of the proposed model, responses to a number of prompts, an overview of the technical and financial supports needed from the Department in order to fully develop and implement the model, and evidence of approval votes by the various partners. Upon receipt, review and rating of all Part 2 applications, Part 1 scores will be combined with Part 2 scores for a final total. Using the final total scores, the Facilities Team will develop a priority list for the Commissioner to recommend to the State Board of Education. The Department reserves the right to recommend more than one final project or to reject all applications.

Once the successful pilot project is identified and selected the Department of Education intends to provide funds for required planning work associated with the development of the project (facilitation, legal, start up, referendum, etc.). Decisions about renovation, expansion or building a new facility will be made during this planning phase.

The Part 1 application is due on May 1, 2017 and the Part 2 application is due 6 months after receipt of formal written authorization to proceed from Part 1. Both applications can be downloaded from http://www.maine.gov/doe/facilities/construction/Part 1 and 2 9 – 16 Application 1.19.17.docx.

Information about this project can be found at http://www.maine.gov/doe/facilities/construction/index.html. Integrated, consolidated school construction regional meetings regarding this application have been set up and times and locations can be found online. All questions should be asked at one of the upcoming regional meetings. Those questions and answers will be posted online in an effort to provide all schools with the same information.

School Administrative Units seeking funding for major school construction, renovation, and consolidation projects within their school unit should use the Major Capital School Construction Program to address those needs. That application is available at http://www.maine.gov/doe/facilities/documents/application2017-18.docx. Those applications are due on April 14, 2017.

-END-

Priority Notice: EFT-24 Transportation Vehicle Mileage and Operations Annual Data Report due date extension

EFT-24 Transportation Vehicle Mileage and Operations Annual Data Report due date extension

The due date for the year-end Transportation Vehicle Mileage and Operations Annual Data Report (EFT-24) has been extended to March 17, 2016 in order to accommodate design updates. The new updated report will open February 16, 2017.

Between February 16, 2017 and March 17, 2017 all districts must complete the report. Submit your data early. Districts that reported EFT-24 data before February 16, 2017 must log into the NEO data system to answer new questions and review their data.

For policy questions regarding the EFT-24, contact the Department’s Transportation and Facilities Administrator Pat Hinckley at pat.hinckley@maine.gov.

For assistance with access to the NEO data system, contact the Maine DOE helpdesk at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov.

MEA Alternate Mathematics and ELA Literacy (MSAA) Test Coordinators (modified)

A Survey Monkey to designate district Test Coordinator(s) for the MSAA alternate assessment is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MSAATC2017 . Special Educator Directors in all districts are required to designate the number of Test Coordinators (TCs) needed in each district, according to district needs. TCs should hold an administrative position, be available to monitor all Test Administrators through the on-line MSAA System and physically monitor each Test Administrator at least once during student testing.

All surveys must be submitted by January 17^th to be enrolled in the MSAA System. All questions may be directed to Sue Nay at sue.nay@maine.gov, or 624-6774.

Update 2016 Refresh of MLTI Devices

Recently, many districts received an invoice to cover the cost of broken and damaged devices from the 2016 Refresh of MLTI devices.

Understanding the difficulty that districts face in paying unanticipated invoices that arrive in the middle of a school year, the Department has been working to identify solutions to alleviate the financial burden on school districts.

As a result of this review, the Department eliminated the costs to districts for all affected districts for broken and damaged devices. This does not include the costs for missing devices, which are still the responsibility of the district.

In the future, the Department will work with districts to find strategies to ensure that devices are maintained in good working order and that districts have sufficient notice of any costs that might be incurred. We understand that this recent series of events has not reflected the high level of support that you have come to expect from MLTI and we will work to re-earn your confidence.

If you have questions, please contact the MLTI Office at 624-6834.

Acting Commissioner Hasson Announces $3 Million Available for Grants to School Administrative Units for Regionalization and Efficiency Efforts

Department will develop application for integrated regional school construction.

On January 3, Acting Commissioner Robert Hasson announced that the Maine Department of Education has identified $3 million in funds that will be made available through a competitive application process for school districts pursing regionalization and efficiency efforts. An application for School Administrative Units (SAUs) is available on the DOE website at http://www.maine.gov/doe/.

“There is a clear appetite across Maine to discover new, efficient ways to increase educational opportunities for students in Maine. The Department encourages every district considering innovative approaches to achieve efficiencies and deliver educational services in new or collaborative ways to apply for these funds. We hope to see ambitious proposals that serve Maine students and free up resources that can enhance educational opportunities,” said Acting Commissioner Hasson. “The Department has been urged by many stakeholders to provide support and incentives for voluntary efforts to regionalize and pursue cost efficiencies. We have heard those calls and are thrilled to take this step to support local efforts.”

“We carefully manage General Purpose Aid for Local Schools (GPA) to ensure that all available funds are available for our schools,” said Acting Deputy Commissioner Suzan Beaudoin. “When we passed the budget last year, we estimated the amount of funds that would be needed for adjustments to state subsidy. Based on the timing of bond issuance and the way that events unfolded, we believe that there are $3 million in funds that would not be dispersed. This grant will allow us to distribute those funds to school districts as adjustments to promote regionalization and efficiency, as allowed under GPA.” According to Acting Deputy Commissioner Beaudoin, undispersed funds resulted from sources such as delayed bond issuance for school construction and money set aside for districts that did not qualify for sudden and severe adjustments.

Acting Commissioner Hasson also announced that the Department is developing an application for regional schools construction projects. The process will support multiple districts working together to program and provide space for students. More details will be made available when the application is finalized and released.

INDIRECT COST RATE INFORMATION

MAXIMUS Consulting Services will be managing the indirect cost rate calculation process on behalf of the Maine Department of Education for sub recipients of Federal funds passed through the Department.

Sub recipients of Federal awards are not required to recover indirect costs; doing so is optional for a sub recipient.

Recovered indirect costs are considered revenue to a sub recipient’s general fund. This revenue will have the effect of lowering expenditures which are used in the calculation of tuition rates and EPS per pupil rates.

Indirect costs may only be recovered once; if a cost is included in the indirect cost rate calculation, it cannot also be charged as a direct cost to a Federal award.

Indirect cost rates are applied only to the amount of the award actually expended, not the total amount budgeted/awarded.

Including indirect costs in an award application budget does not mean the amount of the award will be increased. The amount of entitlement awards (supplement not supplant grants) available to be applied to direct services will be reduced by the inclusion of indirect costs. Including indirect costs in discretionary grant application budgets may result in increased funding.

Two indirect cost rates will be calculated for a sub recipient; restricted indirect cost rates are utilized with Federal awards that have a “supplement not supplant” requirement. Restricted indirect cost rates are lower than unrestricted rates meaning, a lesser dollar amount will be recovered under indirect costs for “supplement not supplant” awards.

A template is available to provide sub recipients of Federal awards through the Maine Department of Education with a format for calculating both restricted and unrestricted indirect cost rates. The template, with instructions for submission, is available here:

http://www.maine.gov/education/audit/indirectcostrate.shtml

*Important Notice: Quarter 2 (Q2) review-due date approaches:

The quarterly report review, which includes truancy, behavior, ADA/ADM and bullying-are due January 15th.

Certification is not required for Q2. Certification for each of the data sets, for each of these reports, will be obtained on the Quarter 4 (Q4) report.

Truancy and Behavior reviews are located in Infinite Campus State Edition (ICSE):
https://maine.infinitecampus.org/campus/mese.jsp

ADA/ADM review reports are not yet available in ICSE: Reviews will not be required until Quarter 3 (Q3). You are still asked to submit the student level data into ICSE for ADA/ADM. The MDOE needs the detail data elements in order to properly create reports for your review by Q3.

Bullying review is located in NEO:

https://neo.maine.gov/doe/neo/brs

All due reports are listed on the MDOE reporting calendar:

http://www.maine.gov/doe/reporting/calendar.shtml

If you have difficulties navigating to ICSE or NEO call the Helpdesk at 624-6896 or email at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov

All quarterly reports are based on the following months and are cumulative:

Quarter One (Q1) – As of Oct 1 (to include July, August, Sept) – due Oct 28
Quarter Two (Q2) – As of Jan 1 (to include July through Dec) – due Jan 15
Quarter Three (Q3) – As of April 1 (to include July through March) – due April 15
Quarter Four (Q4) – As of July 1 (to include July through June) – due July 15

Transportation EFT-21 Safety and Training Report and EFT-24 Vehicle Mileage and Operations Report due dates extended

The due date for FY16 year-end EFT-21 Transportation Safety and Training Report and EFT-24 Vehicle Mileage and Operations Report have been extended to January 31, 2017.

School transportation information is available on the Department’s website at http://maine.gov/doe/transportation/ . For policy questions regarding the EFT-21 and EFT-24 reports, contact the Department’s Transportation and Facilities Administrator Pat Hinckley at pat.hinckley@maine.gov .

For assistance with access to the NEO data system, contact the Maine DOE helpdesk at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov.