Free computer science training opportunities available through Project>Login & MMSA

Project>Login mission is to engage Maine K-12 schools and provide support for Computer Science education. They recently became a regional partner, along with Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, for Code.org. As a result of this partnership, they are able to provide high quality professional development to educators interested in Computer Science education for free.

They are currently offering a professional learning program for middle and high school teachers which includes :

TeacherCon, a five-day summer training in Philadelphia taking place July 30 – August 4, 2017, which will fully prepare teachers to utilize Code.org curriculum and teacher supports. Code.org provides airfare, lodging, and meals during the conference, and teachers will receive a gift card to cover incidentals.
Four, one-day local workshops during the school year (normally on Saturdays), during which teachers will join other teachers from Maine for ongoing training and just-in-time support.

Learn more about the program and apply here:
http://www.projectlogin.com/education/code-org-partnership

Maine DOE Data Helpdesk Survey

The Maine Department of Education Data Helpdesk Team is here to assist you with access to your NEO, Infinite Campus and coming soon, Edupoint systems. We can offer general guidance on individual models within the applications. If you have called our helpdesk in the past or make a call to us in the future, please help us by taking a few minutes to tell us about the service that you have received. We appreciate your time and want to make sure we meet your expectations. click here to take the survey.

For more information visit the DOE Data Helpdesk page. http://www.maine.gov/doe/data/helpdesk.html

New School Absenteeism Reporting Form

When a potential outbreak, including those involving exposure to a communicable disease, toxic agent, environmental hazard, or a potential epidemic is identified, immediate notification to the Maine CDC should be made. One of the ways these outbreaks can be identified is through elevated school absenteeism. Schools have long partnered with the Maine Center for Disease Control (MeCDC) to report elevated absentee rates (>15%). The Department of Education and MeCDC have collaborated to design this application in NEO to collect this information more efficiently. School nurses have be given access to the reporting tool. If your school unit decides that it would be appropriate for another person to submit this report, you will need to fill out a NEO access request form located on the DOE Data Helpdesk page. http://www.maine.gov/doe/data/helpdesk.html

Reporting 2016-17 Student Information – Due Date: April 15, 2017

The Infinite Campus State Education system (ICSE), is online for school year 2016-17 updates. The updated 2016-17 student information will be utilized to meet State and federal reporting requirements (ESSA, Graduates, Dropouts, AYP, etc.) as well as the calculation of State subsidy for 2017-18 for Maine’s public school administrative units.

All private schools with publicly funded students must report ALL “publicly funded students” in the Infinite Campus State Education System. The private schools that receive publicly funded students must report these students in the Infinite Campus State Education system in order for the public school administrative units to receive a subsidy count for these students in their future State subsidy. The State subsidy to a public school unit is often the source of funding that a school administrative unit uses to pay the tuition for these students to attend the private schools.

Student Enrollment Reporting – Due Date: April 15, 2017:

April 1, 2017 Student Count – all publicly funded students should be enrolled in Infinite Campus State Edition (ICSE) before April 15, 2017 so that the resident public school administrative units may review the data and verify the April 1st student count which takes place between April 16, 2017 and April 30, 2017.

For private schools enrolling “ALL” students in the Infinite Campus State Education System, please fax (1-866-219-8344) or mail the completed Signature Page of the April 1st Enrollment Report (EF-M-14) indicating that all students have been enrolled in the Infinite Campus State Education system. There will be no need to complete the remainder of the EF-M-14.
For private schools enrolling only publicly funded students in the Infinite Campus State Education system, please complete the April 1st Enrollment Report (EF-M-14 – Sections 2 and 3 only) and email the Excel spreadsheet form to the Department at GPA.DOE@maine.gov. In addition, please fax the completed Signature Page to 1-866-219-8344.
For private schools that have no publicly funded students, please complete the April 1st Enrollment Report (EF-M-14 – Sections 2 and 3) for the non-publicly funded students and email the Excel spreadsheet form to the Department at GPA.DOE@maine.gov. In addition, please fax the completed Signature Page to 1-866-219-8344.

The EF-M-14 Form can be downloaded from the Department of Education’s website at:
http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/misteam/enrollment/april/aprilpriv.htm

60% Publicly Funded Private Schools

These 11 private schools must complete both the EF-M-14 and the EPS April Enrollment Certifications.

Private Schools Using the Infinite Campus State Education System:

For private schools that enter students into the Infinite Campus State Edition, please refer to the document titled “Data Standards Document” located at:

http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/standards/index.htm

If you have any questions regarding the Infinite Campus State Education (ICSE), please contact the MEDMS Help Desk, Tel. (207) 624-6896 or e-mail medms.helpdesk@maine.gov.

If you have any general student questions, please contact Travis Wood, Tel. (207) 624-6742 or e-mail travis.wood@maine.gov.

Administrative Letter: Rescheduling and Requesting Waivers for Storm Days

Administrative Letter: #6
Policy Code: ID
To: Superintendents, School Board Chairs, and Private School Head Administrators
From: Robert G. Hasson, Jr., Ed.D., Acting Commissioner
Date: March 6, 2017
Re: Rescheduling and Requesting Waivers for Storm Days

As many of you are well aware, this winter has resulted in above normal snowfall amounts and many school administrative units have had to exceed the number of storm days that were originally planned for in the school calendar. This has resulted in concerns about meeting the regulations pertaining to the length of the school year. Below we have provided a link to the regulations pertaining to rescheduling and requesting waivers for storm days, along with a brief summary that we hope will help administrative leaders as they make decisions about how to make up the lost days. In Chapter 125: Basic Approval Standards: Public Schools and School Administrative Units Section 6.01, subsections C (1) and (2), regulations state that the Commissioner may waive the minimum school year requirements upon submission of a written request from the school board to the Commissioner, and that waivers will be granted only after school officials have exhausted all reasonable avenues for making up lost school days, and only in extraordinary circumstances. As a reminder, the requirement is 175 days for students in grades K-11, and 170 days for high school seniors. Acceptable efforts to reschedule classes include the following:

Rescheduling or shortening scheduled vacation
Postponing the scheduled school closing date
Conducting classes on weekends
In addition, districts sometimes choose to revert a scheduled teacher in-service day to a student instructional day

Please note, under Chapter 125 Section 6.02, subsection C, school administrative units may, with the permission of the Commissioner, schedule a one hour extension of the school day for up to 25 days in a school year; 5 one hour extensions may be counted as an additional school day. Please see the Waivers for Snow Days Frequently Asked Questions provided on Maine DOE’s website for more details, including defining/calculating an instructional day. Waivers should be submitted in writing from the school board or its designee to the Commissioner’s Office at the Maine Department of Education [per Chapter 125 Section 6.01 subsection C (2)]. In addition, please contact Pamela Ford-Taylor, School Approval Services, by email Pamela.Ford-Taylor@maine.gov or by phone 624-6617, of the intent to file a waiver request as soon as possible. We all realize how valuable instructional time is for our students. Thank you for your efforts to ensure that your students have the opportunity to learn for the intended full school calendar year.

EPS High-Cost Out-of-District Report (EF-S-214) open for reporting on March 13

The EF-S-214 will be open to Maine public schools on March 13. The report must be approved by the School Finance Team by April 15 to be used in the calculation for an adjustment. School districts should sign into the report as early as possible, as some aspects of the report have changed. Starting this year, the business manager will have to certify that the figures reported by the Special Education office are consistent with the data in the school district financial system.

This report is required to be submitted by all publically funded school districts. School districts need to project the costs for the full fiscal year. Only costs for tuition and board should be included in the report. For Fiscal Year 2017 only students that have a total cost above $31,548 should be included on the report. Those districts that have no students who meet that threshold are still required to submit a report.

We have made some changes for this year:

Students can have multiple lines if they have had more than one placement during the year
School districts will now have the option to see a summary sheet that will provide them the total adjustment if all costs are approved
An internal messaging system has been added if there are any questions
The form will auto-populate the school district contact based on information in the staff module and the person filling out the form based on the login information
The form will need to be certified by the business manager

The report can be located by logging into NEO at https://neo.maine.gov/DOE/NEO/Accounts/Account/Login

Questions about the report should be direct to Stephanie Clark at 624-6807.

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Announces Change to the USDA Food Program Ordering

Maine DOE Child Nutrition announces the annual order opening date for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Program for School Administrative Units (SAU) is March 7, 2017. The SAU must order their USDA food products beginning on March 7, 2017 to March 20, 2017. The deadline date has no flexibility. This is the first year the annual order has been moved to March. This federally required change allows the SAU to order the items they want and the amount they want, up to their entitlement level.

Once the SAU orders, Maine DOE Child Nutrition will place the order with USDA based on local orders. USDA will ship product to Maine’s contracted warehouse for distribution to the local SAU. It is imperative the SAU order their product for next school year by the deadline date. This will be the only time period the SAU can order product for the annual order. There will be opportunities to pick up some limited items monthly, but 95% of the product will be ordered for the specific SAU. The new March annual order has been promoted to SAU food service program staff at meetings, weekly updates and training over the last year. This is a very tight schedule for ordering on the local and state level. Maine must have all orders into USDA in March. Different products have different USDA deadline dates, but all are in March. Products are ordered in the Maine DOE NEO system as in prior years, but in March not August. The deadline date to order is close of business on March 20, 2017.

Additionally, there will be changes to the USDA fresh product offering for School Year 2018.

For more information, contact Child Nutrition Director Walter Beesley at walter.beesley@maine.gov or call 624-6875 or Terri Fitzgerald at terri.fitzgerald@maine.gov or call 624-6882.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Seeking Public Comment for the Maine Department of Education Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Consolidated State Plan

The Maine Department of Education is seeking 30 days of public comment on Maine’s ESSA State Consolidated Plan from March 1 – 30, 2017

The passage of the Every Students Succeeds Act in 2015 shifted the former Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 from a federally driven, highly prescriptive set of programs and regulations to a state determined plan to ensure a focus on equity and excellence for all students.

The U.S. Department of Education is requiring every state educational agency to submit a Consolidated State Plan. “When developing its consolidated State plan, the Department encourages each State Educational Agency to reflect on its overall vision and how the different sections of the consolidated State plan work together to create one comprehensive approach to improving outcomes for all students.”

As a result, the Maine Department of Education ESSA State Plan is based on prioritized needs identified in Maine’s existing strategic plan. This plan was stakeholder informed and driven in 2012 and correlates with the five overarching elements of the federal Consolidated Plan, which are as follows:

Long-Term Goals
Consultation and Performance Management
Academic Assessments
Accountability, Support, and Improvement for Schools
Supporting Excellent Educators
Supporting All Students

By this integration the Department is utilizing the ESSA Plan as the enhancement mechanism to move Maine’s educational priorities forward.

The Department engaged over 40 Maine educators representing different stakeholder groups to serve as members of the ESSA Advisory and Workgroup teams to examine the components of the consolidated application pertinent to their focus area and to discuss potential recommendations for each specific component.

Please note the changes which may affect the final format of plan:

Possible changes in the ESSA Accountability federal regulations
Changes to the Consolidated Plan template indicated by the U. S Department of Education Secretary Devos on February 13, 2017 to reflect only those components that are “absolutely necessary”.

The Full Maine Consolidated State Plan
The Executive Summary (Includes an introductory letter from Acting Commissioner Hasson)

Comments may be submitted to: ESSA.DOE@maine.gov

Comments sought on Maine’s IDEA Part B application

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is seeking public comments on its annual application for federal funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which covers services to children with disabilities, ages 3-20.

The application, which covers Maine fiscal year 2018 (starting July 1, 2017) is posted on the Maine DOE’s webpage at http://www.maine.gov/doe/specialed/idea. The Part B budget is projected on the basis of Maine’s award for the current State fiscal year (2017), pending the State’s receipt of the finalized federal award for the coming year. Both documents will be posted from March 9th, 2017 through May 8th, 2017.

Written comments will be accepted from March 9th, 2017 until 4 p.m. on April 8th, 2017. Please send comments to Janice Breton at janice.breton@maine.gov or 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME. 04333.

Attendance Matters: Connecting For Student Success Regional Meetings

Attendance Matters! The Spring Connecting For Student Success regional meetings sponsored by ME Department of Education and Count ME In are happening statewide. You can attend a regional meeting that is convenient for you.

Lewiston -Tuesday, March 14
Portland – Wednesday, March 22
Bangor – Monday, March 27
Caribou – Tuesday, March 28
Augusta – Thursday, April 6

Attendees will hear schools share effective strategies as well as a presentation on effective approaches to address bias and harassment . Sessions are free but registration is required. To learn more go to www.countmeinmaine.org

Attendance Matters because early absences can affect later achievement, since students can miss some of the key building blocks for learning. Absences add up- just two days a month can mean 18 absences a year.

To register: http://countmeinmaine.org/site/?page_id=168 For more information, please contact Sarah Ricker at sarah.ricker@maine.gov or Susan Lieberman at slieberman@countmeinmaine.org