The EF-S-03 form for contract approval for special education services has been updated to include categories of service providers listed in Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty (MUSER) that were not listed on the form, including those from the most recent updates to MUSER. The form, which is due Oct. 15, also requires a more precise identification of the funding source for these services.
Continue reading “Revised special education EF-S-03 form available”
School administrative units (SAUs) should begin preparing data for the EF-S-05, which includes Part 1: Special Education Child Count, as well as Part 2, Sections A and B: Report of Special Education Personnel Employed, Contracted and Needed. Continue reading “Report of Services to Students with Disabilities (EF-S-05 Parts 1 & 2) due Dec. 31”
Teachers, administrators, school counselors and mental health specialists are invited to attend the third annual Lives in the Balance summit, “There’s a Better Way,” which focuses on non-confrontational interventions for at-risk children.
Continue reading “Discover alternative interventions for at-risk students”
Updated Oct. 1
Since the release of this dispatch, the Maine DOE has become aware of a need for further clarification. A parent has the right at any time to place his or her child receiving special education in a private school, including a non-approved private school. As stated in MUSER §IV.4.G(3)(a), the residential district in this situation is not required to pay for the cost of the child’s education in the private school. The Department has become aware that some districts, nevertheless, are paying some or all of the educational costs for such children placed in non-approved private schools. Districts should not be making such payments unless the procedures described below (convening the IEP Team, developing an offer of FAPE, explaining to the parent the ramifications of a decision to place the child in a non-approved program and the right to revoke consent for continued provision of special education services) are followed and the parent revokes consent in writing. Under no circumstances should special education funds be used for such payments.
School administrative units (SAUs) sometimes become aware that a student identified as needing special education services has been placed in a program that has not been approved for special education by the Maine DOE. Placement of such a student by the SAU is prohibited by MUSER §XII.1.F(1)(c), but the student may have been placed directly by parents or a State agency.
The following information summarizes the State assessments schools will administer during the 2013-14 school year and the associated testing dates. The list also includes additional assessment options that are not required but are provided to school administrative units as tools to support instruction.
Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen announced the King Middle School sixth-and seventh-grade teacher as Maine’s top educator in a surprise all-school assembly Tuesday
PORTLAND – A 24-year veteran teacher at the state’s most diverse middle school is the 2014 Maine Teacher of the Year.
In a surprise assembly at King Middle School (KMS) in Portland Tuesday morning, Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen announced Karen MacDonald, who has served students in Portland Public Schools since 1979, as Maine’s top teacher.
Continue reading “Portland’s Karen MacDonald named 2014 Maine Teacher of the Year”
AUGUSTA – Seven groups informed the Maine Charter School Commission (MCSC) that they plan to submit applications to open public charter schools in Maine. All of the groups hope to open a school in the fall of 2014.
The deadline for delivery of the letters to the Maine Charter School Commission or having them postmarked was this past Tuesday.
Continue reading “Commission receives notice of 7 charter school proposals”
Schools that receive federal Title I funds, have poverty rates of at least 40 percent and have approved Title IA Schoolwide Plans are eligible to use their Title I funds – and funds from other sources – to develop “schoolwide programs.”
Schoolwide programs are comprehensive reform strategies aimed at raising the achievement levels of all students. Continue reading “Annual notification of eligibility for schoolwide programs”
During the last legislative session, the Legislature passed a resolve (H.P.828 – L.D. 1184) directing Maine DOE to amend its rules regarding special education review of school administrative units (SAUs) that do not own, lease or otherwise operate any school. Continue reading “Notice of legislative resolve regarding special education review of SAUs”
Maine school districts are continuously expanding their capacity to identify and teach English learners (ELs)—and the Maine DOE has developed materials to help educators with this task.
Maine DOE Newsroom 