From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

The Department of Education offers quarterly windows for districts to review, for accuracy and comprehensiveness, data that has been entered and reported for Attendance, Behavior, Bullying and Truancy. The intention of quarterly reporting is to increase regular review of data in hopes that it will save time for districts at the end of the school year, as well as provide time for analysis and correction of data if necessary. |  More

The recovery of Q1’23 MaineCare Seed will occur in the January 2023 subsidy payment. The Maine DOE is asking Districts to review their reports by January 15, 2023, to ensure accurate adjustments to subsidy. School Administrative Unit (SAU) staff must review and submit, disputes and student-by-student claims on both the public and private MaineCare reports for Q1’23 by January 15, 2023. |  More

| Visit the DC&R Reporting Calendar |

News & Updates

This guidance is offered by the Maine Department of Education to clarify suspension, expulsion, and modified schedules as they apply to students attending public preschool programs. While the provision of public preschool programs is not mandated in Maine, public preschool is strongly encouraged. When offered, public preschool is intended to serve all eligible children, to the extent possible, including learners with a variety of needs. Children who attend high quality preschool programs have an opportunity to build social emotional skills, strengthen executive functioning skills and have a stronger start to school (Zinsser, et al, 2022). To realize these benefits, children must remain in school. Once enrolled in public preschool programs, in accordance with 20-A M.R.S. §1001(8-A), children may not be unenrolled or expelled. Additionally, if a school administrative unit (SAU) is unable to serve all 4-year-olds who wish to enroll in public preschool, protocols to determine enrollment decisions which result in preschool populations with demographics that reflect the SAU’s K-12 demographics are strongly encouraged. |  More

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is pleased to announce that Natalie Emmerson, a student at Morse High School, in Bath, and Shawn Jiminez, a student at Gardiner Area High School, in Gardiner, were both selected for the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). They will each be attending USSYP’s Washington Week in Washington, D.C. during the first week of March where they will meet with the Senate leaders and the Senate parliamentarian and historian; a justice of the Supreme Court, the President, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and other executive agencies, a foreign ambassador to the U.S. and senior members of the media. They are also each awarded a $10,000 scholarship to any undergraduate institution of their choosing. |  More

The Maine Department of Education’s MLTI Team, including MLTI Ambassadors, Nokomis SLAM students, and MLTI SLAM Coordinator, Kern Kelley spent the day presenting at the SLAM Showcase for sixth grade students and teachers from Hartford/Sumner Elementary School on November 22nd. This was the second of six SLAM (Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine) Showcases happening at schools across Maine this year. (Read about the first SLAM Showcase here) |  More

Maine DOE Team member Haley Neal is being highlighted as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Haley |  More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

Lynn Kovitch is new to her role as Noble High School’s Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) Coordinator. Thus far, she has spent a lot of her time building relationships with local businesses, organizations, and individuals in the community. |  More

At the November State Board of Education Workshop, Student Member Ryan Hafener presented on the importance of youth engagement and provided recommendations to the Maine State Board of Education on how to increase engagement. In October, Hafener was featured on a webinar by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) that focused on how state officials can develop youth-adult partnerships. In the webinar, available on the NASBE website, Hafener fielded questions on what successful youth-adult partnerships look like, what barriers can get in the way of student engagement, and what can make partnerships successful. |  More |

Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

Every month the Maine Department of Education’s (DOE) Interdisciplinary Instruction Team will provide innovative daily bites of professional learning that focus on interdisciplinary instruction and project-based learning. Each day members of the Interdisciplinary Instruction team will post on the Interdisciplinary Instruction home page and on Maine DOE social media sites with explanations, ideas, and examples of interdisciplinary instruction. |  More

The National Center for Community Schools at Children’s Aid is hosting a FREE informational session on the community school strategy and how it can work for your school community on Thursday, January 5, 2023 from 1:00-2:30 PM ET. |  More

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities:

The Maine Office of the Attorney General is seeking a visionary leader with a passion and commitment for promoting equity in education to become the next Director of the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP).  |  More

View current Maine Department of Education employment opportunities here