An Act to Update Department of Education Reporting Requirements

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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
SECOND REGULAR SESSION-2026
Legislative Document No. 2020
H.P. 1350 House of Representatives, December 5, 2025
An Act to Update Department of Education Reporting
Requirements
Submitted by the Department of Education pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 3, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MURPHY of Scarborough.

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1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §254, sub-§17, as amended by PL 2021, c. 12, §1, is further
3 amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
4 The commissioner, in consultation with an organization representing school principals,
5 shall report no later than January 31, 2022 and annually every 5 years thereafter to the joint
6 standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural
7 affairs on any available data on the incidence of concussions sustained by student athletes
8 in the State using existing or new data collection systems. The report must include
9 recommendations on best practices for the collection of such data.
10Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §5051-A, sub-§3, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 533, §3, is
11 amended to read:
12 B. The commissioner shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature
13 before January 15th March 1st. The report must aggregate the information provided
14 by superintendents under paragraph A and must evaluate the effect of state laws on the
15 incidence of truancy.
16Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §7006, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W, §11, is
17 amended to read:
185. Annual report. The department shall report annually by March 1st to the joint
19 standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters. The
20 report must include, for school administrative units, each of the components required of the
21 Child Development Services System pursuant to section 7209, subsection 4, paragraph E
22 E-1. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education
23 matters may report out a bill related to the report to the session of the Legislature in which
24 the report is received.
25Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §7209, sub-§4, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W,
26 §14, is repealed.
27Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §7209, sub-§4, ¶E-1 is enacted to read:
28 E-1. To report annually by March 30th to the joint standing committee of the
29 Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs, the joint standing
30 committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services
31 matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
32 appropriations and financial affairs on the performance of the Child Development
33 Services System. This report must be posted on the publicly accessible website of the
34 department. The report must include the following information for the Child
35 Development Services System in total and separately for the services provided to
36 eligible children from birth to under 3 years of age and at least 3 years of age and under
37 6 years of age when the information can be separated for these age categories:
38 (1) Actual expenditures compared to the budget for each of the last 3 fiscal years
39 by expense type and function, including salaries, benefits, contracted services,
40 transportation, direct services and administration;
41 (2) Actual revenues received compared to the budget for each of the last 3 fiscal
42 years by revenue source;
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1 (3) The total dollar value of MaineCare claims paid through the Department of
2 Health and Human Services for each of the last 3 fiscal years for services provided
3 pursuant to an individualized education program or individualized family service
4 plan that were billed directly to the MaineCare program by contracted service
5 providers;
6 (4) The number of children referred to the Child Development Services System
7 under Part C in the prior year by referral source, including the screening programs
8 in Title 22, sections 1532, 8824 and 8943, and the percentage of children referred
9 found eligible for services;
10 (5) The number of children who transitioned in the prior year from early
11 intervention services for children from birth to under 3 years of age to special
12 education and related services for children at least 3 years of age and under 6 years
13 of age;
14 (6) The percentage of children who received direct services in the prior year who
15 had MaineCare coverage for all or some of the services specified in their
16 individualized education programs or individualized family service plans and the
17 percentage of children who received direct services in the prior year who had
18 private insurance coverage for all or some of the services specified in their
19 individualized education programs or individualized family service plans;
20 (7) A list of Child Development Services System regional sites and their locations;
21 (8) The total number of Child Development Services System employees by
22 function;
23 (9) The number of private providers that contracted with the Child Development
24 Services System to provide direct services, including transportation services, and
25 the number of contracted providers delivering each type of service in the prior
26 fiscal year;
27 (10) The number of children who received direct services provided by Child
28 Development Services System employees in the prior fiscal year and the number
29 of children who received direct services provided by contracted private providers
30 in the prior fiscal year; and
31 (11) A description of current and emerging trends and challenges that are
32 influencing or are expected to have an effect on costs, services or service delivery
33 methods of the Child Development Services System;
34Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §7209-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W, §17,
35 is amended to read:
366. Annual report. Beginning March 1, 2025 and in each subsequent year of the
37 transition phase in subsections 1 to 3, the department shall submit a report to the joint
38 standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters. The
39 report must include data and information regarding the number of school administrative
40 units that have assumed responsibility for child find activities and for ensuring a free,
41 appropriate public education and progress on the implementation of the transition under
42 this section. During the transition, this report must include the annual report requirements
43 under section 7006, subsection 5. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having
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44 jurisdiction over education matters may report out a bill related to the report to the session
45 of the Legislature in which the report is received. :
3 A. Enrollment data for preschool special education students being served in school
4 administrative units;
5 B. Expenditure data for preschool special education programming in school
6 administrative units;
7 C. Data regarding contracted services provided by Child Development Services
8 System support and service hubs to school administrative units;
9 D. Data regarding MaineCare claims paid through the Department of Health and
10 Human Services for children in preschool special education programming; and
11 E. Data regarding current and emerging trends and challenges that are influencing or
12 expected to influence costs, services or service delivery methods.
13 The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters
14 may report out a bill related to the report to the session of the Legislature in which the
15 report is received.
16Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §8803, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 32, §1, is amended
17 to read:
18 The department shall report by November 15, 2021 and annually thereafter by March
19 1st to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education
20 and cultural affairs on school administrative unit summer educational programs, including
21 but not limited to summer school and extended school year programs. The report must
22 include the number of school administrative units administering such programs, the nature
23 of the programs, the number of participants in the programs, any partnerships with
24 community-based organizations to provide the programs and the sources of funding for the
25 programs. The report must also include recommendations, and any suggested legislation,
26 on improving summer educational programs and identification of any additional funding
27 needed to ensure the success of summer educational programs.
28Sec. 8. 20-A MRSA §10011, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 232, §1, is amended
29 to read:
303. Report. The department shall report the information compiled under subsection 2,
31 including national comparisons of retention rates and graduation rates for peer institutions,
32 annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
33 education and cultural affairs and publish the report on the department's publicly accessible
34 website.
35Sec. 9. 20-A MRSA §13008, as amended by PL 2017, c. 235, §§7 and 8 and affected
36 by §41, is further amended by amending the section headnote to read:
37§13008. Educator workforce preparation program data
38Sec. 10. 20-A MRSA §13008, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 235, §8 and
39 affected by §41, is further amended to read:
402. Data collection. The department shall collect data relating to educator preparation
41 programs and educator credentialing, including but not limited to the following information
42 with respect to each educator preparation program:
1
2
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1 A. The number of program completers;
2 A-1. For each educator preparation program, the program's authorization status, time
3 of next review and added or subtracted approved programs within the past year;
4 B. The annual number of program completers applicants who pass the teacher
5 qualifying examinations under section 13032 and the number of those who attain a
6 conditional, professional or emergency teacher certificate in the State, broken down by
7 type of certificate;
8 C. The annual number of program completers educators who proceed from a
9 conditional or emergency certificate to a professional certificate; and
10 D. The number of program completers educators who are teaching in schools in this
11 State 3 and 5 years after they complete that educator preparation program. obtain
12 conditional, professional or emergency certification; and
13 E. Workforce shortage data provided to the United States Department of Education.
14SUMMARY
15 This bill updates various provisions of law that require the Department of Education to
16 make annual reports to the Legislature. The bill changes the reporting dates of several
17 required annual reports. It also changes the type of information the department must include
18 in:
19 1. Its report concerning the Child Development Services System;
20 2. Its report during the period in which school administrative units are transitioning to
21 take over responsibility of child find activities and for ensuring a free, appropriate public
22 education for children eligible under Part B, Section 619 of the federal Individuals with
23 Disabilities Education Act; and
24 3. Its reports related to educator workforce preparation and postsecondary retention
25 and graduation rates.
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