An Act Relating to Portable Classrooms for Certain Cases
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0842
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MILLS, FINCH, GAGNE-FRIEL, SA VIELLO, DAGGETI, WOODCOCK
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15603

Legislative Document 
No. 842 
H.P.619 
House of Representatives, February 20, 2003 
An Act Relating to Portable Classrooms for Certain Cases 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative MILLS of Farmington. 
'7?1~11?~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representatives: FINCH of Fairfield, GAGNE-FRIEL of Buckfield, 
SA VIELLO of Wilton, Senators: President DAGGETI of Kennebec, WOODCOCK of 
Franklin. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15603. sub-§8, 'B. as amended by PL 1997, 
c. 787, §6, is further amended to read: 
B. 
Lease 
costs 
for 
school 
buildings 
when 
the 
leases, 
including leases under which the school administrative unit 
may apply the lease payments to the purchase of pOl table , 
temporary classroom space beginning January 1, 
1988, 
have 
been approved by the commissioner for the year prior to the 
year of allocation. 
Beginning July 1, 
1998 
lease 
cost 
includes: 
(1) 
Administrative 
space. 
A 
school 
administrative 
unit may lease administrative space with state support 
until 
July 
1, 
2003. 
A 
school 
administrative 
unit 
engaged 
in 
a 
lease-purchase 
agreement 
for 
administrative 
space 
is eligible 
for 
state 
support 
until July 1, 2008; 
(2) 
Temporary interim nonadministrative space. 
(a) 
A 
school 
administrative 
unit 
with 
state-approved 
need 
for 
nonadministrative 
space 
may 
lease 
temporary 
interim 
space, 
with 
state 
support, 
for 
a 
maximum 
of 
years. 
A school 
administrative unit may appeal to the board if 
this 
division 
presents 
an 
undue 
burden. 
The 
board's decision is final. 
(b) 
A school administrative unit engaged in a 
lease-purchase 
agreement 
for 
temporary 
interim 
nonadministrative 
space 
is 
eligible 
for 
state 
support for a maximum of 10 years, except that if 
the school administrative unit has a major capital 
improvement 
application 
on 
file 
with 
the 
Department of Education 
and is not 
rated high 
enough by the department using the department's 
rating 
scale 
compared 
to 
other 
school 
administrative units to obtain funding to correct 
problems 
with 
its 
facilities, 
the 
school 
administrative unit is eligible for state support 
until it obtains funding to correct problems with 
its facilities; and 
(3) 
Permanent 
small 
nonadministrative 
space 
that 
replaces or is converted from existing approved leased 
portable space. 
The existing leased portable 
space 
will be eligible for state support until July 1, 2003. 
Once 
an 
existing 
leased 
portable 
space 
has 
been 
Page l-LR1553 (1) 
converted 
through 
space is 
years. 
into 
a 
permanent 
nonadministrative 
an 
approved 
lease-purchase 
agreement, 
eligible for state support for a maximum 
space 
such 
of 10 
The Department of Education shall adopt rules necessary to 
implement this paragraph. 
Rules adopted by the Department 
of 
Education 
to 
implement 
this 
paragraph 
are 
major 
substantive 
rules 
pursuant 
to 
Title 
5, 
chapter 
375, 
subchapter Il-A 2-A; 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that a school administrative unit engaged 
in 
a 
lease-purchase 
agreement 
for 
temporary 
interim 
nonadministrative space is eligible for state support beyond the 
IO-year limit if the school 
administrative unit has 
a 
major 
capital improvement application on file with the Department of 
Education and is not rated high enough by the department using 
the 
department's 
Orating 
scale 
compared 
to 
other 
school 
administrative units to obtain funding to correct problems with 
its facilities. 
The school administrative unit is eligible for 
state support until it obtains funding to correct problems with 
its facilities.