An Act To Improve the Ability of the Department of Education To Conduct Longitudinal Data Studies
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1356
Committee Amendment CA_A_S301 (Senate)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15689-B

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,f+. " to S.P. 491, L.D. 1356, Bill, "An Act To 
Improve the Ability of the Department of Education To Conduct Longitudinal Data 
Studies" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRS A §6005 is enacted to read: 
§6005. Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data System 
The department shall develop and maintain the Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data 
System, a continuing program of information management, the purpose of which is to 
compile, maintain and disseminate information concerning the educational histories, 
placement, employment and other measures of success of participants in state educational 
programs. The commissioner may require a school administrative unit to collect and 
report individual student social security numbers to implement the Maine Statewide 
Longitudinal Data System. 
1. Placement information. A project conducted by the department that requires 
placement information must use information provided through the Maine Statewide 
Longitudinal Data System. The department shall implement an automated system that 
matches the social security numbers of former participants in state educational and 
training programs with information in the files of state and federal agencies that maintain 
educational, employment and United States armed services records and shall implement 
procedures to identify the occupations of those former participants whose social security 
numbers are found in employment records. 
2. Dissemination of education records. The Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data 
System may not make public any information that could identify an individual or the 
individual's employer. 
The department must ensure that the purpose of obtaining 
placement information is to evaluate and improve education programs or to conduct 
research for the purpose of improving education services. Education records must be 
managed'in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMIITEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 491, L.D. 1356 
1974, 20 United States Code, Section 1232g, referred to in this section as "FERPA." 
Personally identifiable infonnation in an education record that is not directory 
infonnation may be released to other agencies within State Government, including 
postsecondary institutions, only under a signed memorandum of understanding requiring 
compliance with FERPA. 
3. Notification and consent. If the commissioner requires a school administrative 
unit to collect and report individual social security numbers pursuant to section 15689-B, 
subsection 7, the school administrative unit must notifY parents in the annual notice 
required under FERP A that the data is being collected and used for longitudinal data 
purposes and must request the parent to provide written consent to use the child's social 
security number for the collection of longitudinal data .. The parental notification must 
include an explanation of the parent's right that the child's social security number is not 
required as a condition of enrollment and that the child's social security number may not 
be used for longitudinal data purposes unless the parent provides prior written consent. 
When a student attains 18 years of age, the written consent must be obtained from the 
student, and the rights accorded to the parent before the student attained 18 years of age 
are then accorded to the student. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §15689-B, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. C, 
§ 13, is further amended to read: 
7. Required data; subsidy payments withheld. A school administrative unit shall 
provide the commissioner with information that the commissioner requests to carry out 
the purposes of this chapter, according to time schedules that the commissioner 
establishes. 
For the purposes of the Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data System 
established pursuant to section 6005, the commissioner may require a school 
administrative unit to collect and report individual student social security numbers. The 
commissioner may withhold monthly subsidy payments from a school administrative unit 
when information is not filed in the specified fonnat and with specific content and within 
the specified time schedules. If the school administrative unit files the information in the 
specified format, the Department of Education department shall include the payment of 
the withheld subsidy in the next regularly scheduled monthly subsidy payment. 
Sec. 3. Administrative letter. The Commissioner of Education shall send an 
administrative letter to superintendents, principals and school counselors regarding the 
establishment of the Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data System pursuant to the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 6005. The letter must provide school officials with 
infonnation regarding the requirements of this Act, including suggested language to be 
included in the annual notice to parents required under the Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act of 1974. The suggested language for parental notification must include an 
explanation of a parent's right that the child's social security number is notrequired as a 
condition of enrollment and that the child's social security number may not be used for 
the purposes of the Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data System unless the parent provides 
prior written consent. ' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment accomplishes the following. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMIITEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 491, L.D. 1356 
1. It reallocates the provisions establishing the Maine Statewide Longitudinal Data 
System from the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 606-B to chapter 221, 
subchapter 1, which pertains to student records. 
2. It provides that if the Commissioner of Education requires a school administrative 
unit to collect and report individual social security numbers, that the school 
administrative unit must notify parents in the annual notice required under the federal 
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, "FERPA," that the data is being 
collected and used for longitudinal data purposes and that the school administrative unit 
requests that the parent provides written consent to use the child's social security number 
for the collection of longitudinal data for the parent's child. 
3. 
It provides that the parental notification must include an explanation of the 
parent's right that the child's social security number is not required as a condition of 
enrollment and that the child's social security number may not be used for longitudinal 
data purposes unless the parent provides prior written consent. It also provides that when 
a student attains 18 years of age, the written consent required of the parent, and the rights 
accorded to the parent, are thereafter required of and accorded to the student. 
4. It clarifies that personally identifiable information contained in an educational 
record that is not directory information as defined by FERP A may only be released to 
other state agencies and postsecondary education institutions under a signed 
memorandum of understanding in compliance with FERPA. 
5. 
It directs the Commissioner of Education to send an administrative letter to 
superintendents, principals and school counselors on the establishment of the Maine 
Statewide Longitudinal Data System, including suggested language to be included in the 
annual notice to parents required under FERPA that explains a parent's right that the 
child's social security number is not required as a condition of enrollment and that the 
child's social security number may not be used for the purposes of the Maine Statewide 
Longitudinal Data System unless the parent provides prior written consent. 
FISCAL ;';OTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/03/09 ;:!;Pac:.. 
LD 1356 
LR 531(02) 
An Act To Improve the Ability of the Department of Education To Conduct Longitudinal Data Studies 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
This legislation provides that 1) the Commissioner of Education may require school 
administrative units (SAO's) to collect and report individual student social security 
numbers; and that 2) if SAO's are required to collect and report individual social 
security numbers, local SAO's must include in the annual notice to parents, required 
under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERP A), that 
the data is being collected, what the data will be used for and a request for the 
parents written consent to provide the information. 
U nit Affected 
School 
Local Cost 
Moderate 
statewide 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a State mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. Unless 
General Fund appropriations are provided to fund at least 90% of the additional costs or a Mandate Preamble is 
amended to the bill and two-thirds 6fthe members of each House vote to exempt this mandate from the funding 
requirement, municipalities may not be required to implement these changes. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
AC'cording to information provided by the Department of Education, the Commissioner will not require school 
administrative units to collect and report individual student social security numbers unless and until additional federal 
funding is received to expand the Department's current K-12 longitudinal data system to a statewide system that will 
also include postsecondary and workforce information. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
includes $250 million to the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences for competitive grants for 
statewide data systems. The U.S. Department of Education plans to award half that money in June or July of this year, 
with the balance being awarded in September and October of2009. 
Additional costs to the Department of Education to prepare' and send the required administrative letter can be absorbed 
within existing budgeted resources. 
LR053 I (02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of I 
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