An Act To Amend and Clarify Certain Education Statutes
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1307
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: RICHARDSON, LANGLEY, JOHNSON, LOVEJOY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §1252, 20-A MRSA §1479, 20-A MRSA §1486, 20-A MRSA §1511, 20-A MRSA §2953, 20-A MRSA §4102, 20-A MRSA §6004, 20-A MRSA §15917

Legislative Document 
No. 1307 
H.P. 959 
House of Representatives, March 24, 2011 
An Act To Amend and Clarify Certain Education Statutes 
Submitted by the Department of Education pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative RICHARDSON of Carmel. 
Cosponsored by Senator LANGLEY of Hancock and 
Representatives: JOHNSON of Greenville, LOVEJOY of Portland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §1252, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 1983, c. 806, §15, is 
further amended to read: 
C.  A plan may not permit the voting power of any director to exceed by more than 
2% 5% the percentage of voting power the director would have if all 1,000 votes 
were apportioned equally among the directors. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §1479, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. XXXX, 
§13, is amended to read: 
A regional school unit shall maintain a program that includes kindergarten to grade 
except for the school administrative districts that did not operate kindergarten to grade 
that were reformulated into regional school units in accordance with Public Law 2007, 
chapter 240, Part XXXX, section 36, subsection 12, as amended by Public Law 2007, 
chapter 668, section 48. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §1486, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 571, Pt. QQQ, 
§1, is further amended to read: 
1.  Budget validation.  Following development of the annual regional school unit 
budget and approval at a regional school unit budget meeting as provided in section 1485, 
a referendum must be held in the regional school unit as provided in this section to allow 
the voters to validate or reject the total budget adopted at the regional school unit budget 
meeting. 
Every 3 years, the voters in a regional school unit shall consider continued use of the 
budget validation referendum process.  The warrant at the budget validation referendum 
in the 3rd year following adoption or continuation of the referendum process must 
include an article by which the voters of the school administrative district unit may 
indicate whether they wish to continue the process for another 3 years.  The warrant for 
the referendum to validate the fiscal year 2010-11 budget is deemed the 3rd-year warrant.  
A vote to continue retains the process for 3 additional years.  A vote to discontinue the 
process ends its use beginning with the following budget year and prohibits its 
reconsideration for at least 3 years. 
An article to consider reinstatement of the budget validation referendum process may be 
placed on a warrant for a referendum vote by either a majority vote of the regional school 
unit board or a written petition filed with the regional school unit board by at least 10% of 
the number of voters voting in the last gubernatorial election in the municipalities in the 
school administrative district unit.  The regional school unit board shall place the article 
on the next scheduled warrant or an earlier one if determined appropriate by the regional 
school unit board.  If adopted by the voters, the budget validation referendum process 
takes effect beginning in the next budget year or the following budget year if the adoption 
occurs less than 90 days before the start of the next budget year.  Once approved by the 
voters, the budget validation referendum process may not be changed for 3 years. 
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §1511, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. XXXX, §13, is 
amended to read: 
§1511.  Supermajority vote to close school in the regional school unit 
A school operated within the regional school unit may not be closed for lack of need 
unless closure of the school is approved at a regular or special meeting of the regional 
school unit board by an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the elected membership or voting 
power of the regional school unit board.  A regional school unit must proceed in 
accordance with section 1512 for elementary schools or for secondary schools if the 
regional school unit has more than one secondary school.  For regional school units with 
only one member municipality, section 1512 does not apply and the regional school unit 
must proceed in accordance with section 4102, subsection 4, paragraph B-1. 
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §2953, first ¶, as amended by PL 2005, c. 153, §4, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 6.  20-A MRSA §2953, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 153, §4, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 7.  20-A MRSA §4102, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. C, §1 
and affected by §23 and amended by PL 2007, c. 599, §1 and affected by §3, is further 
amended to read: 
4.  Voter approval.  Before a school board may close a school building pursuant to 
subsection 3, voter approval shall be obtained as follows.  
A.  Elementary schools in school administrative districts, regional school units and 
community school districts may only be closed if approved by the voters in 
accordance with the procedures set out in section 1512 for regional school units. 
B.  Secondary schools in school administrative districts, regional school units and 
community school districts and either elementary or secondary schools in other 
school administrative units may be closed without voter approval, unless the school 
board is presented with a written petition, within 30 days of the board's decision to 
close the school, by 10% of the number of voters in the school administrative unit 
who voted at the last gubernatorial election, then a special referendum shall be called 
pursuant to: may be closed only if approved by the voters in accordance with the 
procedures set out in section 1512 for regional school units. 
(1)  Section 1351 for school administrative districts; 
(2)  Title 30-A, sections 2528 to 2532, for community school districts, except the 
school board shall issue a warrant specifying that the municipalities within the 
district place the petitioned article on the ballot, and shall prepare and furnish the 
required number of ballots for carrying out the election; and 
(3)  Title 21-A and Title 30-A, respectively, for cities and towns. 
B-1.  Elementary or secondary schools in school administrative units that are not 
school administrative districts, regional school units or community school districts 
may be closed without voter approval, unless the school board is presented with a 
written petition, within 30 days of the board's decision to close the school, by 10% of 
the number of voters in the school administrative unit who voted at the last 
gubernatorial election, in which case a special referendum must be called pursuant to: 
(1)  Section 1351 for school administrative districts; 
(2)  Title 30-A, sections 2528 to 2532, for community school districts, except the 
school board shall issue a warrant specifying that the municipalities within the 
district place the petitioned article on the ballot, and shall prepare and furnish the 
required number of ballots for carrying out the election; and 
(3)  Title 21-A and Title 30-A, respectively, for cities and towns. 
C.  The article to be used shall be substantially in the following form:  
"Article:  Shall the school committee of ........................................................ (name of 
town) (the board of directors of School Administrative District No. .......) be 
authorized to close ............................................................. (name of school)? 
Yes....................    No.................... 
The additional cost of keeping the school open has been estimated by the school 
committee (board of directors) to be $ ......... ." 
Sec. 8.  20-A MRSA §4102, last ¶, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. XXXX, 
§23, is repealed. 
Sec. 9.  20-A MRSA §6004, as amended by PL 2009, c. 508, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
§6004.  Student counts 
The following provisions apply to the annual counting of students. 
1.  Duty of superintendent.  By April 15th and October 15th In accordance with 
time schedules established by the commissioner, the superintendent of each school 
administrative unit and the principal administrator of each private school shall inform the 
commissioner, in the format specified by and with the content required by the 
commissioner, of the number of students attending their schools and in the case of public 
schools the number of students residing in their school administrative unit.  This 
information shall must be supplied on forms provided by the commissioner. 
2.  Student count.  Students shall must be counted as follows. 
A.  A student residing in the school administrative unit may be considered in 
attendance on October 1st and April 1st only if the student: is attending school on that 
date.  A student must be counted as a resident if the student meets the residence 
requirement of chapter 213 and must be counted for subsidy if the student meets the 
definition of "subsidizable pupils" under section 15672, subsection 32. 
(1)  Attended school at least 75% of the time between October 1st and April 1st, 
if enrolled by October 1st; or 
(2)  Attended school at least 75% of the time between the date of the student's 
first enrollment and April 1st, if not enrolled by October 1st. 
Excused absences and absences due to illness shall may not be considered absences 
under this subsection. 
B.  Students who attend school under section 5205, subsections 2, 3-A, 4, 5 and 6 
must be counted in the school administrative unit in which they attend school. 
D.  Private schools may report privately funded students on October 1st.  All publicly 
funded students must be reported on October 1st and April 1st in the specified format 
and with the specific content and in accordance with the time schedules established 
by the commissioner. 
Sec. 10.  20-A MRSA §15917, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 632, §3, is 
repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill aligns the board of directors' weighted votes representation in Method B in 
school administrative districts with the percentage in regional school units. 
It exempts certain reformulated school administrative districts that did not operate a 
kindergarten to grade 12 program from the requirement to maintain such a program. 
It corrects certain references to school administrative districts to refer to school 
administrative units. 
It clarifies that the vote regarding the closure of an elementary or secondary school in 
a regional school unit is required only when the school is closed for lack of need. 
It provides that, for regional school units with only one member municipality, the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 4102, subsection 4, paragraph B-1 applies as 
it pertains to the closing of the regional school unit. 
It repeals the annual audit requirement for the purpose of approving private schools 
for tuition purposes. 
It clarifies that elementary school and secondary school closures for regional school 
units that have more than one secondary school must be in accordance with the 
procedures in Title 20-A, section 1512. 
It amends the language on annual student counts for school administrative units and 
publicly funded students in private schools or programs for reporting dates to the 
Department of Education according to time schedules that the Commissioner of 
Education established.  It also amends the laws governing student counts to require that 
student counts are based on the number of students in attendance on October 1st and 
April 1st. 
It repeals an obsolete provision in the laws regarding school construction pertaining 
to an inventory of public school facilities, which was completed as required.