An Act To Require Every School Administrative J~it To Have a Food Service Director
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0813
Committee Amendment CA_A_H388 (House)
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6602

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" Q.. " to H.P. 609, L.D. 813, Bill, "An Act To 
Require Every School Administrative J~it To Have a Food Service Director" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Improve the Administration of School Food Service Programs' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6602, sub-§3, ~B, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 
8, is amended to read: 
B. 
Shall hire the necessary employees to manage and operate their school food 
service programs. 
A school board shall designate a person to serve as the food 
service director. A food service director may be hired by more than one school 
administrative unit pursuant to a cooperative agreement entered into under chapter 
113-A. 
Sec. 2. 
Commissioner of Education to develop qualifications for food 
service directors and provide assistance to school administrative units. No 
later than January 15, 2012, the Commissioner of Education shall establish qualifications 
for food service directors through rulemaking under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
20-A, section 6602, subsection 5. The commissioner may adopt rules that recognize 
experience and demonstrated skills in place of educational requirements. 
The Department of Education shall facilitate the sharing of information among food 
service directors, including menus, nutritional information, cooperative buying 
opportunities and guidance on food safety regulations. The Commissioner of Education 
shall make a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs no 
later than February 1, 2012 consisting of the rules adopted pursuant to this section and 
actions taken to facilitate the sharing of information . 
Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
.. ,. 
~ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " 
to H.P. 609, L.D. 813 
Sec. 3. Effective date. That section of this Act that amends the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 20-A, section 6602, subsection 3, paragraph B takes effect August 1,2012.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the minority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Education 
and Cultural Affairs. It changes the requirement in the bill that a school board hire a 
professional food service director meeting certain qualifications to a requirement that a 
school board designate a person to serve as the food service director. It directs the 
Commissioner of Education to use existing rulemaking authority to establish 
qualifications for a food service director. 
It directs the Department of Education to 
facilitate the sharing of information among food service directors and to report to the 
Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on these efforts. It adds an 
effective date of August 1,2012 to the requirement that a school board designate a food 
service director. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05125111 frac 
LD 813 
LR 1147(02) 
An Act To Require Every School Administrative Unit To Have a Food Service Director 
. Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "~,, 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
Unit Affected 
Local Cost 
Adds the requirement that school boards designate a person to serve as the food 
School 
Moderate 
service director for the school administrative unit. 
limited scope 
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 of the 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 
Additional costs to local school administrative units (SAU's) to have one person designated to serve as the food 
service director and the ability of the local SAU's to absorb those costs within existing resources can not be 
determined at this time and will depend on the qualifications for food service directors established by the Department 
of Education by rule. Information provided by the department indicates that 130 of the 184 total SAU's currently 
report someone as a food service director. The remaining 54 SAD's have someone that performs the duties, but that 
person may have another job title or perform other primary functions in addition to overseeing food service. 
Additional costs to the Department of Education associated with rulemaking can be absorbed within existing budgeted 
resources. 
LR1147(02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of I