An Act To Implement Certain Recommendations of the Task Force To Identify Special Education Cost Drivers and Innovative Approaches to Services
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1902
Committee Amendment CA_A_H779 (House)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §2907

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "If" to H.P. 1339, L.D. 1902, Bill, "An Act To 
Implement Certain Recommendations of the Task Force To Identify Special Education 
Cost Drivers and Innovative Approaches to Services" 
Amend the bill by inserting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §2907, as amended by PL 1989, c. 700, Pt. A, §47, is further 
amended to read: 
§2907. Nontraditional limited purpose school approval 
1. 
Requirements. A nonprofit institution, not otherwise approved under this 
subchapter, may operate as an approved nontraditional limited purpose school if it 
demonstrates a commitment to the educational process and to the State's youth by 
possessing the following: 
A. An incorporated council, board of trustees, board of directors or other governing 
board composed of a cross section of the community served by the school; 
B. An established educational plan; 
C. 
A written curriculum with appropriate goals, objectives and instructional 
strategies; 
D. Specific instructional time commensurate with the educational activities planned; 
E. Facilities that comply with state health, safety and fire codes; 
F. An instructional staff certified by the Department of Education where appropriate 
and endorsement by professional boards in areas where the State does not have 
certification standards or professional standards agreed upon by the department and 
the respective institution; 
G. School health services that include a registered nurse in residence when students 
are in attendance or the appointment of a school or consulting physician; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
C/\) 
COMMl'fTEE AMENDMENT .t::: H,P, 1339, LD. 1902 
H. Established written emergency and safety procedures, including periodic fire 
drills whenever appropriate; 
I. The unique up-to-date equipment necessary to the services provided; 
J. A demonstrated commitment to work cooperatively with state public schools in an 
effort to meet the specific aspiration needs of Maine students; and 
K. Scholarship assistance to the State's youth. 
If approved by the commissioner to provide a special education program, a nonprofit 
institution, not otherwise approved under this subchapter, may operate as an approved 
nontraditional limited purpose school if, in addition to meeting the other requirements of 
this subsection, it demonstrates compliance with all requirements of chapters 301, 3 03 
and 305 and applicable federal statutes and regulations prior to the enrollment of any 
special education student at public expense. 
The commissioner shall promulgate adopt rules, pursuant to the Maine 1A.:dministrative 
Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, which &hall must incorporate the requirements set 
forth in this subsection. 
2. Approval; report. The commissioner shall base approval of a school under this 
section on the school's ability to meet the requirements set forth in subsection 1 and on an 
annual on-site review by the department. The institution may not operate as an approved 
school prior to approval by the commissioner. The school shall submit to the department 
an annual report on its activities and compliance with this section. 
3. Removal of basic approval. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
commissioner may remove approval from any nontraditional limited purpose school for 
failure to meet applicable approval requirements. Except as permitted under Title 5, 
section 10004, the commissioner shall give a school notice and opportunity for hearing 
before removing approval. 
The notice given and any hearing must conform to the 
requirements of Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 4. 
4. Ineligible for state subsidy. A school eligible for approval under this section 
&hall :i§. not lw eligible for state subsidy. 
5. Credit. High school credit for programs completed at a school approved under 
this section may be granted to students by the school in which they are enrolled full time. 
A school approved under this section may not award high school credit. 
6. 
Taxation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner's 
approval of an institution as a nontraditional, limited purpose school &hall does not alter 
that institution's current status for the purpose of state or local taxation.' 
Amend the bill in section 2 in §4710 in subsection 1 in the 3rd line (page 2, line 25 in 
L.D.) by striking out the following: 
11prekindergarten
and inserting the following: 
7 
1kindergarten1 
8 
Amend the bill by strildng out all of sections 3 to 5. 
Amend the bill in section 6 in the 2nd to 4th lines (page 3, lines 42 and 43 and page 
4, line 1 in L.D.) by striking out the following: 
11targeted assistance through federal Title 
I funds in order to become eligible for shared funding for the development of school-
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
r'-,1) 
'a,} 
COMMIITER AMENDMENT "8" to H.P. 1339, L.~. 1902 
wide" and inserting the following: 'schoolwide status with respect to federal Title I funds 
in order to be able to use the funds for funding for the development of schoolwide' 
Amend the bill in section 6 in the 2nd line from the end (page 4, line 7 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "targeted assistance" and inserting the following: 'schoolwide 
status' 
Amend the bill in section 7 in the 4th line from the end (page 4, line 20 in L.D.) by 
striking out the following: "January 15, 2019" and inserting the following: 'April 1, 
2019' 
Amend the bill by strildng out all of section 8. 
Amend the bill by strildng out all of sections 10 to 12 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 10. Review of maintenance of effort allocation component. 
The 
Department of Education shall review the maintenance of effort funding component of 
the essential programs and services funding formula to determine the purpose of the 
funding, whether it is accomplishing this purpose, why some school administrative units' 
expenditures are consistent with the funding formula allocation model and some are not 
and how to increase the equity of special education allocations across all school 
administrative units. The department shall invite input from state and local stakeholders 
and policy makers. 
The department shall report its findings and recommendations, 
including any statutory changes, to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs not later than March 15, 2019. After 
review of the report, the committee may report out a bill related to increasing equity of 
special education allocations across all school administrative units.' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the last paragraph in the 3rd line from the end (page 6, 
line 25 in L.D.) by strildng out the following: 
"January 15, 2019" and inserting the 
following: 'January 15, 2020' 
Amend the bill in section 13 in the last paragraph in the last line (page 6, line 27 in 
L.D.) by striking out the following: "First" and inserting the following: 'Second' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 14 and inserting in its place the 
following: 
'Sec. 14. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
Special Services Team Z080 
Initiative: Provides one-time funds for the pilot program to review and improve 
MaineCare billing systems and procedures as they relate to school administrative units' 
billing for medically necessary services. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
2017-18 
$0 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
2018-19 
$150,000 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·..ft:. to H.P. 1339, L.D. 1902 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
$0 
$150,000 
Special Services Team Z080 
Initiative: Provides funds for one Public Service Coordinator position and 2 Education 
Specialist III positions and related All Other costs to provide technical assistance, 
administration and monitoring of the tiered system of support for response to intervention 
systems. 
GENERAL FUND 
POSITIONS-LEGISLATIVE COUNT 
Personal Services 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
GENERAL FUND 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
2017-18 
2018-19 
0.000 
3.000 
$0 
$265,542 
$0 
$19,593 
$0 
$285,135 
2017-18 
2018-19 
$0 
$435,135 
$0 
$435,135 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, narrows the focus of 
the bill to the addition of response to intervention systems to ensure an all-encompassing, 
tiered system of support for general and special education students; collaboration between 
general education and special education, including a clarification that the Department of 
Education is required to facilitate a process to help schools apply for schoolwide status 
with respect to federal Title I funds; promotion of dual certification programs by the 
Department of Education and the State Board of Education; recodification of the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, Part 4, subpaii 1, concerning special education, by the 
Office of Policy and Legal Analysis and the Office of the Revisor of Statutes; a review of 
the purpose of the maintenance of effo1i component of the essential programs and 
services funding formula and whether it is accomplishing this purpose and how to 
increase equity among all school administrative units; and a review and improvement of 
MaineCare billing systems and procedures through a pilot program through the 
Department of Education in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human 
Services. The amendment also adds 4 provisions to the statute regarding nontraditional 
limited purpose schools that were part of Department of Education rnle, Chapter 250, 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT /r to H.P. 1339, L.D. 1902 
which has been repealed. The amendment also delays the reporting dates to ensure 
adequate time for review. The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations 
section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 04/18/18 fea~ 
LD 1902 
LR2942(02) 
An Act To Implement Certain Recommendations of the Task Force To Identify Special Education 
Cost Drivers and Innovative Approaches to Services 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment #{ff-1'11} 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
General Fund 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded 
FY 2017-18 
FY 2018-19 
$0 
$435,135 
$0 
$435,135 
Requires all school administrative units to enhance and upgrade the system of 
response to intervention for kinderga1ten to grade 12 to become an all-
encompassing, tiered system of support for all general and special education 
students who are not progressing towards meeting the content standards of the 
paramenters for essential instruction and graduation requirements. 
Projections 
FY 2019-20 
$323,759 
$323,759 
Unit Affected 
School 
Projections 
FY2020-21 
$338,967 
$338,967 
Local Cost 
Significant 
statewide 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill 
does require a local unit of govemment to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures 
from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund 
appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a 
Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from 
the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local 
units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
This bill includes General Fund appropriations totaling $435,135 in fiscal year 2018-19 to the Special Services Team 
program within the Department of Education for the costs associated with enhancing and upgrading the system of 
response to intervention and a review of the MaineCare billing systems and procedures as it relates to school 
administrative units (SAU's) billing for medically necessary services. 
LR2942(02)- Fiscal Note - Page 1 of2 
Cir {flr77CJ) 
Of this amount, $285,135 is provided to establish one Public Service Coordinator position and 2 Education Specialist 
III positions and related All Other costs associated with the upgrading and enhancing of the response to intervention 
systems including administration and monitoring as well as providing technical assistance to SAU's. Additionally, 
$150,000 is provided in fiscal year 2018-19 only for the review of the MaineCare billing systems and processes as it 
relates to SAU's billing for medically necessary services: 
Any additional costs to the Department of Health and Human Services to take part in the working group to address 
problems in the current MaineCare billing system and processes for medically necessary services are expected to be 
minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. The additional costs to the Legislature for 
recodification of statutes concerning special education can be absorbed utilizing existing budgeted staff resources 
assuming this work is completed during the interim periods between legislative sessions. 
LR2942(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 2 of2