An Act To Align State Law with Current Practice Regarding Required School Attendance
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0151
Committee Amendment CA_A_S30 (Senate)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §4502

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"# "to S.P. 38, L.D. 151, Bill, "An Act To Align 
State Law with Current Practice Regarding Required School Attendance" 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 2 the following: 
'Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §4502, sub-§1-A is enacted to read: 
1-A. Developmentally appropriate educational practices; kindergarten to grade 
2. 
The commissioner shall adopt rules to address developmentally appropriate 
educational practices for kindergarten to grade 2. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this 
subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 275, subchapter 2-A.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 4 the following: 
'Sec. 5. 
Basic approval standards; rulemaking. 
The Commissioner of 
Education shall amend the Department of Education rule Chapter 125: Basic Approval 
Standards: Public Schools and School Administrative Units to address developmentally 
appropriate educational practices for kindergarten to grade 2. The rule must be amended 
to provide for: 
1. Classroom instruction with hands-on experiences with concrete materials and 
opportunities for students to interact with the world, ask questions, seek answers to 
questions and reflect on learning; 
2. Instruction that includes integration of learning experiences from all content areas 
arranged around themes relevant to the lives of students in kindergarten to grade 2; and 
3. An integrated school day that includes opportunities for student-centered and 
teacher-directed time combined with large and small group instruction. 
Rules adopted or amended pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as 
defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
The 
commissioner shall provisionally adopt the amended rules and submit the provisionally 
adopted rules to the Executive Director of the Legislative Council by January 10, 2020.' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"~ "to S.P. 38, L.D. 151 ( ::>-°:, ~ 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the majority repo1i, requires the Commissioner of 
Education to provisionally adopt amendments to the Department of Education rule 
Chapter 125: Basic Approval Standards:'Public Schools and School Administrative Units 
to address developmentally appropriate educational practices for kindergarten to grade 2. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 03/22/19 feac. 
LD 151 
LR 628(02) 
An Act To Align State Law with Current Practice Regarding Required School Attendance 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A" l Z 3<:) 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Undetennined cmTent biennium cost increase - General Fm1d 
Changing the age at which children are required to begin attending school from 7 years of age to 6 years of age may 
result in increased costs to local school administrative m1its (SAU's) beginning in the 2019-2020 school year due to 
the potential for an increase in enrollment. The impact to individual local SAU's can not be determined and will 
depend on the number of 6 year-olds that enroll in school as a result of this legislation versus the number that would 
have enrolled absent this bill. School administrative units will begin receiving state subsidy for these students in the 
year following their enrollment in school based on the state contribution percentage for that year. If the total state 
funding is not increased to cover the additional cost, existing subsidy will be redistributed, with some SAU's receiving 
more funding than they would have received if this requirement had not been in place and some SAU's receiving less. 
Additional costs to the Department of Education associated with the rulemaking pro9ess can be absorbed within 
existing budgeted resources. 
LR0628(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1