An Act to Update Department of Education Reporting
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 2020
Sponsors: MURPHY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §254, 20-A MRSA §5051-A, 20-A MRSA §7006, 20-A MRSA §7209, 20-A MRSA §7209-A, 20-A MRSA §8803, 20-A MRSA §10011, 20-A MRSA §13008

Legislative Document
No. 2020
H.P. 1350
House of Representatives, December 5, 2025
An Act to Update Department of Education Reporting 
Requirements
Submitted by the Department of Education pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 3, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MURPHY of Scarborough.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §254, sub-§17, as amended by PL 2021, c. 12, §1, is further 
amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
The commissioner, in consultation with an organization representing school principals, 
shall report no later than January 31, 2022 and annually every 5 years thereafter to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural 
affairs on any available data on the incidence of concussions sustained by student athletes 
in the State using existing or new data collection systems.  The report must include 
recommendations on best practices for the collection of such data.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §5051-A, sub-§3, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 533, §3, is 
amended to read:
B.  The commissioner shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature 
before January 15th March 1st.  The report must aggregate the information provided 
by superintendents under paragraph A and must evaluate the effect of state laws on the 
incidence of truancy.
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §7006, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W, §11, is 
amended to read:
5.  Annual report.  The department shall report annually by March 1st to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters. The 
report must include, for school administrative units, each of the components required of the 
Child Development Services System pursuant to section 7209, subsection 4, paragraph E 
E-1. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education 
matters may report out a bill related to the report to the session of the Legislature in which 
the report is received.
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §7209, sub-§4, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W, 
§14, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §7209, sub-§4, ¶E-1 is enacted to read:
E-1.  To report annually by March 30th to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs, the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services 
matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
appropriations and financial affairs on the performance of the Child Development 
Services System. This report must be posted on the publicly accessible website of the 
department. The report must include the following information for the Child 
Development Services System in total and separately for the services provided to 
eligible children from birth to under 3 years of age and at least 3 years of age and under 
years of age when the information can be separated for these age categories:
(1) Actual expenditures compared to the budget for each of the last 3 fiscal years 
by expense type and function, including salaries, benefits, contracted services, 
transportation, direct services and administration;
(2) Actual revenues received compared to the budget for each of the last 3 fiscal 
years by revenue source;
(3) The total dollar value of MaineCare claims paid through the Department of 
Health and Human Services for each of the last 3 fiscal years for services provided 
pursuant to an individualized education program or individualized family service 
plan that were billed directly to the MaineCare program by contracted service 
providers;
(4) The number of children referred to the Child Development Services System 
under Part C in the prior year by referral source, including the screening programs 
in Title 22, sections 1532, 8824 and 8943, and the percentage of children referred 
found eligible for services;
(5) The number of children who transitioned in the prior year from early 
intervention services for children from birth to under 3 years of age to special 
education and related services for children at least 3 years of age and under 6 years 
of age;
(6) The percentage of children who received direct services in the prior year who 
had MaineCare coverage for all or some of the services specified in their 
individualized education programs or individualized family service plans and the 
percentage of children who received direct services in the prior year who had 
private insurance coverage for all or some of the services specified in their 
individualized education programs or individualized family service plans;
(7) A list of Child Development Services System regional sites and their locations;
(8) The total number of Child Development Services System employees by 
function;
(9) The number of private providers that contracted with the Child Development 
Services System to provide direct services, including transportation services, and 
the number of contracted providers delivering each type of service in the prior 
fiscal year;
(10) The number of children who received direct services provided by Child 
Development Services System employees in the prior fiscal year and the number 
of children who received direct services provided by contracted private providers 
in the prior fiscal year; and
(11) A description of current and emerging trends and challenges that are 
influencing or are expected to have an effect on costs, services or service delivery 
methods of the Child Development Services System;
Sec. 6.  20-A MRSA §7209-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 643, Pt. W, §17, 
is amended to read:
6.  Annual report.  Beginning March 1, 2025 and in each subsequent year of the 
transition phase in subsections 1 to 3, the department shall submit a report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters. The 
report must include data and information regarding the number of school administrative 
units that have assumed responsibility for child find activities and for ensuring a free, 
appropriate public education and progress on the implementation of the transition under 
this section. During the transition, this report must include the annual report requirements 
under section 7006, subsection 5. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over education matters may report out a bill related to the report to the session 
of the Legislature in which the report is received.:
A.  Enrollment data for preschool special education students being served in school 
administrative units;
B.  Expenditure data for preschool special education programming in school 
administrative units;
C.  Data regarding contracted services provided by Child Development Services 
System support and service hubs to school administrative units;
D.  Data regarding MaineCare claims paid through the Department of Health and 
Human Services for children in preschool special education programming; and
E.  Data regarding current and emerging trends and challenges that are influencing or 
expected to influence costs, services or service delivery methods.
The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education matters 
may report out a bill related to the report to the session of the Legislature in which the 
report is received.
Sec. 7.  20-A MRSA §8803, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 32, §1, is amended 
to read:
The department shall report by November 15, 2021 and annually thereafter by March 
1st to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education 
and cultural affairs on school administrative unit summer educational programs, including 
but not limited to summer school and extended school year programs. The report must 
include the number of school administrative units administering such programs, the nature 
of the programs, the number of participants in the programs, any partnerships with 
community-based organizations to provide the programs and the sources of funding for the 
programs. The report must also include recommendations, and any suggested legislation, 
on improving summer educational programs and identification of any additional funding 
needed to ensure the success of summer educational programs.
Sec. 8.  20-A MRSA §10011, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 232, §1, is amended 
to read:
3.  Report.  The department shall report the information compiled under subsection 2, 
including national comparisons of retention rates and graduation rates for peer institutions, 
annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
education and cultural affairs and publish the report on the department's publicly accessible 
website.
Sec. 9.  20-A MRSA §13008, as amended by PL 2017, c. 235, §§7 and 8 and affected 
by §41, is further amended by amending the section headnote to read:
§13008.  Educator workforce preparation program data
Sec. 10.  20-A MRSA §13008, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 235, §8 and 
affected by §41, is further amended to read:
2.  Data collection.  The department shall collect data relating to educator preparation 
programs and educator credentialing, including but not limited to the following information 
with respect to each educator preparation program:
A.  The number of program completers;
A-1.  For each educator preparation program, the program's authorization status, time 
of next review and added or subtracted approved programs within the past year;
B.  The annual number of program completers applicants who pass the teacher 
qualifying examinations under section 13032 and the number of those who attain a 
conditional, professional or emergency teacher certificate in the State, broken down by 
type of certificate;
C.  The annual number of program completers educators who proceed from a 
conditional or emergency certificate to a professional certificate; and
D.  The number of program completers educators who are teaching in schools in this 
State 3 and 5 years after they complete that educator preparation program. obtain 
conditional, professional or emergency certification; and
E.  Workforce shortage data provided to the United States Department of Education.
SUMMARY
This bill updates various provisions of law that require the Department of Education to 
make annual reports to the Legislature. The bill changes the reporting dates of several 
required annual reports. It also changes the type of information the department must include 
in: 
1. Its report concerning the Child Development Services System;
2. Its report during the period in which school administrative units are transitioning to 
take over responsibility of child find activities and for ensuring a free, appropriate public 
education for children eligible under Part B, Section 619 of the federal Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act; and 
3. Its reports related to educator workforce preparation and postsecondary retention 
and graduation rates.