An Act to Address Certification Violations for School Staff
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0803
Sponsors: CROCKETT
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13003-A

Legislative Document
No. 803
H.P. 510
House of Representatives, March 4, 2025
An Act to Address Certification Violations for School Staff
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 27, 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 CROCKETT of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §13003-A is enacted to read:
§13003-A.  Certification violations
The department and school administrative units shall address violations of certification 
requirements in this chapter and in chapter 502 in accordance with this section.
1. Notification to superintendent.  Within 30 days of learning of a certification 
violation, the department shall notify the superintendent of the school administrative unit 
that employs the teacher or educational personnel in violation of the certification 
requirements.
2. Action plan.  Within 30 days of receiving a notification of a violation under 
subsection 1, the superintendent shall develop and notify the department of an action plan 
to resolve the certification violation.  Every 30 days thereafter until the certification 
violation has been resolved, the superintendent shall update the department in writing on 
the status of the certification violation and the implementation of the action plan.
3.  Notice to school board.  If the superintendent fails to provide the department with 
an action plan within 30 days of receiving notification of a certification violation or fails to 
provide written updates to the department pursuant to subsection 2, the department shall 
notify the school board of the school administrative unit.  The school board shall develop 
and notify the department of an action plan to address the certification violation.
4. Monitoring.  The department shall monitor school administrative units for 
compliance with teacher and educational personnel certification requirements in this 
chapter and chapter 502.
5. Penalty.  If a superintendent or school board fails to comply with the requirements 
in subsections 2 and 3, the commissioner may deduct up to $1,000 per day from a school 
administrative unit's state subsidy until the certification violations are resolved or the 
school administrative unit is in compliance with the requirements in subsections 2 and 3.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Education to notify a superintendent of a school 
administrative unit of a certification violation.  The superintendent, within 30 days of 
receiving the notification, must develop and notify the department of an action plan to 
resolve the violation and must notify the department every 30 days thereafter of the status 
of the violation and the implementation of the action plan until the violation is resolved.  
The bill provides that the department is required to monitor school administrative units for 
compliance with certification requirements.  The bill also establishes a penalty of up to 
$1,000 per day deducted from a school administrative unit's state subsidy until certification 
violations are resolved.