Maine § 20-A §4502 School approval requirements

Maine Statutes

§ 20-A §4502 — School approval requirements

Maine·Title 20-A EDUCATION·Part 3 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION·Ch. 206 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

1.General requirements. Elementary and secondary schools and school administrative units, including an educational program or school located in or operated by a juvenile correctional facility, shall meet all requirements of the system of learning results as established in section 6209 as well as other requirements of this Title and other statutory requirements applicable to the public schools and basic school approval standards. Each school administrative unit shall prepare and implement a comprehensive education plan that is aligned with the system of learning results, focused on the learning of all students and oriented to continuous improvement. The comprehensive education plan must include a plan for the graduation requirements of section 4722. This plan must also address all other pl

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1.
General requirements.
Elementary and secondary schools and school administrative units, including an educational program or school located in or operated by a juvenile correctional facility, shall meet all requirements of the system of learning results as established in section 6209 as well as other requirements of this Title and other statutory requirements applicable to the public schools and basic school approval standards. Each school administrative unit shall prepare and implement a comprehensive education plan that is aligned with the system of learning results, focused on the learning of all students and oriented to continuous improvement. The comprehensive education plan must include a plan for the graduation requirements of section 4722. This plan must also address all other plans required by the department.
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 375, subchapter 2‑A.
2.
Curriculum requirements.
Schools must meet all curriculum requirements established in chapter 207‑A. Schools that offer public preschool programs shall demonstrate curriculum practice for those programs that implements the Maine early learning and development standards established by the department and is appropriate for the age and development level of the children.
3.
School year.
Schools shall comply with section 4801.
4.
Staff qualifications.
School boards shall employ only teachers and other educational personnel who are properly certified in accordance with certification rules adopted pursuant to chapter 502 and other professional personnel who hold appropriate professional licenses issued by the State.
4-A.
Affirmative action plan.
Each school administrative unit shall develop an affirmative action plan in accordance with Title 5, chapter 65 as part of the school approval process and update this plan annually as necessary. The affirmative action plan must include a description of the status of the unit's nondiscriminatory hiring practice provided in section 1001, subsection 13 and plans for in-service training programs on gender equity for teachers, administrators and school boards. The unit shall submit any update of the plan annually to the commissioner.
4-B.
Economic discrimination.
A school board may consider the economic conditions within its geographical area of jurisdiction in assigning pupils to schools within a school administrative unit or a centralized education program but may not make assignments solely on the basis of economic condition.
5.
Other requirements.
The state board and the commissioner shall jointly adopt basic school approval rules governing school administrative units and elementary and secondary schools. These rules must set minimum requirements in the following areas, incorporating such requirements as are established by statute:
5-A.
Application.
5-B.
Suicide awareness education and training.
Each school administrative unit shall develop a plan for suicide prevention awareness education for all school personnel and suicide prevention and intervention training for certain personnel in accordance with this subsection.
5-C.
Child sexual abuse prevention education and response.
Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, a school administrative unit that operates a public preschool program or an elementary school shall adopt a written local policy for child sexual abuse prevention education and response that is consistent with the model policy developed by the commissioner pursuant to section 254, subsection 18.
6.
Annual report on comprehensive education plan.
The superintendent shall make an annual report of progress on the comprehensive education plan, developed pursuant to subsection 1, to the citizens of the school administrative unit. The school board shall annually review and approve the plan. The superintendent shall certify progress on the plan to the commissioner on an annual basis and shall submit to the commissioner a copy of the minutes of the school board meeting at which the school board reviewed and approved the plan.
7.
Juvenile corrections facilities.
An educational program or school for juveniles located in or operated by a correctional facility must be reviewed for approval by the department on an annual basis, with special attention paid to alternative educational programming and discharge planning and related transition services provided to juveniles who are released from juvenile correctional facilities and enrolled in public schools in the State. The department shall report to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations, criminal justice and education matters on the results of the review by January 15th of each year.
8.
Waivers.
The commissioner may grant a school administrative unit a waiver of one or more school approval requirements upon receipt of an application from the school administrative unit that includes the basis for the waiver request and a plan to reduce reliance on waivers in subsequent years.
9.
Public preschool programs for children 4 years of age.
To the extent the State provides adequate start-up funding for a public preschool program for children 4 years of age, a school administrative unit that does not have a public preschool program for children 4 years of age may develop a public preschool program implementation plan for children 4 years of age for submission to and approval by the department. Evaluation and approval of the proposal must include consideration of at least the following factors:

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Legislative History

PL 1983, c. 859, §§A20,A25 (NEW). PL 1985, c. 142, §1 (AMD). PL 1985, c. 774, §§4,11 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 415, §11 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 889, §7 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 9, §II2 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 181, §1 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 622, §§X1-3 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 824, §A32 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 644, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 527, §§1-3 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 428, §§1-3 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 696, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 669, §§5-7 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 770, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 790, §N1 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 452, §§8-11 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 454, §§12-16 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 141, §§7-11 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 313, §§1-3 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 669, §§3-5 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 53, §1 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 506, §8 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 581, §5 (AMD). PL 2015, c. 292, §2 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 466, §§5, 6 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 508, §5 (AMD). RR 2019, c. 2, Pt. A, §23 (COR). PL 2021, c. 571, §2 (AMD).