Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

APPROVED                 CHAPTER
                                                                  MAY 23, 2025                  112
                                                                 BY GOVERNOR              PUBLIC LAW
                                  STATE OF MAINE
                                          _____
                           IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
                        TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
                                          _____
                                    H.P. 50 - L.D. 86
                 An Act to Update the Laws Regarding Education
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §1, sub-§13-A, ¶B-1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 477, §2, is
amended by amending subparagraph (1) to read:
        (1) Who is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing or economic
        hardship or a similar reason; is living in a motel, hotel, trailer park or camping
        ground due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodation; is living in an
        emergency or transitional shelter; or is abandoned in a hospital; or is awaiting
        foster care placement;
    Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1651, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 8, is
amended to read:
     4. District school committee to act as district board of trustees. A community
school district may vote at any time on the article in section 1602, subsection 1, paragraph
C, to see determine if the district school committee shall be is authorized to perform the
function of the district board of trustees. If the municipalities vote affirmatively on that
article, the district school committee shall must perform the duties of the district board of
trustees under this chapter.
    Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §1653, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 1993, c. 668, §1, is
further amended to read:
    C. Notwithstanding paragraphs A and B, the voters of a district may vote on an
    appropriate article at meetings called by the municipal officers of the respective
    member towns, in accordance with section 1602, to establish a fixed common date for
    all newly elected school committee members to assume their terms of office. The
    common date must be subsequent to the last annual municipal election within the
    district, but may be no later than July 1st of the next fiscal year. The adoption of such
    a common date is conditional upon the favorable passage of this article at each of the
    meetings of the member towns. This paragraph does not apply to commencement of
    terms of office of members elected to fill vacancies. Vacancies are filled for the
    remainder of the unexpired term as provided in subsection 2, paragraph A.
                                   Page 1 - 132LR0131(03)
    Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §1751-A is enacted to read:
§1751-A. Withdrawal from community school district
    The residents of a participating municipality within a community school district may
petition and vote to withdraw from the district in the same manner as a participating
municipality within a regional school unit may petition to withdraw in accordance with
section 1466.
    Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §2951, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 8, is
repealed.
    Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §3804, as amended by PL 2019, c. 219, §3, is further amended
to read:
§3804. Audit
    An education service center shall adhere to generally accepted accounting principles
and shall annually engage an external auditor to do an independent audit of the education
service center's finances. The education service center shall submit the audit to its members
and to the department. The audit must be conducted in the same manner as a school
administrative unit audit in accordance with chapter 221, subchapter 2. An education
service center under the fiscal authority of a school administrative unit may be included in
the audit of that school administrative unit and is not required to file an additional audit
under this section.
    Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §6051, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 668, §32, is further
amended to read:
    4. Initial report to commissioner. On or before November 1st, An initial report to
the commissioner must be included as part of the audit under subsection 1. In the report the
school board shall provide the commissioner with:
    C. Written determination of whether or not proper budgetary controls are in place;
    D. A written determination of whether or not the annual financial data submitted to
    the department is correct, including submission of an audited reconciliation of the
    annual financial data prepared and certified by the auditor; and
    E. A written determination as to whether the school administrative unit has complied
    with applicable provisions of the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act.
    Sec. 8. 20-A MRSA c. 608, as amended, is repealed.
                                   Page 2 - 132LR0131(03)
Statutes affected: 
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 112: 20-A.1, 20-A.1651, 20-A.1653, 20-A.2951, 20-A.3804, 20-A.6051