PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Allow Parents To Apply to the Commissioner of Education To Enroll Their Children in a Receiving School Administrative Unit and To Remove Limitations on Which Students May Be So Enrolled
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §254, sub-§19, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 448, §1, is amended to read:
 
19. Designation of school to enroll students.   The commissioner may designate a school administrative unit as the receiving school administrative unit for  a any student who resides in a school administrative unit that neither maintains a school nor contracts for school privileges pursuant to chapter 115 and is unable to find a school administrative unit willing to enroll the student in one of its schools, upon a written request from the superintendent of the school administrative unit where the student resides setting forth the student's circumstances giving rise to the request. Upon written request by the student's parent or guardian for a change of enrollment for any reason to any other school administrative unit submitted to the superintendent of the school administrative unit where the student resides, the superintendent shall submit a written request to the commissioner for designation.
 
A. If the commissioner makes a designation under this subsection, the school administrative unit where the student resides shall pay tuition for that student to the receiving school administrative unit as calculated in accordance with this subsection and chapter 219.
 
B. If a student subject to a designation under this subsection is receiving special education services, the receiving school administrative unit designated by the commissioner under this subsection is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education to the student, subject to the provisions of this subsection. The receiving school administrative unit shall invite the school administrative unit where the student resides to participate in individualized education program team meetings for the student, but the authorized representative of the receiving school administrative unit shall make the decision on any issue on which consensus is not reached. The school administrative unit where the student resides shall, in addition to tuition payable pursuant to chapter 219, pay to the receiving school administrative unit:
 
(1) Special education tuition;
 
(2) Any costs not included in the computation of special education tuition directly related to the student's special education program; and
 
(3) Any costs associated with due process proceedings in connection with the student's special education program.
 
C. Once the commissioner makes a designation under this subsection, the student must be enrolled in the receiving school administrative unit. If dissatisfied with the commissioner's decision, the superintendent of the school administrative unit where the student resides or the superintendent of the receiving school administrative unit may, within 10 calendar days of the commissioner's decision, request that the state board review the designation. The state board shall review the commissioner's determinations and communicate with the commissioner, the superintendents and the parent of the student. The state board may approve or disapprove the designation. The state board shall make a decision within 45 calendar days of receiving the request and shall provide to the commissioner, the superintendents and the parent of the student a written decision describing the basis of the state board's determination. The state board's decision is final and binding.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1001, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2015, c. 448, §2, is further amended to read:
 
8. Operate public preschool programs, kindergarten and grades one to 12.   They shall either operate programs in kindergarten and grades one to 12 or otherwise provide for students to participate in those grades as authorized elsewhere in this Title. To the extent the State provides adequate start-up funding, they may operate public preschool programs or provide for students to participate in such programs in accordance with the requirements of this Title. They shall determine which students attend each school, classify them and transfer them from school to school where more than one school is maintained at the same time. If a school administrative unit neither maintains a school nor contracts for school privileges pursuant to chapter 115 and a student who resides in the school administrative unit is unable to enroll in another school administrative unit, the school board shall direct the superintendent of the school administrative unit where the student resides to make a written request to the commissioner to designate a place of enrollment for the student, pursuant to section 254, subsection 19.
 
SUMMARY
Current law allows the superintendent of a school administrative unit that neither maintains a school nor contracts for school privileges to request the Commissioner of Education to designate a school administrative unit as the receiving school administrative unit for a student who is unable to find a school administrative unit willing to enroll the student in one of its schools.
This bill allows any student's parent or guardian to make a request for any reason to the Commissioner of Education for the student to be transferred. Upon the commissioner's approval, the student must be enrolled in the receiving school administrative unit.