An Act To Amend the Special Education, School Health and School Nutrition Laws Regarding Scoliosis Screening, the School Lunch Program, Transitional Services, Gifted and Talented Education Programs and the Maine Mentoring Partnership Grant Program
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6452, as amended by PL 1989, c. 730 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §§6 and 7, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §6662, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 435, §1, is amended to read:
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection do not apply to food and beverages sold or offered at community events or fund-raisers held outside the hours of the normal school day.
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §7801, first ¶, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. JJJJ, §1, is further amended to read:
It is the purpose of this chapter to plan, coordinate and implement service for youth students with handicaps disabilities, 14 years of age or older and under 26 years of age, who are in transition from school to the community. It is also the purpose of this chapter to provide for an efficient and streamlined system of services across state agencies to include local and private entities that effectively deliver a combination of services that meet the needs of youth students with handicaps disabilities by:
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §7802, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 768, §1, is amended to read:
Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §7802, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. JJJJ, §3, is further amended to read:
Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §7803-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. JJJJ, §7, is further amended to read:
§ 7803-A. Transition services
Each school administrative unit shall provide an annual statement of the transition services needed by a handicapped youth student with a disability in transition enrolled in that unit. The statement of transition services must be provided to all handicapped youth students with disabilities in transition who are 16 years of age or older and enrolled in school and may be provided to younger students when the school administrative unit finds it necessary. When appropriate, a cooperative agreement among the Department of Education department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Labor must be included as part of the annual statement describing the responsibilities of and coordination required by those agencies. If a cooperating agency fails to provide agreed-upon services, the school administrative unit may notify the chair of the committee , who may reconvene the cooperating agencies for the purposes of developing alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives. This section does not require any school administrative unit to provide noneducational services to students.
Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §7804, sub-§1-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. JJJJ, §8, is further amended to read:
Sec. 8. 20-A MRSA §7804, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. JJJJ, §8, is further amended to read:
Sec. 9. 20-A MRSA §8102, as amended by PL 2003, c. 477, §§7 and 8, is further amended to read:
§ 8102. Grants to school administrative units
The department may, from federal or other funds available to it, grant funds to a school administrative unit to undertake provide gifted and talented education programs. A grant must be made on the basis of the requirements of the department.
Sec. 10. 20-A MRSA §8104, as amended by PL 2003, c. 477, §§10 and 11, is repealed.
Sec. 11. 20-A MRSA §8105 is enacted to read:
§ 8105. Rules
The commissioner may adopt or amend rules to implement this chapter, including the identification of students, needs and resource assessment and program planning, development and implementation. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 12. 20-A MRSA §9901, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 639, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 13. 34-B MRSA §3004, sub-§3, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 768, §5, is amended to read:
Sec. 14. 34-B MRSA §5433, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 768, §7, is amended to read:
Sec. 15. Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause. In the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 308, in the chapter headnote, the words "transitional services coordination projects for handicapped persons" are amended to read "transitional services coordination projects for students with disabilities" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.
summary
This bill makes the following changes to the education laws.
1. It repeals the requirement for scoliosis screening of students in schools.
2. It aligns foods outside of the school meal program with school nutrition standards and school lunch and milk program statutes and rules. It changes the rule-making provisions, allowing but not requiring the Department of Education to adopt rules in order to complete alignment with current Department of Education rules Chapter 51.
3. It changes references to "handicapped youths" to "students with disabilities" in statutes pertaining to transitional services for students with disabilities.
4. It repeals outdated funding provisions and timelines for implementation of gifted and talented provisions.
5. It repeals the Maine Mentoring Partnership Grant Program since there have been no appropriations for the program for several years and the program no longer is operational.