An Act To Provide for School Enrollment and an Appeal Process in Specific Cases in Which Students Do Not Reside with Parents
Mandate preamble. This measure requires one or more local units of government to expand or modify activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues but does not provide funding for at least 90% of those expenditures. Pursuant to the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 21, 2/3 of all of the members elected to each House have determined it necessary to enact this measure.
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §5205, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 365, §1, is further amended to read:
If a person who is not the student's parent or legal guardian requests that a student be considered a resident under this subsection, the school administrative unit shall take reasonable steps to attempt to notify a parent or legal guardian of the request.
In determining whether it is in the best interest of the student to enroll in the school administrative unit, the superintendent shall consult with knowledgeable employees of relevant school administrative units that the superintendent considers appropriate.
The superintendent shall send written notice of the enrollment determination to the person making a request within 10 calendar days of receiving the request to enroll a student pursuant to this subsection. If the determination is to deny enrollment because the superintendent determines that enrollment in the school administrative unit is not in the best interest of the student as provided in this subsection, the superintendent shall send to the person who made the request written notice of the denial of enrollment, the reason for the denial and the right to appeal to the commissioner.
The commissioner shall review the superintendent's determination on the request of appeal by the student's parent or legal guardian or the person with whom the student is residing and shall make a decision within 7 calendar days of receiving the appeal. The commissioner's decision is final and binding. Upon request of the superintendent of schools in the unit in which a student is placed in accordance with this subsection, the state share percentage for subsidized educational costs for that student is equivalent to the state share percentage of the unit in which the student's parent or legal guardian resides or the average state share percentage, whichever is greater. If the parent or legal guardian does not reside in the State or can not be located, the subsidy is the state average subsidy.
Sec. 2. Model explanation. The Commissioner of Education shall prepare and distribute a model for superintendents of schools to use to explain the appeal process when a superintendent determines attendance by a student in the superintendent's school administrative unit is not in the student's best interest under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 5205, subsection 2.