MOU- School Settlement Funds- 2022

Maine School Administrative Units’ Inclusion in Maine’s Recovery Fund

The Maine Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU”) regarding the Distributor Settlement Agreement and Janssen Settlement Agreement (collectively, the "Agreements") will include:

1. Maine’s Litigating School Administrative Units as defined in the Agreements will sign the participation agreement.
2. Three percent (03%) of Maine’s Recovery Fund shall be earmarked for Maine School Administrative Units’ for special education purposes.

Grant Process:

Maine’s Recovery Council shall notify all Maine school administrative units of the grant process and will invite proposals for projects to provide abatement through the school administrative units. Maine’s Recovery Council will select grant recipients from among the proposals received. The Recovery Council shall ensure that funds to Maine’s schools administrative units will supplement not supplant other school funding. Grant money must be spent on abatement. In all cases, grant applications must demonstrate that funds will:

(a) Supplement, not supplant, other source(s) of funding, and,

(b) Be used to extend and/or expand existing services, or provide new services above and beyond services already provided.

(c) Prior to deciding on grant applications the Recovery Council will consult with an expert in special education matters selected by the Maine Litigating School Administrative Units.

Allocation of School Administrative Unit Funds:

The awards shall be based on published criteria, known to all applicants beforehand. The Recovery Council must direct funding to educational supports. The Recovery Council will also aim to maximize impact (and not attempt a pro rata distribution). Although these factors are not dispositive, the Recovery Council will give priority, in funding educational supports, to:

(a) Applications from school administrative units (or consortia of units) in areas hardest hit by the opioid crisis.

(b) Applications from poorly funded school administrative units or school administrative units with low per-pupil spending.

(c) Applications that target services to children under the age of 8, where the potential gains are the highest.

(d) Applications that show that funds received will be used to leverage matching funds from other sources, increasing their impact.

(e) Applications that show how programs funded by the grant will become self-sustaining once the grant money has been spent.

(f) Applications for funding for direct services to students. Funding is not for research.

(g) Applications for projects that are innovative or designed to be replicated elsewhere.

Units will be encouraged to apply for funding where it can have the greatest impact, whether for classroom services, school-based behavioral and mental services, instructional innovations, or other school-based supports. Applications from Maine Litigating School Administrative Units shall be given a reasonable plus factor in consideration of grants.

Illustrations of Uses:

Uses that align with abatement goals and the criteria identified above might include:

• Grants for direct services, including to hire special education teachers, behavior specialists, counselors, social workers, reading coaches, occupational, mental health, or physical therapists;
• Grants for multi-disciplinary programs, such as partnerships between schools and medical or social services providers; or
• Grants to develop models, with statewide applicability, for how to train and develop staff to provide special education or multi- disciplinary services to abate the ravages of the opioid epidemic in schools.