ESEA Monthly Newsletter

February 1, 2022

We hope to provide you with helpful information monthly through the newsletter and office hours. Our newsletters will often include:

  • General and Title Specific Updates from the ESEA Federal Programs Team
  • Fun Data Fact(s)
  • Friendly Reminders for Planning and Program Implementation
  • Professional Learning Opportunities
  • Contact Information

Virtual Office Hours

Tuesday, February 8 @ 9:00 AM

Contact: Cheryl.Lang@maine.gov or your regional program manager for the link.

General & Title Specific Updates from the ESEA Federal Programs Team

Title IA Comparability for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022

The FY22 Comparability reports and data were reviewed by the ESEA Team during January and a copy of the report and backup documentation were sent to the Superintendent of Schools and the ESEA Coordinator. You should review these documents and let us know if you have any questions. You must maintain this documentation as it is one of the required documents for the Single Audit Process. A list of SAUs required to comply with comparability requirements is posted to the Title I Comparability website. Additional information regarding comparability definitions and processes is posted to the Title I Comparability website Review this comparability information to further understand the FY22 Comparability Report that you receive. Questions regarding ESEA Title I Comparability and the reports can be directed to Jessica Caron, Title IA, at Jessica.s.caron@maine.gov.

Title IA Reallocated Funds Grant Opportunity

The ESEA Federal Programs Team will be reallocating Title IA funds for summer school programming, providing districts with an opportunity to create intervention services to support students who are academically challenged and meet the SAU’s Title I eligibility criteria at Title I schools. We will be launching an online application in the Grants4ME system next week and will send out a notification through the Grants4ME system to all ESEA Coordinators. A priority for awarding these funds is for a district to have a poverty percentage of 30 percent or higher. Each application will be scored using the reallocation scoring procedures and a rank-ordered list of SAUs applying for these funds will be established. SAUs will be notified in late March whether or not there were sufficient funds to support their application. The due date for the application is Monday, February 28, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. Any applications received after that day and time will not be considered.

Title V FY23 Eligibility

In a few short weeks, the Final Eligibility Spreadsheet for Federal FY22/State FY23 Title V will be released by the U.S. Department of Education REAP team. Once released, the state RLIS allocation estimates will be calculated and any district that is eligible will be notified. Districts that are dual-eligible for both the federal Small Rural Schools Achievement (SRSA) grant and the state Rural Low-Income Schools (RLIS) grant will also be notified and provided information in order to help make the best decision possible based on the information we have available. Districts that are marked as Hold Harmless (HH) are locked into a static allocation amount of 100% of the FY20 allocation for this year. Next year that percentage begins to drop and will continue over the next 5 years until that percentage becomes zero. Any questions related to the Federal FY22/State FY23 Title V eligibility can be directed to Daniel Weeks at Daniel.r.weeks@maine.gov or 207-624-6749.

Fun Data Fact(s)

Please join us in welcoming Rita Pello to our ESEA Team as the new Title I Regional Program Manager. We are extremely excited to have her working with us to support all of you. Rita is originally from the Midwest but is thrilled to set her roots down in Maine. When she isn’t watching true crime documentaries, she is outdoor adventuring with her husband, Scott and her dog, Mishka.

Friendly Reminders for Planning and Program Implementation for the month of February

Communication

Please remember, the best person to connect with to answer questions related to ESEA Federal Programs is your Regional Program Manager. They will get you the answer if they do not have it readily available.

  • Aroostook County & Kennebec County’s Regional Program Manager is Jessica Caron at jessica.s.caron@maine.gov or (207) 458-0334.
  • Washington County & the Midcoast Region is Ryan Reed at ryan.reed@maine.gov or (207) 530-2129.
  • Penquis Region & York County’s Regional Program Manager is Travis Doughty at travis.w.doughty@maine.gov or (207) 624-6709.
  • Hancock County, Western Maine, & Cumberland County’s Regional Program Manager is Daniel Weeks at daniel.r.weeks@maine.gov or (207) 624-6749.

Typical Turnaround Time

If you try to reach any one in the ESEA Department via e-mail or telephone (and we are unable to answer), the typical turn-around time is within 48 hours.

If you submit, an application, a performance report, or a carryover report for review and potential approval, the typical turn-around time is within two weeks.

If you have not heard back from us within the time frame we have outlined, please feel free to reach out to us again.

Performance Report

As of February 1, 2022, 43% of districts have received approval on their FY21 Performance Report submission. This means the remaining 57% of districts have an FY21 ESEA Performance Report in an unapproved state (not submitted, returned for updates, etc.). We understand that many competing priorities have made completing Performance Reports difficult this year. However, we ask that all districts with outstanding FY21 Performance Reports work to resubmit them by 2/28/22.

If your district has invoices that still need to be submitted for the Performance Report timeframe, the ESEA team is waiving the three-month rule and allowing districts to submit one invoice per title that covers the entire timeframe to aid in expediting this process. Please note that this only applies to invoices for FY21 through 9/30/21. Please reach out to your ESEA Regional Program Manager if you have any questions.

Parent & Family Engagement

As parent and family engagement activities are being conducted, remember to gather evidence of meetings including meeting notices, agendas, itineraries, surveys, evaluations, etc.

Fiscal

On January 28th, the ESEA Federal Programs team hosted a Roundtable Discussion to address questions about the nuances of proportionate payments due to transferred funds in the Grants4ME system. The recorded video of that discussion can be found here. The slide deck can be found on our website.

Professional Learning Opportunities

Professional Learning offered through the Department of Education is a fantastic resource for supporting leadership and development for administrators and educators as well as promoting better practice. The Department’s professional learning calendar link is https://www.maine.gov/doe/calendar. This calendar has increased functionality including a search feature.

For more information about professional learning opportunities specific to Tier III identified schools, please contact Teri Peaslee, Professional Development Coordinator at teri.peaslee@maine.gov.

Contact Information

As always, reach out to your ESEA Regional Program Manager with questions. The contact information can be found at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/esea/contact. We encourage and appreciate your feedback being sent to: ESEA Federal Programs Director, Cheryl Lang at cheryl.lang@maine.gov.