SUMMARY

This bill amends the following provisions of the Maine education laws.

1. The bill revises the statute regarding participation in public schools by students enrolled in equivalent instruction programs to allow legal resident pupils of the unorganized territory to participate in regular classes and cocurricular and extracurricular activities in the school administrative unit that the pupil would regularly attend if the pupil were not receiving equivalent instruction. Tuition would be determined as with all students enrolled in an equivalent instruction program.

2. The bill repeals the statutes that require schools to screen children for scoliosis and related spinal abnormalities and report findings from the screening.

3. The bill revises a section of the adult education laws to reduce paperwork and provide a mechanism for school administrative units to directly receive subsidy for secondary school-age students being served through adult education. Currently, a school administrative unit is allowed to request subsidy only on those secondary school-age students who reside in that school unit. The adult education program often serves secondary school-age students from neighboring kindergarten to grade 12 districts and does not receive subsidy on those students. Under this bill, adult education programs would be able to report all the secondary school-age learners in their program, regardless of residency, enabling their school administrative unit to apply for direct subsidy on those students.