Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:

Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.

SUMMARY

This amendment, which is the unanimous report of the committee, amends the bill by requiring school boards to adopt a policy on awarding credit to students who have studied abroad. The school board may include in the policy that the school administrative unit award credit as elective credit, through 3rd-party certification or based on a summative assessment.

This amendment also requires the Department of Education to issue an administrative letter to school boards and superintendents addressing the benefits of proactive communication between the school administrative unit and parents of a student and the student regarding the credit options available to the student prior to the student's participation in the study abroad program.

This amendment also incorporates a fiscal note. The fiscal note identifies the requirement that local school boards adopt a policy on awarding credit to students who have studied abroad as a potential unfunded state mandate. The committee reviewed the fiscal note and determined that requiring a school board to adopt a policy on awarding credit to students who have studied abroad is not a mandate. Because school boards have a duty to adopt policies that govern school administrative units pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 1001, subsection 1-A, and because Title 20-A requires school administrative units to provide students with opportunities for learning in multiple pathways, the requirement that local school boards adopt a policy on awarding credit to students who have studied abroad does not require an expansion or modification of activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures.