From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Tue Nov 3 08:35:54 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 08:35:54 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #43 - Planning for Anticipated Reductions in Subsidy Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B07951389@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO: 43 POLICY CODE: DB TO: Superintendents FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 3, 2009 RE: Planning for Anticipated Reductions in Subsidy This is a brief update on the status of education budget reduction targets. As I informed superintendents in an October 13 Informational Letter, we have been given initial education budget reduction targets of $38.1 million for the current fiscal year and $36 million for FY 2011. These are initial budget targets and I was charged with submitting a report to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services on how these reductions could be made. I delivered that report last week. Governor John Baldacci will review the reports from all state agencies and then make a proposal to the Legislature for a budget adjustment to reflect the decreased revenues. We anticipate that this supplemental budget proposal will be made to the Legislature sometime in December. It is important to remember that, for now, these are only "targets." There are many steps to be taken before there is a final number. The Governor will have to make a final recommendation in his proposed supplemental budget, which will go to the Appropriations Committee and then to the full House and Senate for approval. I know that many of you are wisely trying to take action in the coming days and weeks to prepare for these anticipated reductions in subsidy. While we do not know the exact amount, and will not know the exact impact on individual SAUs until we run spreadsheets based on the final amount in the proposed supplemental budget, there is a simple calculation that will help you estimate the impact: multiply the subsidy reduction for your SAU in the FY 09 supplemental budget by 1.4 because the $38 million target is 1.4 times the $27 million statewide reduction in FY 09. While factors such as enrollment and valuation will cause some fluctuations in this amount, this estimate should be a reasonable "ballpark" figure. You can find your FY 09 supplemental reduction on our new School Funding Outlook web page: http://www.maine.gov/education/funding . Meanwhile, please do not forget as you make plans for these FY 10 reductions that the reductions for FY 2011 will be even more significant. The already-approved GPA amount in the biennial budget combined with this new target, would result in statewide subsidies of $910 million - which is $92 million less than the original FY 10 appropriation of $1.002 billion. We continue to work with you on developing financial strategies and proposals for actions that could be taken by the Legislature, the Maine Department of Education, and by local school systems. I met with a group of superintendents and representatives of the various associations last week and we continue to invite your input. Some of you have asked for assistance with tools for communicating the financial situation to your boards and the public. Two simple illustrations of the current budget situation can be found on our website: http://www.maine.gov/education/funding . The chart and the simple spreadsheet will help illustrate the situation for you, your boards, and others. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Wed Nov 4 10:21:31 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 10:21:31 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #44 - Approval of FY 2010 Leased Space Applications Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B07951392@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 44 POLICY CODE: FCC TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 4, 2009 RE: Approval of FY 2010 Leased Space Applications The Department's review of FY 2010 leased space applications has been completed. The dispositions for the applications received have been posted on the Department's website and can be viewed at http://www.maine.gov/education/const/lease.htm. If you submitted an application, please visit the website to learn the status of your application. Approvals for FY 2010 are indicated in the column labeled "Approved by Department of Education for FY'10" highlighted in yellow. If you have any questions, please contact Ann Pinnette at (207) 624-6885 or mailto:ann.pinnette at maine.gov. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Wed Nov 4 10:34:49 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 10:34:49 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #45 - School Facilities Management System (SFMS) Training Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B07951393@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 45 POLICY CODE: FD TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 4, 2009 RE: School Facilities Management System (SFMS) Training The Department of Education has successfully implemented the web-based School Facilities Management System (SFMS). Eight training sessions on the SFMS software were conducted in September with approximately 90 school units in attendance. An additional training session has been scheduled for those who were not able to attend the previous training sessions. The training will be held in Augusta on December 8, 2009. To register, please go to the training registration site at https://vfa.webex.com/vfa/onstage/g.php?p=3&t=m. Attendance is limited to 12 persons and the registration deadline is Friday, November 20, 2009. After registering for training a confirmation email will be sent with additional information and directions to the session. As a reminder, use of the SFMS software is mandatory for all school units and all building surveys within the SFMS system must be completed by March 31, 2010. Ongoing participation in SFMS will be a prerequisite for funding approval by the Department for all school facilities programs, including the Leased Space program, the School Revolving Renovation Fund, the Major Capital School Construction program, the Federal tax credit bond programs and any future facilities funding opportunities. Additionally, if your school unit paid for a facility condition assessment conducted prior to December 31, 2007 and previously received only the first half of reimbursement for the assessment costs from the Department, you may be eligible to receive the second half reimbursement. In order to apply for the second half reimbursement, complete and submit the form available at http://www.maine.gov/education/const/fmt.htm. If you have questions about SFMS please contact Ann Pinnette at 624-6885 or mailto:ann.pinnette at maine.gov or Scott Brown at 624-6883 or mailto:scott.brown at maine.gov. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Fri Nov 6 15:14:08 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 15:14:08 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] HEALTH ALERT: Consideration of relaxing requirement for doctor's note Message-ID: If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml HEALTH ISSUE ALERT TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner and Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH, Director, Maine CDC DATE: November 6, 2009 RE: HEALTH ALERT: Consideration of relaxing requirement for doctor's note Due to the increased incidence of influenza like symptoms in school-age children in the past two weeks, we are asking you to consider relaxing your policies (those of you that have the policy) of requiring a doctor's note for any student who is out for three days or more for medical reasons. Several requests have come in from provider offices that are currently inundated with calls and office visits of children presenting with influenza-like symptoms for the purpose of getting a doctor's note. In many cases the physician's offices are not able to generate a note due to the high demand. There is concern that the need for doctor's notes will place undue pressure on the health care system and also that, because of the demand, students may be delayed in getting notes and thus delayed in returning to school. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children may return to school once they are fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medicine. Some school districts have a protocol/policy that children out for three or more days require a doctor's note. During a pandemic such as this, that may not be reasonable or practical as the health care system is dealing with an incredible volume of calls and children presenting with influenza-like illness (ILI). We are not requiring a change in policy, but ask you to please consider adjusting this protocol (temporarily) as we work our way through this wave of H1N1. For More Information If you have questions regarding any of the items in this Health Alert, please contact the Maine CDC at 888-257-0990 or flu.questions at maine.gov or Nancy Dube, the Department's school nurse consultant, at 207-624-6688 or mailto:nancy.dube at Maine.gov . Also, visit the Maine DOE H1N1 web page: http://www.maine.gov/education/h1n1 and the Maine CDC H1N1 pages: http://www.maineflu.gov (click on schools) NOTE: This Health Issue Alert is being archived as Informational Letter #46 and can be found on the Informational Letters web page: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/ilethome.shtml From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Fri Nov 13 15:40:13 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:40:13 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #47 - PRIORITY AND TIME SENSITIVE: ARRA Monthly Reporting Changes Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B079513D5@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml American Recovery and Reinvestment Act FY 2010 Monthly Reporting - Revised INFORMATIONAL LETTER:? 47 POLICY CODE:? LG/EF TO: Superintendents of Schools, Business Managers FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 13, 2009 RE: PRIORITY AND TIME SENSITIVE: ARRA Monthly Reporting Changes The Governor has requested that all State agencies provide monthly reporting of ARRA expenditures so that the State can be transparent on the expenditure of the ARRA funds. This letter contains revised instructions on the monthly reporting requirements. The Department of Education has developed a web-based reporting template to be completed by each school administrative unit (SAU) for each of the ARRA federal awards. The reporting template can be accessed at: https://www.medms.maine.gov/MEDMS/MEDMS_Welcome.aspx After you enter your ID and Password, you will see "ARRA Data" at the top. If you cannot see the menu, please call the MEDMS Help Desk at 624-6896. The ARRA reporting template should be completed by the 30th of each month and should contain all actual expenditures regardless of having received revenues or not. The purpose of this reporting is two-fold: for ARRA subsidy processing on a monthly basis as long as the SAU is in compliance with reports (the monthly report will be used to determine the amount of cash on hand for each school unit); and for reporting to the State and federal government. For December 2009, please complete the reporting process by December 24, 2009. The first three elements of the template - SAU, Federal Award and Month - have drop down lists to choose from. The SAU address, city, state and zip code will automatically be populated when you choose your SAU.?You will then need to select whether your individual expenditures for each federal award for that month have been less that $25,000, or $25,000 or greater. If your expenditures are less than $25,000, you will indicate the number of expenditures and the total amount of those expenditures.? For individual expenditures to an individual vendor that are $25,000 or greater, you will need to indicate the amount, a short description of the project, the vendor name and vendor zip code plus four or the vendor's DUNS.? You also need to report the jobs that you retained and/or the number of limited period positions you created. Jobs retained are defined as positions that you "pink slipped" or planned to "pink slip", but were maintained because of ARRA funding that either directly pays or indirectly pays for that position by freeing up funds to retain that position.?The limited period positions are defined as new positions that are funded for a period of the ARRA funding not to exceed September 30, 2011. To report these position(s), you need to select the greater than $25,000 field, fill in $25,000 for the amount field, the number of positions retained or created and describe how many of each position were retained or created in the description field (i.e., teachers, guidance personnel, support personnel). In order for MEDMS to populate the positions retained or created fields, the description field must be completed. The dollar amount filled in for positions retained will be ignored for reporting actual expenditures. The actual expenditures for the retained positions should be reported on the "under $25,000" tab, reporting the weekly/bi-weekly amount paid to the individual(s). From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Wed Nov 18 13:08:28 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:08:28 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #48 - Proposed Rule Amendments: Chapter 4-A Procedural Rule: Equal Educational Opportunity - A Joint Rule of the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Human Rights Commission Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B079513E1@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 48 POLICY CODE: JB TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 18, 2009 SUBJECT: Proposed Rule Amendments: Chapter 4-A Procedural Rule: Equal Educational Opportunity - A Joint Rule of the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Human Rights Commission As required by The Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Department of Education hereby serves notice of proposed amendments to Chapter 4-A Procedural Rule: Equal Educational Opportunity - A Joint Rule of the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Human Rights Commission. These amendments make changes to the joint Maine Human Rights Commission and Maine Department of Education procedural rule concerning education discrimination complaints filed pursuant to the Maine Human Rights Act. The proposed amendments implement new statutory provisions; create greater consistency between the education procedural rule and the Commission's general procedural rule; add a provision on advisory rulings; and clarify the roles of Maine Human Rights Commission staff. The current rule and the proposed amendments are available on line at: http://www.maine.gov/education/rulechanges.htm and www.maine.gov/mhrc. A Public Hearing on the proposed changes is scheduled on December 7, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Senator Inn and Conference Center, Embassy Room, 284 Western Avenue, Augusta, Maine. Written comments will be accepted by the Maine Human Rights Commission until December 17, 2009. Specific questions concerning the proposed changes should be addressed to: Maine Human Rights Commission: John P. Gause, Esq. Commission Counsel, MHRC, 51 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0051. Telephone: (207) 624-6050. E-mail: John.P.Gause at Maine.gov. Maine Department of Education: Susan Corrente, Esq., DOE, 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 624-6620. E-mail: Susan.Corrente at Maine.gov. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Fri Nov 20 14:18:38 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:18:38 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info Letter 49 - Curtailment SAU-level Effect on FY 2010 Education Subsidies Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B07A74538@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER:?49 POLICY CODE:?DB TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE:?November 20, 2009 RE: Curtailment SAU-level Effect on FY 2010 Education Subsidies Proposed 2009-10 General Purpose Aid for Local Schools reduction amounts for each school administrative unit are now available on the Department of Education's EPS website.?The reduction amount represents the Governor's proposed curtailment and does not represent final action by the 124th Legislature. You can find the spreadsheet on the EPS Website:?www.maine.gov/education/data/eps/epsmenu.htm Click on the FY 2009-10 Funding link The 2009-10 reduction amount represents a decrease of $38,098,223 in the 2009-10 General Purpose Aid for Local Schools funding level from the amount that was previously enacted into law by Public Law 2009 Chapter 213, Part C.? It is important to understand that in calculating the reductions to each school administrative unit, we have not changed the total Essential Programs and Services allocation for individual units or the statewide total. We have re-run with the same calculations in the funding law (with minor adjustments as shown below), only with $38 million less in state share. In other words, we calculated SAU-level subsidies for the year as if there had been $38 million less in state share when initially calculated last spring. The proposed curtailment includes the following changes: - Mill expectation - there is no expectation or requirement for an increase in local taxes as a result of the reduction in state funding. While the state funding reduction translates through the formula into an increase in the local mill expectation increase (from 6.37 mills to 6.69 mills), SAUs will be waived from the requirement to raise those funds, similar to last year's waiver. - Minimum special education adjustment - the minimum special education adjustment pursuant to 20-A MRSA Section 15689 subsection 1 has been reduced from 50% to 40% of the EPS Special Education Allocation. - Minimum state allocation adjustment - the minimum state allocation adjustment pursuant to 20-A MRSA Section 15689 subsection 1 has been reduced from 5% to 4% of the EPS Per-Pupil rates. It is important to remember that reductions in monthly subsidy checks to local schools can not be made without legislative action. Once final reductions become enacted the Department would proportionally reduce the remaining monthly checks for the fiscal year 2010 to achieve the reductions. For additional questions regarding this information, please contact Jim Rier, Suzan Beaudoin, Joanne Allen or Karla Miller of the Department of Education's School Finance and Operations by email to mailto:Jim.Rier at Maine.gov, mailto:Suzan.Beaudoin at Maine.gov, mailto:Joanne.Allen at Maine.gov, or mailto:Karla.Miller at Maine.gov From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Tue Nov 24 10:27:44 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:27:44 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #50 - Training for Cohort and Transfer Certification Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B079513F1@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 50 POLICY CODE: JF TO: Superintendents of Schools FROM: Susan A, Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 24, 2009 RE: Training for Cohort and Transfer Certifications Topics in this letter: * Clarification on Cohort Report Submissions * Training Available * Who Should Attend * New Deadline for Report Certification (December 31, 2009) Clarification on Cohort Report Submissions Validation and certification of the Cohort Report was due November 15, 2009 and the Transfer-in Report, and Transfer-Out Report was due October 15, 2009. There has been confusion on the use and submission requirements for the data. To assist in clarifying your questions and show you how to calculate your own graduation rate, we have created two new training webinars. Training Available Even if you have already submitted your certifications, it is strongly recommended that someone from any School Administrative Unit (SAU) that has a secondary school participate (see "Who should attend" below). A review of the required data, use of the reports, and a working example of how to calculate a graduation rate will be included. We currently have the webinars scheduled on two different days (you only need to register for one): Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 10:00 am Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12:30 pm To register for the webinar: 1. Go to http://www.maine.gov/education/lds/training.html 2. Click on "Registration" 3. Click on "Using Verification Reports" 4. Choose either : a. JITGradCohort-Dec8-10am b. JITGradCohort-Dec15-12:30pm Who should attend? Staff from the Superintendent's office are welcome to participate, but these sessions will be geared toward those in your School Administrative Unit who do the data entry, analysis, and validation. It is essential that these staff members understand the concept and procedures to avoid any adverse affect to your School Administrative Unit's graduation rate calculation. It is highly recommended that staff from your secondary school administration and your guidance office participate. New Deadline for Report Certification: In order to allow School Administrative Units to submit accurate data, we have extended the certification deadlines. The following reports will be due by December 31, 2009: * Cohort Report * Cohort Transfer-in * Cohort Transfer-out If you have already submitted your certifications, you can resubmit newer ones if, after you attend the webinar, you decide the data you previously certified are not accurate. Please direct any questions to either Dan Chuhta or Richard Bergeron by calling 207-624-6790 or email mailto:Daniel.Chuhta at maine.gov or mailto:Richard.Bergeron at maine.gov. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Tue Nov 24 13:18:57 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:18:57 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Info. Letter #51 - World AIDS Day - December 1 Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B079513F4@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml INFORMATIONAL LETTER:? 51 POLICY CODE: IHMAC ???? TO: All Superintendents of Schools, Public and Private Secondary and Elementary School Principals, School Counselors, Health Educators FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner, Department of Education DATE: November 24, 2009 RE: World AIDS Day - December 1??????? ???????????? ????????????? World AIDS Day, the first day of December, is recognized each year in an effort to remind us of this epidemic that reaches around the world. There are now an estimated 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children according to UNAIDS estimates. The World AIDS Day effort started in 1988 to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education. This year's theme is, "Universal Access and Human Rights." U.S. data: HIV disease is among the top nine leading causes of death among persons 25-44 years old in the United States. Every 9-1/2 minutes someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV. (U.S. CDC) World data: Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide. (UNAIDS) HIV prevention still demands our attention. At the Department of Education HIV Prevention Education Program, HIV prevention curricular trainings are all evidence-based, demonstrating reduction in risk behaviors. Maine educators can feel confident in the effectiveness of the Department's HIV prevention trainings. Teachers seeking assistance in planning HIV/AIDS prevention activities with their students may contact the HIV Prevention Education Program at 624-6692, TTY 1-888-577-6690 or by email at hiv.doe at maine.gov. A wealth of information and resources for World AIDS Day-background of the disease, treatment, current data on risk behaviors among youth, sexuality education, testing and teacher resources-can be found at our website: http://www.maine.gov/education/hiv/resources.html. This resource is updated regularly and includes Maine data on HIV and STI incidence. For questions or more information, contact Jean Zimmerman, program coordinator, at the HIV Prevention Education Program at 1-207-624-6687 or jean.zimmerman at maine.gov. From Communications.DOE at maine.gov Mon Nov 30 13:44:09 2009 From: Communications.DOE at maine.gov (DOE, Communications) Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:44:09 -0500 Subject: [DOE Info] Admin. Letter #020 - 2009-2010 Web-based Child Count Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B079513FF@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> If you have difficulty viewing this e-mail go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER NO: 20 POLICY CODE: JF TO: Superintendents of Schools and Directors of Special Education FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner DATE: November 30, 2009 RE: 2009-2010 Web-based Child Count General Instructions for the December 1, 2009 Web-based Child Count and are posted on the Web-based Child Count log-in page to guide you in completing the Child Count. http://www.state.me.us/education/speced/EFS05/login_page.htm DUE DATE: January 5, 2010 The Maine Department of Education is merging all data collections into one central repository (Infinite Campus/MEDMS). With that effort in mind, the December 1, 2009 EF-S-05 electronic data collection has been converted to Infinite Campus/MEDMS. The Department has created a report that you can access through Infinite Campus to let you know who will be counted on the EF-S-05. o Log into Infinite Campus o Be certain that Year is set to 09-10 o Under ME State Reporting - click December 1 Special Education Students o Click Generate Report o The report will open in EXCEL Column Q will tell you if the student counts for your school administrative unit - a 1 means the student counts, a 0 means the student does not count at this time. If Column Q is a 0, then there will be a note in Column R telling you why the student does not count. This report will refresh each day from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., and from 12:00 a.m. to 1:00 am. The report will be unavailable at these times. Detailed instructions will be posted on: http://www.state.me.us/education/speced/EFS05/login_page.htm IMPORTANT: You can begin reviewing the December 1 Special Education Student list now. You MUST complete your Child Count no later than January 7, 2010 as the report will not refresh after that time and the data will be counted as they appear in the report. Essential Programs and Services (EPS) The December 1 Child Count data are not used for EPS. EPS uses an October 1 count of special education students. Confidentiality Confidentiality of personally identifiable data will continue to be maintained by the Maine Department of Education in accordance with the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. No names will be released to the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), in completing our data requirements under P.L. 108-446. Child Development Services (CDS) The Child Development Services (CDS) Coordination Sites will continue to conduct the December 1 Child Count in the "old" EF-S-05 Web-based application. The EF-S-05, Part I Web-based Child Count is due January 5, 2010. Please be aware that there is a very tight timeline for this Department to report the Child Count to the Office of Special Education Programs (due February 1st). The Web-based Child Count system will be shut down after January 7, 2010. It is imperative that your Child Count is completed on or before that date. If you have any questions regarding the Web-based Child Count, call Kathy Fellows or Terry Bailey at 624-6650, or Charlotte Ellis at 624-6808, or email mailto:kathy.fellows at maine.gov, mailto:charlotte.ellis at maine.gov or mailto:terry.bailey at maine.gov for assistance.