Two bills being considered by the Legislature’s Education Committee would restore religious exemptions for school vaccinations and roll back school immunization requirements broadly.
Riley Board
Staff Writer
Riley covers education for the Press Herald. Before moving to Portland, she spent two years in Kenai, Alaska, reporting on local government, schools and natural resources for the public radio station KDLL as part of the Report for America program. Riley originally hails from Sarasota, Florida, and is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the college’s student newspaper, The Campus. She has interned at the Burlington Free Press, and at the Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife Magazine in Washington, D.C. Outside of work, Riley is passionate about roller skating, cooking and her cat, Edgar.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools and Education
USDA freeze impacting school nutrition staff, other grants
A Wednesday letter announcing the freeze said it would not impact federal feeding programs, but Maine DOE says it is unable to access funds for the staff who operate those programs.
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Posted inMaine, News, Politics, Schools and Education
New memo gives Maine schools 10 days to remove DEI programming or lose federal money
The letter from the US Department of Education was sent to every state’s K-12 education leaders asking them to sign a letter confirming compliance with a federal interpretation of Title VI and the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard ruling.
Posted inHealth, Maine, News, Schools and Education
USDA freezes funds to Maine education, citing Title IX violations
The agency will freeze an unknown amount of money for ‘administrative and technological functions’ in schools but will not pause federal food programs or direct assistance for Mainers.
Posted inMaine, News, Religion and Values, Schools and Education
Portland considers adding Yom Kippur, Eid al-Fitr to school calendar
The Jewish and Muslim holidays could be added to the 2025-26 calendar, and would cost the district about $65,000 each to add.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools and Education
Trump administration says Maine’s transgender student policies conflict with parental access laws
The federal Department of Education says Maine school districts’ violate FERPA by withholding from parents records about a student’s transgender status, like the choice to use a different name or pronouns at school.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools and Education
Negotiations with Portland Adult Education union headed for mediation
Members of the new union representing part-time teachers worry that bringing in a mediator will delay progress, but district officials say that’s not their intent.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Trump administration targets Maine again, this time on transgender policy in schools
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the U.S. Department of Education, which Trump wants to abolish, is investigating whether dozens of Maine school districts are violating or misusing federal privacy laws and infringing on parents’ rights.
Posted inMaine, Nation & World, News, Schools and Education
UMaine to pause new graduate student job offers, citing funding uncertainty
The flagship public university in Orono will temporarily pause funded offers like research assistantships, which about a quarter of the current graduate students receive.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools and Education
Researchers recommend changes to special ed funding under state formula review
The Maine Educational Policy Research Institute gave its latest presentation about possible changes to the state’s education funding formula, which many say doesn’t account for today’s education needs.