[SchoolFinance] Minimum Hourly Wage Data Required Update

Fri Apr 25 07:58:36 EDT 2025

Good morning,

Thank you for the detailed summary and clarification of the requirements
related to the FY 25 hourly staff data collection and the one-time
additional funding calculations for FY 26.

After reviewing what is being asked, I want to acknowledge that while we
understand the importance of this initiative, the scope of what is required
represents a significant amount of work on our end. The one-time data pull
from our local payroll system—gathering names, hourly wages, and total
hours worked for all hourly employees, including student workers and
substitutes—will require substantial time and effort to compile accurately.
Ensuring that all hourly wage data is also updated in NEO Staff and
confirming employment for FY 26 only adds to the complexity.

While we are not required to request the additional funds, I believe most
of us are in a position where every available resource is
critical—particularly with the looming possibility of reductions or
eliminations in federal funding. We certainly want to access any funds
available to support our staff, but the process as outlined will be very
labor-intensive for local districts.

I understand and appreciate the need for accountability, but I do hope that
consideration might be given to finding a more streamlined or less
burdensome approach to accomplishing the same goal.

Thank you again for your guidance and continued support as we work through
this process.

Most respectfully,
Andrea

Andrea Disch

Business Manager

Maine School Administrative District No. 11
150 Highland Avenue • Gardiner, Maine 04330

207-582-5346

*aDisch at msad11.org <aDisch at msad11.org>*

*www.msad11.org <http://www.msad11.org>*

On Tue, Apr 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM Gravelle, Paula B <
Paula.B.Gravelle at maine.gov> wrote:

> Good morning,
>
> After the release of the plan for collecting the current year (FY 25)
> hourly staff data in NEO Staff in order to calculate the one-time
> additional funds for the upcoming school year (FY 26) as required by the
> new minimum hourly wage statute
> <https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec4016.html>,
> we realized nothing is as simple as we originally thought.
>
> Some questions have come up that have required the Maine Department of
> Education (DOE) to consider many other issues that cannot be resolved
> simply by updating the hourly wage data in NEO Staff.
>
> *Summary of final requirements:*
>
>    1. All hourly wage data will still need to be updated for the current
>    FY 25 year in NEO staff for all hourly staff that are currently in NEO
>    staff.
>    2. Maine DOE will also require a one-time pull from your local payroll
>    system in order to validate payments are accurate for this one-time payment
>    of additional funds.
>       1. This one-time pull from your local payroll system will need to
>       include:
>
>                                                     i.     Names of all
> hourly staff paid in FY 25
>
>    1. Student workers
>             2. Substitutes
>             3. Food Service Workers
>             4. Education Technicians
>             5. All other hourly staff
>
>                                                   ii.     Hourly wage for
> each hourly employee paid in FY 25
>
>                                                 iii.     Total number of
> hours worked for each hourly employee in FY 25
>
>    3. If you do not have hourly employees paid less than $16.85 per hour
>    for other support staff, and $18.31 per hour for education technicians,
>    then you do not need to do anything at this time since you would not be
>    eligible for additional funding.
>    4. Additional funding will not be allocated until after verification
>    of continued employment of all hourly staff eligible in the FY 26 school
>    year is completed.
>    5. Hourly wages will need to be updated annually in NEO staff going
>    forward for all hourly staff that are collected in the NEO Staff module.
>
> Here are answers to some of the questions we received:
>
>    1. What about student workers that are paid hourly?
>       1. Problem: student workers cannot be entered into the NEO staff
>       module because it then creates violations for certification.
>       2. Solution: do *not* enter students into the NEO staff module.
>       3. If you have students that are working in the current FY 25
>       school year and are paid less than the new FY 26 minimum of $16.85; and
>       they will still be working for you in the FY 26 school year, then you will
>       need to send the Maine DOE a list of those students with their current
>       hourly wage and how many hours they worked in FY 25.
>       4. This can also be included in the one-time pull from your local
>       payroll system.
>    2. What about substitutes that are paid hourly and only work as needed?
>       1. Problem: salary and wage data for substitutes are not collected
>       in NEO Staff because they only work as needed.
>       2. Solution: continue to enter substitutes in NEO staff for
>       purposes of criminal history records checks and verification of employment.
>       3. We will need to collect information from your local payroll
>       system for the FY 25 year after the year end (6/30/2025); to include the
>       substitutes name, hourly wage, and number of hours worked in FY 25.
>       4. We will also need to confirm that they are still employed by the
>       same SAU using the FY 26 data in NEO Staff.
>    3. What about CTE Regions?
>       1. Problem: The statute did not specify that the additional funds
>       would be for CTE Regions, and since they are not considered a School
>       Administrative Unit by definition in Title 20-A; CTE Regions are not
>       eligible for the additional funds for hourly staff.
>       2. CTE Centers that are within a School Administrative Unit are
>       eligible for the additional funds and therefore should update their hourly
>       staff data in NEO Staff.
>    4. Does this include food service workers that are paid using federal
>    funds?
>       1. Yes, food service workers are eligible for the additional funds.
>       2. Even though they are paid using federal funds, the statute
>       requiring one-time additional funds for the minimum hourly wage is not
>       restricted to a specific funding source.  So, all hourly support staff, no
>       matter what the source of funding, will need to be updated in NEO staff to
>       include the hourly wage information.
>
> Thank you for your assistance and continued patience as we work together
> to make this work possible.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> ________________________________________
>
> *Paula Gravelle*
> Director of Public School Finance
> Maine Department of Education
> 23 State House Station
> Augusta, Maine 04333-0023
> *Email: *paula.b.gravelle at maine.gov
> *Phone*: 207-624-6792
>
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