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<p class="MsoNormal">Gabrielle,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is correct, if you are currently in FY 25, paying at or above the new hourly minimum that will be required in FY 26, then you do not need to do anything in the NEO Staff collection report at this time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reason we are collecting FY 25 hourly wage data, is so we can provide the “additional funding” required in the law using the FY 25 hourly wage as the base amount for comparing to the new minimum required in FY 26, in order to determine
if additional funds are warranted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will need to update going forward each year for our annual collections of data.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">________________________________________<br>
<br>
<b>Paula Gravelle</b><br>
Director of Public School Finance <br>
Maine Department of Education<br>
23 State House Station<br>
Augusta, Maine 04333-0023<br>
<b>Email: </b><a href="mailto:paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov"><span style="color:#0070C0">paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov</span></a>
<br>
<b>Phone</b>: 207-624-6792</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><a href="http://www.maine.gov/doe"><span style="color:#0070C0">Maine DOE</span></a> |
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaineDepartmentofEducation1/"><span style="color:#0070C0">Facebook</span></a> |
<a href="https://twitter.com/mdoenews"><span style="color:#0070C0">Twitter</span></a> |
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<a href="https://mainedoenews.net/"><span style="color:#0070C0">Maine DOE Newsroom</span><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><br>
</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="192" height="70" style="width:2.0in;height:.7291in" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DBB5F3.0EC84D50"><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> SchoolFinance <schoolfinance-bounces@maillist.informe.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Krol, Gabrielle<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, April 24, 2025 8:16 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Moderated information sharing for school business managers <schoolfinance@maillist.informe.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [SchoolFinance] Minimum Hourly Wage Data Required Update<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:crimson">EXTERNAL: This email originated from outside of the State of Maine Mail System. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize
the sender and know the content is safe.</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Good Morning Paula, <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Just to confirm, the new minimum wage requirements do not go into effect until July 1st for the contracts that end on June 30, 2025. As long as our hourly staff will receive at least the noted minimum wages of 16.85 or 18.31 per hour based
on their appointment, we would not need to worry about the wages through 2025, is that correct?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Gabrielle<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Apr 22, 2025 at 10:00<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span>AM Gravelle, Paula B <<a href="mailto:Paula.B.Gravelle@maine.gov">Paula.B.Gravelle@maine.gov</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Good morning,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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
</span><a href="https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec4016.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">statute</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">, we realized nothing is as simple
as we originally thought.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Summary of final requirements:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<ol start="2" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l1 level2 lfo1">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">This one-time pull from your local payroll system will need to include:</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
<p class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">i.</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Names of all hourly staff paid in FY 25</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start="2" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<ol start="1" type="i">
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l3 level4 lfo2">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Student workers</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l3 level4 lfo2">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Substitutes</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l3 level4 lfo2">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Food Service Workers</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l3 level4 lfo2">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Education Technicians</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l3 level4 lfo2">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">All other hourly staff</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
</ol>
</ol>
<p class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">ii.</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hourly wage for each hourly employee paid in FY 25</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="margin-left:1.5in"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">iii.</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Total number of hours worked for each hourly employee in FY 25</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start="3" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Here are answers to some of the questions we received:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">What about student workers that are paid hourly?</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Problem: student workers cannot be entered into the NEO staff module because it then creates violations for certification.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Solution: do <b><i>not</i></b> enter students into the NEO staff module.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">This can also be included in the one-time pull from your local payroll system.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
<ol start="2" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">What about substitutes that are paid hourly and only work as needed?</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<ol start="2" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo5">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Problem: salary and wage data for substitutes are not collected in NEO Staff because they only work as needed.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo5">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Solution: continue to enter substitutes in NEO staff for purposes of criminal history records checks and verification of employment.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo5">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo5">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We will also need to confirm that they are still employed by the same SAU using the FY 26 data in NEO Staff.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
<ol start="3" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">What about CTE Regions?</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<ol start="3" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo6">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo6">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
<ol start="4" type="1">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo4">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Does this include food service workers that are paid using federal funds?</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<ol start="4" type="1">
<ol start="1" type="a">
<li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo7">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Yes, food service workers are eligible for the additional funds.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="m2126044579790743660msolistparagraph" style="mso-list:l2 level2 lfo7">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">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.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thank you for your assistance and continued patience as we work together to make this work possible.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Sincerely,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">________________________________________<br>
<br>
<b>Paula Gravelle</b><br>
Director of Public School Finance <br>
Maine Department of Education<br>
23 State House Station<br>
Augusta, Maine 04333-0023<br>
<b>Email: </b><a href="mailto:paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0070C0">paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov</span></a>
<br>
<b>Phone</b>: 207-624-6792<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><a href="http://www.maine.gov/doe" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0070C0">Maine DOE</span></a> |
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaineDepartmentofEducation1/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0070C0">Facebook</span></a> |
<a href="https://twitter.com/mdoenews" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0070C0">Twitter</span></a> |
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<a href="https://mainedoenews.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#0070C0">Maine DOE Newsroom</span><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><br>
</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">_______________________________________________<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="gmailsignatureprefix">-- </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">Gabrielle Krol</span><span style="color:#500050"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">Business Manager</span><span style="color:#500050"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">MSAD 52</span><span style="color:#500050"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">486 Turner Center Road</span><span style="color:#500050"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">Turner, ME 04282</span><span style="color:#500050"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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