Maine receives $3 Million in school improvement grant funding

Augusta – Maine schools eligible to receive funding under the school improvement grant program (SIG) are invited to apply for funding from the $3 million in funding Maine has received from the U.S. Department of Education. In Maine, schools categorized as “priority” under the State’s Title I accountability system are eligible to apply.

“I encourage eligible schools to consider applying for this grant funding. This is an opportunity for schools to receive purposefully focused additional funds to improve their achievement and opportunity goals for students,” said Deputy Commissioner of Education Bill Beardsley.

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that Maine will receive a $1.5 million federal award in addition to the $1.5 million award the state received in July.  Funding through the SIG program will be distributed to schools through a competitive application process and will be based on the number of applications received and approved by the Maine Department of Education.

Last year, the Maine DOE issued a $1.6 million SIG award to Washburn Elementary School. These funds are currently supporting Washburn Elementary’s objectives to raise student proficiency in math by 30 percent and reading by 35 percent over the five-year grant award.

As part of the application process, eligible school districts who may be interested in the pursuit of a SIG are also asked to provide the Department with an Intent to Apply form by 4 p.m. on October 31, 2016. Applications from eligible school districts are due by 4 p.m. on December 14, 2016. School officials who have questions about the SIG program or who would like to obtain a copy of the Maine DOE LEA SIG application and the Intent to Apply form should contact Travis Doughty, Maine DOE’s Federal Grant Coordinator, at travis.doughty@maine.gov.

More information about the SIG program is available at http://www.maine.gov/doe/sig/.

Maine's Elver Fishery Increases in Value by Nearly $3 Million

The 2015 Maine elver harvest season, which ended officially Sunday, May 31 at noon, netted Maine fishermen nearly $3 million in additional value over the 2014 season. Preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources indicate that, despite a decline from the previous season of 4,445 pounds landed, the overall value paid to Maine's 920 active harvesters in 2015 was $11,389,864 compared to $8,474,302 in 2014. Total pounds landed in 2015 were 5,242 compared to 9,688 in 2014. This year's total quota, set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, was equal to the total landings in 2014 and will remain in place through 2017. The ASMFC will next re-evaluate Maine's quota in 2018. The per-pound average for elvers harvested in 2015 was $2,172 compared to $874 in 2014. "This year's harvest represents a success for Maine's elver industry," said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. "The swipe card system, which we unveiled last season, again worked flawlessly and provided the Department with real time data on landings and value. We also implemented a dealer-to-dealer swipe card requirement and a new elver exporter license, both of which allowed us to more effectively account for elvers at all points in the chain of custody which is critical for the effective management of this resource." Landings this season declined due to a number of variables which are outside the control of resource managers and regulators, according to Commissioner Keliher. "The cold spring depressed the migration of elvers. The spring was also extremely dry and levels in Maine's streams and rivers were low so elvers were able to swim in the middle where they could not be caught because of restrictions on fishing the middle third of rivers and streams." "Fortunately, though, the value of Maine's elvers remained at historic high levels which resulted in an additional $2.9 million in the pockets of Maine's elver fishermen."