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Maine lawmakers hear competing views on bill to limit superintendent discretion in student transfers
Summary
The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs opened public hearings on LD 607, an act that would require approval of superintendent agreements for student transfers when receiving districts have space and the transfer is in the student’s best interest.
The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs opened public hearings on LD 607, an act that would require approval of superintendent agreements for transfers of students between school administrative units when the receiving district has space and the transfer is in the student’s best interest.
Representative Kim Hagen presented written testimony for Representative Laura Libby, saying LD 607 “is fundamentally about fairness, flexibility, and putting the well-being of students at the center of decision making,” and arguing the current system leaves some families “stuck in environments that are not conducive to their success.”
The Maine School Management Association and multiple superintendents testified in opposition, saying the bill would undermine a process used for decades, remove necessary local discretion and safeguards, and could create budget and staffing problems for receiving and sending districts. Robbie Feinberg, director of communications and government relations for the Maine School Management Association, told the committee the bill “seeks to undermine the student transfer process and effectively turn it into a statewide school choice program, imposing a statewide mandate, removing local control, and potentially upending school budgets.”
Feinberg cited Maine Department of Education data showing “nearly 4,000 superintendent agreements were approved by local school districts during the most recent school year,” and said “only about a hundred transfer appeals to the state were eventually denied.” He and witnesses stressed that superintendents consider multiple factors beyond physical capacity, including special education services, continuity, student social and emotional needs, and transportation.
Kittery Superintendent Eric Waddell described how his district uses superintendent agreements to manage complex local circumstances, including a high share of military-connected students and early-adoption responsibility for some preschool special education services. Waddell said approving transfers based only on available space would not account for “students’ social, emotional, and behavioral well-being,” and that the current statute appropriately balances student needs and district capacity.
Andrew Dolloff, superintendent in Yarmouth, said districts deemed “more attractive” already see many transfer requests and that the bill could “cause harm to students in receiving districts due to an increase in class sizes and a strain on resources.” Jesse Hargrove, president of the Maine Education Association, said the bill could destabilize rural schools and “favor families with means.”
Ferne Desjardins, chair of the State Board of Education (speaking virtually), objected to reductions in appeal rights. She said LD 607 “will . . . leave parents without an opportunity to appeal decisions made by the receiving superintendent” by eliminating the current appeals path to the commissioner and then to the State Board. Desjardins also flagged measurement problems: “How could a parent dispute that the receiving district would not require additional staff?” she asked.
Committee members questioned witnesses about particular terms in the draft language (for example, whether “capacity” would mean only physical space or also staffing and program capacity) and asked superintendents for local data. Superintendents said local practice varies: Kittery reported roughly 12–15 transfer requests a year, while Yarmouth said it receives “3 to 4 dozen” requests annually.
No committee action or vote on LD 607 was recorded during the hearing. The public hearing record for LD 607 closed before the committee moved on to other bills.
Why it matters: LD 607 would change how districts and families resolve cross-district enrollments by limiting superintendent discretion to particular capacity-based factors. Supporters frame it as a fairness measure for families; opponents say it removes necessary local judgment and could have budgetary and operational consequences for districts.
