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RSU 05 board adopts updated Lau plan to clarify services, translation and interpretation for multilingual learners
Summary
The RSU 05 board approved an updated Lau plan that spells out identification, service levels, translation and live-interpretation resources for multilingual learners and establishes an annual review process.
The RSU 05 School Board voted Oct. 22, 2025, to adopt an updated Lau plan that sets districtwide procedures for identifying and serving multilingual learners and adds explicit translation and live-interpretation resources for families, Assistant Superintendent Erica Matteo told the board.
The plan updates RSU 05’s public procedure for how the district will identify students who may need English-language services, defines minimum service amounts tied to language-acquisition level, and documents tools the district will use to translate communications and provide live interpretation, Matteo said. “We lifted a lot of work over this summer to restart the year in a way that attended to all of our hopes and dreams for both meeting the expectations for multilingual learners through state guidance and what we knew we could do with the staff and the resources that we had,” Matteo said.
Why it matters: the new document puts in writing how families will be reached and how multilingual students will access general and specialized coursework. The plan names specific technologies and vendor services the district will use to translate routine communications and to reach an interpreter quickly when needed.
Details provided to the board include: the district will use Reach My Teach for routine translated emails and texts; an extension called LexiKeet to connect to a live interpreter within minutes; MotoWord for certified translations of legally binding documents (for example, field-trip permission forms and IEP documents); and LanguageLine for on-demand interpretation in situations when a family is not yet in the student information system. The plan also calls for SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) training for staff so teachers can integrate language-support strategies into regular classrooms, and for use of a National Geographic–sourced continuum of consumable resources tailored to learners’ language-development stages.
Assistant Superintendent Matteo and the multilingual team told the board the district currently serves 43 multilingual learners, with 17 students now classified as monitored because they have met exit criteria. The plan emphasizes that exiting students should still have equitable access to advanced coursework and should not be steered away from rigorous classes because of language status.
Board members raised readability and consistency concerns during the review: several asked that acronyms (for example, MLL, ESOL, MTSS) be defined up front and that links in the online document be accompanied by a short glossary so families and staff can navigate terms. Board members and staff agreed to add clearer definitions and a brief cross-reference page before the document is posted as the final district procedure.
The board voted to approve the updated Lau plan as an administrative procedure (a board‑endorsed procedure subject to an annual review rather than the district’s standard two-read policy process). The plan’s authors said the district will continue an annual review cycle.
The change aligns RSU 05 with Maine Department of Education guidance and with the district’s effort to make multilingual supports more accessible and consistent for families and staff.
