WHEREAS, I proclaimed a state of emergency on March 15, 2020 to authorize the use of emergency powers in order to expand and expedite the State’s response to the many different effects of COVID-19;
WHEREAS, the State has taken many essential actions including a suspension of K-12 in-person classroom instruction across the State;
WHEREAS, school districts are continuing to pay all salaried employees and their locally approved school budgets provide for the pay of education technicians, food service employees, custodians and other hourly school employees;
WHEREAS, many such hourly employees are continuing to work to ensure that our students’ needs are still being met, such as preparing food for approved meal delivery site, delivering learning packets and meals to students’ homes, maintaining contact with students throughout the day, and performing building maintenance and cleanup; and
WHEREAS, school superintendents and the Commissioner of Department of Education have advised of the importance and value of keeping all hourly employees available to meet changing needs so that schools can promptly provide the widest range of services that may during this uncertain time be determined on short notice; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, pursuant to 37-B M.R.S. Ch. 13, including but not limited to 37-B M.R.S. §742(1)(C)(5) and (12), do hereby Order that all school districts continue to pay their hourly school employees for the duration of this school year.
The effective date of this Order is March 19, 2020.
Click here to view the signed Executive Order.