ED279

The ED 279 is the report Maine’s Department of Education produces for every school administrative unit (SAU) each year to show how much state funding the district receives and how much must be raised locally. It is built on the state’s school funding formula, called Essential Programs and Services (EPS).

Where it comes from. The EPS formula was developed by a State Board of Education committee and became law in 2003. The ED 279 gives the detailed EPS calculation for each SAU in six sections. ED 279s are public documents posted on the Maine DOE website.

What goes into it. The DOE School Finance team builds the ED 279 from information districts submit every year, including student enrollments, staff certifications, and actual expenditure and revenue data. The numbers on the report therefore depend on the data your district reports.

The ED 279 has six sections that move from rates to payments. It gives the detailed Essential Programs and Services (EPS) calculation for each school district. In simple terms:

• Section 1 sets the cost per student. These per-pupil rates for regular education are used as the multiplier in Section 2. 

• Section 2 applies those rates to the district’s students to work out its operating cost allocation.

• Sections 3 covers additional operational costs that are specific to each School Administrative Unit (SAU) and are not included in regular basic classroom instruction.  These costs inclue Special Education, transportation, Gifted and Talented, school construction and debt service, and other targeted or isolated adjustments.

• Section 4 takes the total EPS allocations from the preceding sections and determines who pays for what splitting the total financial burden between the local School Administrative Unit and the State of Maine

• Section 5 shows adjustments to the state and local contributions.

• Section 6 shows the schedule of payments.

Together, the sections show how much the state contributes and how much the community must raise locally to fund the school district.

Why it matters for timing. The preliminary ED 279 usually arrives while the budget is still being drafted. Questions or errors on preliminary ED 279s must be reported to the DOE School Finance Team within 30 days of posting. That is why the FY28 timeline says the ED 279 will be built into the drafts as it is confirmed. 

Where to find it. The reports are on the Maine DOE’s EPS site, where you choose the fiscal year and your SAU in order to view the ED279 once it becomes available.