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LD 974

Resolve, To Increase The High School Graduation Rate By Creating The Maine Promise Initiative

132nd Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Michael Brennan and 9 co-sponsors

Creates the Maine Promise Initiative to review graduation-rate policies and convene stakeholders, aiming for at least 95% high school graduation by 2030.

Signed by Governor
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Bill Summary · LD 974

Summary — LD 974: Resolve, To Increase The High School Graduation Rate By Creating the Maine Promise Initiative

Status: Finally passed (in concurrence). Introduced: March 7, 2025. Passed: June 4–5, 2025. Committee amendment C "A" (H‑398) adopted.

Purpose

LD 974 establishes the “Maine Promise Initiative” to improve high school graduation outcomes in Maine, with an overall goal that at least 95% of the State’s secondary school students graduate from high school by 2030. The Resolve directs the Maine Department of Education (DOE) to lead a stakeholder process and review policies tied to graduation-rate data to identify strategies to raise the graduation rate.

Key provisions

  • Directs the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder group focused on improving high school graduation rates.
  • Requires a review of existing policies, practices, and data collection/definitions related to graduation-rate measurement to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement.
  • Calls for development of recommendations (and potentially model practices or policy changes) informed by the stakeholder group’s findings to advance the Maine Promise Initiative’s goals.
  • Implementing language was amended (Committee Amendment C "A" (H‑398)); the engrossed Resolve reflects those changes.

(Note: The bill text as enacted does not appear to create a new recurring program with long-term appropriations; it is framed as a convening and review/resolution process.)

Who is affected

  • Maine Department of Education — responsible for convening stakeholders and conducting the review.
  • Secondary schools, school districts, educators, students, families, and community partners — likely participants in the stakeholder process and eventual targets of recommended strategies.
  • Policymakers — may receive recommended statutory, regulatory, or funding changes based on the review.

Fiscal impact

  • Early (pre-amendment) fiscal estimate (04/15/25) showed a one-time General Fund appropriation of $100,000 in FY 2025‑26 to support creation of the initiative.
  • Subsequent fiscal notes after committee amendment (05/28/25 and 06/04/25) indicate only a minor General Fund cost increase that can be absorbed within the Department of Education’s existing budgeted resources. The enacted Resolve therefore carries minimal net fiscal impact.

Procedural history & timeline

  • Referred to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs; work sessions held April 2 and 17, 2025.
  • Committee reported an OTP‑AM (divided report); Committee Amendment adopted.
  • Read, passed to be engrossed as amended, and finally passed in concurrence in early June 2025.
  • Implementation actions (stakeholder convening, review, and reporting of recommendations) will follow under DOE direction; the Resolve sets an aspirational statewide graduation-rate target for 2030.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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