Changes proposed by Gov. Janet Mills would reduce the cost of the program that has been in place since 2022 by changing some eligibility requirements.
Riley Board
Staff Writer
Riley covers education for the Press Herald. Before moving to Portland, she spent two years in Kenai, Alaska, reporting on local government, schools and natural resources for the public radio station KDLL as part of the Report for America program. Riley originally hails from Sarasota, Florida, and is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the college’s student newspaper, The Campus. She has interned at the Burlington Free Press, and at the Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife Magazine in Washington, D.C. Outside of work, Riley is passionate about roller skating, cooking and her cat, Edgar.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Bowdoin’s updated protest policies meet pushback from students, faculty
The Brunswick college said it is now refining those policies, which went into effect in January, following feedback.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Maine college endowments saw big gains in 2025
The University of New England and University of Maine grew their investments more than 30% and 19%, respectively, in 2025.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
UMaine considering name changes to Mitchell Center, scholarship
Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell’s name appears hundreds of times in a new batch of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, prompting difficult discussions at institutions that use Mitchell’s name, including Bowdoin, his alma mater.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Lawmakers initiate reform of Maine’s fraught school funding formula
The Education Committee is introducing a bill based on researcher recommendations that include integrating local poverty rates and reforming the special education model.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Thousands of Maine kids missed school as ICE carried out heightened operations
Absence rates for multilingual students were near or over 50% in some school districts where immigration enforcement spiked, and educators describe empty classrooms and fearful students.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Families, lawyers work to locate Maine immigrants moved out of state
Lawyers say it has become harder to locate detainees arrested and flown out of New England since ICE’s recent enforcement surge.
Posted inLocal & State, Maine Crime, News, Schools and Education
Maine to get $4M in private funds to improve education, work options in correctional facilities
Only 4 states were selected by a national nonprofit to receive grant money and technological assistance to create education, job training and workforce pathways for current and formerly incarcerated people.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Gov. Mills is calling for a bell-to-bell school cellphone ban. What does that mean?
Maine would join more than 20 states that ban cellphones for the entire school day. Several districts have already adopted their own policies, but statewide mandates of any kind often meet resistance.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
As Maine student enrollment declines, districts face consequences, and seek opportunities
The 2025-26 data shows a drop of more than 2,000 students statewide since last year. The decline has ripple effects for Maine’s school funding formula and construction backlog.