Augusta Schools Receives Later Secondary School Start Time Planning Grant

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Office of Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the award of a one-time, competitive Later Secondary School Start Time Planning Grant to Augusta Schools, in the amount of $75,000.

In accordance with L.D. 396, Resolves 2025, Chapter 110 and Rule Chapter 54, the Later Secondary School Start Time Planning Grant must be used to support the costs associated with the research, analyses, and development of planning around changing secondary school start times to 8:30 a.m. or later. As such, Augusta Schools will use these grant funds to lead a thorough, community-informed process to explore the possibility of later secondary school start times at Cony Middle and High School. Over the contract period from June 1 to September 10, 2026, the school department will pursue a structured sequence of planning activities designed to synthesize the evaluation and analyses of later secondary school start time at these schools.

At the heart of this effort will be a cross-functional leadership and planning team, comprised of administrators, principals, transportation staff, and parent and student representatives. The team will set goals, oversee all planning activities, and conduct dedicated sessions to project the full operational and budgetary impact of a schedule change. Grant funds will support stipends and compensated planning time for team members, as well as the personnel time required for scheduling, communications, recordkeeping, and grant compliance to keep the initiative running smoothly throughout the planning period.

Community engagement will be central to the process. The school department will implement a multi-faceted communication strategy to keep families, staff, students, and community partners involved at every stage. Public forums will be held at accessible times and locations, including virtual options. Targeted outreach will connect internal and external stakeholders, such as students, after-school programs, faculty and staff, parents, transportation service providers, and municipal partners. Surveys and focus groups will gather representative data to ensure that diverse community perspectives are heard, reflected, and analyzed throughout the planning process and provide additional qualitative depth from specific stakeholder populations. Translation and interpretation services will be integrated throughout to ensure equitable access for families whose primary language is not English. Printed and digital materials, including translated formats, will be available for all community events and planning sessions.

The school department will also conduct dedicated transportation studies in direct partnership with its existing provider, First Student, to evaluate routing, scheduling, and cost implications of a start time change. This operations analysis is anticipated to assess contract capacity, model adjusted schedules, and project any additional vehicle, staffing, or cost requirements.

Drawing together findings from community engagement, transportation analysis, and budget projections, leadership will synthesize the data into a formal final summary report as part of the grant award, to be shared with the Maine DOE. Throughout the planning period, grant funds will also support the administrative resources needed to fulfill all Maine DOE reporting requirements, including progress reports, financial documentation, and the final report.