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Dear Maine Members and Friends:

It has recently come to light that the former superintendent of Waterville Public Schools, Edward J. LeBlanc, asked home school families to fill out equivalent instruction application forms and send them to him, rather than to the Commissioner of Education. Only the Commissioner has authority to approve equivalent instruction applications. Families who mailed this form only to LeBlanc are not protected from a civil or criminal action to enforce the compulsory attendance law. There is evidence that LeBlanc may have been using this scheme to pad enrollment figures and thereby get extra state money for the Waterville Public school system.

The current superintendent, Eric Haley, is aware of the situation and is very apologetic. I have asked him to apologize to each home school family that was mislead and ask each family if they want him to forward the completed forms to the Commissioner of Education or take other appropriate action. He indicated his willingness to do this.

We do not know if any other local superintendent has tried to usurp the role of the Commissioner as LeBlanc did. If you are aware of any superintendent who has asked families to send the application for equivalent instruction to him rather than to the Commissioner, please let me know.

Sincerely yours,