CALAIS — Superintendent Mary Anne Spearin told the Calais School Committee earlier this month that proposed changes to the state’s school funding formula could benefit the district.

The Maine Legislature voted Thursday to pass L.D. 2226 — An Act to Amend the Essential Programs and Services School Funding Formula — and adopt three of the report’s four recommendations.

Last year, state lawmakers directed the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Education Policy Research Institute, which is funded by the Legislature and the University of Maine System, to study the models used to determine state funding for public schools.

The EPS Funding Report, released last month, identifies several problems with Maine’s school funding model — in place since 2005 — that have been especially hard on public schools in Washington County.

Spearin said the proposed changes, if enacted, could bring about $50,000 to $60,000 in additional education funding to Calais.

“I’m hopeful that it’s more than that,” she said, adding that “every little bit helps.”

The bill will change how the state calculates salaries for Maine’s educators. Previously, the Legislature set a $40,000 base salary for teachers, and schools received funding based on the difference between that base and their average teacher pay.

Calais salaries are now indexed at 0.94, meaning teachers earn about 6 percent less than the state’s base.

The report recommended changing the formula so the base salary becomes a true minimum salary, which means Calais and some other districts would receive additional funding to meet the new standard.

Spearin noted that several Washington County districts have even lower indices than Calais, meaning they would benefit even more — though all would see a funding increase.

Machias-Eastport and Jonesport-Milbridge are both currently indexed at 0.84.

The EPS funding report says the changes to the salary index could result in an overall increase of just under $38 million in state funding for schools.

It notes that nearly every district in the state would receive more money after the reindexing, with the only exception being Maine School Administrative District 54 in Skowhegan.

The second change recommended by MEPRI — and potentially the most significant for Calais — is a refinement to how the state determines a community’s “ability to contribute.”

Public school funding has traditionally relied on a community’s property tax rate — also called the mill rate — to determine how much state support a district receives. But this approach puts many rural Maine communities at a disadvantage, where high property values do not necessarily translate into high wages.

The report recommends adjusting this model to include a community’s income level when determining how much state funding its schools receive. It outlines several ways the formula could be revised by shifting the weighting between the property tax rate and a “regional adjustment” based on differences in the cost of living.

According to the report, the change will not affect the state’s overall spending on public schools. Instead, it redistributes existing funds, with about $13 million shifted to districts with greater need.

The Legislature voted to adopt this measure as part of L.D. 2226.

Spearin said a crucial part of implementing these formula changes will be maintaining the district’s understanding of the Calais school community’s overall financial situation.

Traditionally, the district gathered this information through questionnaires sent home to determine eligibility for school lunch. But with free meals available to all Calais students since 2020, the district has had to find other ways to collect the data.

Calais now sends home an “Economic Status Form,” provided by the state Department of Education.

Spearin emphasized that having accurate information about the economic situations Calais families face will be essential to securing appropriate funding if and when these changes are implemented.

The other changes recommended in the report — but not included in L.D. 2226 — were adjustments to funding for instructional staff support to better reflect what schools actually spend on training and supplies, and shifting to a regional model for managing special education.

L.D. 2226 also includes changes to how the state allocates funding for transportation, a change that is likely to benefit Calais, which, despite being one of Maine’s smallest cities by population, covers a relatively large geographic area.

PHILADELPHIA — Ja’Kobi Gillespie hit six 3-pointers and scored 29 points as sixth-seeded Tennessee ended a fabulous season for Miami (Ohio) with a 78-56 win on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Former South Portland High star JP Estrella had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols.

The Vols (23-11) shook off a rough end to the season — losing four of six games — and advanced to play third-seeded Virginia on Sunday in the Midwest Region.

Gillespie hit five 3s in the first half to help the Vols push ahead by 20 and squash any chance the 11th-seeded RedHawks (31-2) could carry over the confidence gained from their First Four win and pull off a signature victory.

The Vols did just about everything right and showed again why — no matter the seed — they are a perennial threat to go deep in March. Led by Gillespie, the Vols made 12 of 19 shots to start the game, including long 3s and 20 quick points in the paint.

Just to add one more gut punch to Miami, Ethan Burg hit a 3 at the first-half buzzer for a 51-32 lead.

Gillespie passed up a chance to score 30 points — only two other Vols have ever reached that mark in the NCAA Tournament — when he drove the lane with 1:13 left but skipped the open look and threw a lob to Felix Okpara for the bucket.

Peter Suder was the lone Miami player in double digits with 27 points.

Gillespie is just one of many standouts enjoying the same March success in a new uniform thanks to the transfer portal.

He started 36 games last season and averaged 14.7 points, shooting 40.7% from 3-point range, to help Maryland reach the Sweet 16.

Had Gillespie peeked at the scoreboard, he could have caught a Villanova update. Last season’s Maryland coach, Kevin Willard, has the Wildcats in the tournament.

What has remained a constant in March is Tennessee winning. The Vols have been a top-six seed in all eight of their NCAA Tournament appearances under coach Rick Barnes. They are 8-3 overall in the last three tourneys.

RedHawks had a clunker in the first round but still belonged

Miami had a March highlight when it beat SMU in the First Four, its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.

Miami went 31-0 during a captivating regular season — the only Division I team to go unbeaten in 2025-26 and the eighth in the past 50 years.

The RedHawks lost their MAC Tournament opener and had to wait and see if their dazzling record was enough to get in the field because of a schedule that ranked 339th in overall strength and featured no Quadrant 1 games.

The swim team was down to one swimmer to root on the RedHawks

Liam Quigley was the lone member of the Miami swim team who drove to Philadelphia to watch the game.

The swimmers created some excitement late in the season when they started rooting on the basketball team in nothing but their Speedos, goggles and swim caps. Their popularity exploded when they bum-rushed the stands behind the basket in the First Four and waved their arms to provide a nearly-nude distraction on SMU’s free-throw attempts.

Quigley, in red-and-white overalls, traveled from the First Four site in Dayton, Ohio, and had a seat near a non-swimmer RedHawks fan who painted his face and chest red.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two dozen states, including Maine, along with more than a dozen cities and counties, sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, challenging the Trump administration’s repeal of a scientific finding that had been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

A rule finalized by the EPA last month revoked the 2009 endangerment finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Obama-era finding had been the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

The repeal eliminates all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks and could unleash a broader undoing of climate regulations on stationary sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is the second major challenge to the endangerment repeal, following a suit filed last month by public health and environmental groups.

The new lawsuit asserts that EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding abandons a core responsibility to the American people.

“Instead of helping Americans face our new reality, the Trump administration has chosen denial, repealing critical protections that are foundational to the federal government’s response to climate change,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the suit along with attorneys general of Massachusetts, California and Connecticut.

In all, 24 states, 10 cities and five counties joined the lawsuit. All are led by Democrats.

“Climate change is real, and it’s already affecting our residents and our economy,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Joy Campbell. “When the federal government abandons the law and the science, everyday people suffer the consequences.”

Massachusetts “has long led the way in protecting our communities from the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions and we are proud to stand up once again to lead this fight for our future,” she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 2007 case, ruled that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act. Since the high court’s decision, in a case known as Massachusetts v. EPA, courts have uniformly rejected legal challenges to the endangerment finding, including a 2023 decision by the D.C. appeals court.

EPA spokeswoman Brigit Hirsch said the latest lawsuit was “not about the law or the merits of any argument.” Instead, the plaintiffs “are clearly motivated by politics,” she said.

The EPA “carefully considered and reevaluated the legal foundation” of the 2009 finding in light of recent court decisions, including a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that limited how the clean air law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, Hirsch said.

In addition to New York, Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut, the case was joined by attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also joined the case, along with the cities of Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and five counties in California, Colorado, Texas and Washington state.

The dispute is likely to end up back before the Supreme Court, which is now far more conservative than it was in 2007.