The state Legislature's Education Committee and the state Department of Education are collaborating on a plan to transfer the job of providing early childhood disability services from the Department of Education to Maine's 209 school districts.
Courtney Belloran, the department's director of policy and government affairs, and Megan Welter, vice chair of public education, presented the draft bill to the committee Thursday.
Child Development Services, the department responsible for providing disability resources to pre-K-12 school children, has been failing for at least a decade. In the process, states violate the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and leave children without the supports they need to alleviate the lifelong effects of their disabilities.
As of October, 18% of CDS clients, or 550 children, were not receiving the services they needed and were legally entitled to.
Lawmakers seem optimistic that the state is on the right path after years of significant challenges, but the financial strain the transition will place on local school districts, a shortage of early childhood educators and a lack of immediate solutions. expressed deep concerns about this. Children who currently do not receive appropriate services or services at all.
CDS is now responsible for determining whether and what disability services a child needs and connecting them with the appropriate resources to help the child succeed.
Government officials have known for some time that the agency was falling short of its goals.
Lawmakers and Education Department officials are working on a plan put together by Secretary of State Pender Makin that would shift state responsibility for supporting children with disabilities to school districts. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
In a presentation to the Board of Education this month, Commissioner Pender Makin discussed the challenges CDS has faced over the years, laid out a plan to shift state responsibility for supporting children with disabilities to school districts, and emphasized that education officials and commissioners The association has begun a process that will continue. Thursday.
The department has kept much of Makin's original plan, but has made some notable changes, including adding funding and support and giving districts more time to prepare. Further changes are likely as lawmakers work on the bill before it goes to committee.
The agency's top goal is to transfer responsibility for providing a free, appropriate education to 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds from CDS to local school districts over the next four years, while keeping CDS intact and eligible for support. It is to be. school district.
The migration will occur in stages as plans are developed. Those who are ready to take on 3- to 5-year-olds with disabilities in their community can do so in the 2024-25 school year, but how can districts with fewer resources sustainably take on this new responsibility? I need time and support to think about it. It will need to be ready by 2028.
Additionally, the state said it will allow school districts that are not ready to transition by 2028 to apply for an extension.
The original plan outlined a three-year transition period.
Perhaps the most notable change is that all operating costs and special education services will be covered by the state, reducing the burden on local school districts. The previous plan allowed for full funding in the first year only.
Lawmakers seemed tentatively reassured that the plan would better serve Maine's children without placing an undue burden on local school districts.
“I feel like we’re making great progress and I hope we get there,” said Sen. Joe Lafferty, D-York.
But Rafferty added that he is concerned about the shortage of early childhood educators.
“I’m worried about not having boots on the ground,” he said. “We need to come together and solve it.”
Other lawmakers said they remain concerned about the strain on school districts and are unsure whether the department's funding model is sufficient to support the hundreds of children who currently do not receive adequate services. He said he was troubled by the lack of immediate plans.
Department officials Welter and Belloran said they are addressing all of these issues by being flexible, continuing to communicate with educators across the state, and working to strengthen the early educator workforce. .
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