JAY — Regional School Unit 73 will take over special education responsibilities Aug. 27 for incoming kindergarten students with individualized education programs, or IEPs, and for 4-year-olds in Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls who need evaluation or services.

The shift is part of Maine’s transition of early childhood special education responsibilities from Child Development Services to local school administrative units.

Special Services Director Cherie Parker told the board of directors the district has 330 special education students, 13 open referrals, 15 incoming kindergarten students with active IEPs and seven more kindergartners in the referral process through Child Development Services.

“In special education, we currently have 330 students,” Parker said. “This is 15 fewer than my April report.”

The district has 13 open referrals, seven fewer than in Parker’s previous report. The number of students placed at out-of-district special purpose schools for day treatment programming, 14, has stayed the same. Those placements include three students at the primary level, three at the elementary level, four at the middle school and four at the high school.

Primary school special education teachers, kindergarten teachers and Parker have begun transition IEP meetings for students coming from Child Development Services who will enter kindergarten in the fall.

RSU 73 will become responsible for those students’ IEPs beginning Aug. 27, when they enter kindergarten.

Transition meetings and kindergarten registration days have shown that some incoming kindergarten students have not had experience in preschool, daycare or playgroups.

“School readiness is no longer about numbers, letters, colors and shapes, but it’s also about learning how to play and interact with other children,” Parker said.

Those concerns go beyond Parker’s previous concerns about students with disabilities not receiving IEP services through Child Development Services.

Parker said she and Spruce Mountain Primary School Principal Darcy Shink met with kindergarten teachers to discuss how to address those needs in the learning environment.

“Darcy and I did sit with the kindergarten teachers to brainstorm the best approach to address these needs within the learning environment, and this collaboration will likely need to continue through the beginning of the school year,” Parker said.

The district will also take on special education service responsibility for 4-year-old students in Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls beginning Aug. 27. That includes “child find” responsibility for evaluating 4-year-old children with a suspected disability, as well as services determined by an IEP team to be disability-related.

The district receives monthly child count updates from the Department of Education. Parker said the district currently knows of seven active IEPs and six children in the evaluation process among 4-year-olds.

“These services do not have to be provided within our public pre-K classrooms, but our district will be responsible to provide the services required by each student’s IEP,” Parker said.

The district will have a better idea of where services need to be delivered after pre-K registration days at Spruce Mountain Primary School.

“So there are seven definite that will have special education services and then the other six are currently being evaluated by Child Development Services,” Parker said.

RSU 73 will have to provide services in Jay, Livermore or Livermore Falls, even if a child attends Head Start instead of the district’s public pre-K program.

“If they’re attending Head Start instead of our public pre-K then we have to go to Head Start and provide those services,” Parker said.

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