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MSAD 51 details special-education supports, cites rising identifications and heavier services
Summary
Director of Instructional Support Julie Olsen told the MSAD 51 board that the district’s special-education identification rate remains below the state average but is rising; she described the district’s embedded-professional model, mental-health supports and next steps to strengthen writing and transition services.
Director of Instructional Support Julie Olsen gave the board an annual update on instructional support and special education at the MSAD 51 Board of Directors meeting on April 17.
Olsen said Maine’s statewide special-education identification rate is “over 20 percent,” and that MSAD 51’s rate has been lower but is increasing. “In fiscal year ’22-’23 we were just over 12 percent and we’re now over 13% creeping up to 14%,” Olsen said.
The update outlined why MSAD 51’s identification rate has been lower than the state average and described the district’s approach to early interventions. “We always start by law in a multi tier system of support or an RTI service,” Olsen said, describing the district’s MTSS/RTI work in reading, writing, math and behavior from pre-K through grade 12. She credited the district’s embedded professionals — full-time speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and social workers assigned inside self-contained classrooms — and other staff development for reducing the need for earlier IEP identification in some cases.
Olsen said the district currently employs nine embedded clinicians and named other supports: a mental-health specialist who handles risk assessments and hospital transitions, board-certified behavior analysts, a new transition coordinator hired two years ago to support students leaving K–12 services, and ongoing new-teacher and ed-tech professional-development series. “He completes all of our risk assessments in the district,” Olsen said of the district mental-health specialist, and she described the transition coordinator’s role helping students move from IEPs to postsecondary accommodations.
Board members pressed for details on equity across buildings, bus driver training and how the district helps students who move to college or other placements. Scott Poole, the district finance director who also supervises transportation, explained that bus drivers are not typically given extra special-education training unless a child’s IEP requires an attendant on the bus or specialized transportation. Olsen and Poole said such decisions are made by IEP teams on a case-by-case basis.
Olsen also shared staff survey results on academic programming: roughly 47% of staff agreed or strongly agreed that reading programs were research based; lower percentages reported the same for writing and math. She said writing will remain a focus for the district’s professional development.
Board members asked whether the district can maintain current services if the budget is tightened. Olsen replied that special education is not “fluff,” that students with disabilities are legally entitled to “adequate programming” and that cuts would likely result in higher caseloads, fewer interventions and reduced progress for students.
The presentation closed with Olsen asking for questions and noting that district staff will continue to refine professional development and transition work ahead of next year’s planning.
Why it matters: The presentation sketched how MSAD 51 balances early intervention and specialized services and highlighted the staff, positions and training that district leaders say reduce later identification while supporting students with higher needs.
