Auburn School Committee hears update on district takeover of CDS preschool special-education services

Auburn School Committee members heard an update Oct. 1 on the Auburn School Department's transition into providing CDS preschool special-education services for 3- to 5-year-olds, a change the presenter said is state-mandated and will be fully funded by the Department of Education.

Laura Shaw, Auburn Public Schools director of student services, told the committee the district is part of “CDS transition cohort 2” and has taken steps to begin offering services directly rather than relying entirely on outside providers. Shaw said the effort is 100% funded by the state Department of Education and that current district staff salaries can now be partially reimbursed by the DOE.

Shaw said the district currently serves “30–36 children with IEPs,” including 26 four-year-olds and 10 three-year-olds, and has 28 children in the child-find process. She described a mix of district employees and contracted providers: the Auburn School Department employs a full-time speech pathologist, two full-time early childhood specialist case managers, a half-time early childhood special-education coordinator, two pre-K teachers who provide special education (Chrissy Linehan and Jen Libby at Sherwood Heights), and one early-childhood education technician with a second tech position posted. The district also has contracts with psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, board-certified behavior analysts, speech pathologists and transportation providers.

Shaw described where services are delivered: some children receive services in Head Start locations in Auburn and Lewiston, in the Pine Tree Society Early Learning Center, in the Little Explorers CDS program hosted at Sherwood Heights, at the YMCA, at private therapy providers such as Growing Minds Therapy and Bright Start Therapy, and in private preschools and daycares. She said district staff sometimes travel to those sites and that parents sometimes bring children to off-site providers when necessary.

On funding mechanics, Shaw said the DOE issues quarterly allocations based on current students and documented services; the district submits a spreadsheet of students and services and the DOE adjusts funding across quarters. She said the district does not pay costs up front and that carryover or adjustments are handled between quarters.

Committee members asked about inconsistencies in slide numbers and about longer-term goals to reduce out-of-district placements. Adam Platt, city council representative on the committee, asked whether the work could help the district attract out-of-district students and reduce outplacement costs. Shaw said the district hopes to expand programming — “we're hoping that program becomes ours and they become our employees and then we can tuition out the spots” — and mentioned a longer-term vision of an early-childhood center with inclusive pre-K through age-based programs. She also noted a 2028 timeline she described for CDS changes affecting 3- to 5-year-old services.

Superintendent Sue Doris and other staff emphasized the amount of work that has gone into the transition. Shaw and Chrissy Linehan said staff hiring and contracting remain active, and Shaw said the department has submitted an application for a van to support transportation. Shaw agreed to provide a corrected, clean copy of the presentation for committee reference.

Why this matters: Bringing preschool special-education services into the district changes staffing, contracting and transportation arrangements and can affect the district budget, how children transition into kindergarten and whether the district can absorb and potentially tuition out spots to reduce out-of-district placements. The committee received the update; no formal vote on program structure or funding was taken during the meeting.