MSAD 51 begins planning as Maine shifts preschool special-education responsibility to school districts

MSAD 51 board members, early-childhood providers and state officials met in a workshop to review a state law that moves responsibility for special-education services for 3- to 5-year-olds from Child Development Services (CDS) to local school administrative units (SAUs).

The discussion focused on implementation options, funding flows and operational impacts. Nicole Madore, early childhood specialist on the Maine Department of Education's early learning team, and Tara Williams, associate director at the Office of Child and Family Services, explained that the change is cohort-based and that the statutory expectation is for SAUs to have adopted provision of services by July 1, 2028. Madore said CDS will remain the lead for children ages 0-3 and a statewide hub for supports even after the shift for 3- to 5-year-olds.

District and provider leaders pressed for detail on how money moves. The DOE described two revenue streams: (1) special-education funding tied to IEPs, which the state intends to reimburse at 100% to the SAU for children with IEPs once the SAU assumes responsibility, and (2) general-education public pre-k subsidy through the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) formula, which the DOE noted can be passed through to partners by MOU. The DOE used a rough figure of about $9,000 per eligible pre-k student as an example of an EPS allocation used in other districts.

MSAD 51 director of finance described the district's current pre-k finances: the district operates two half-day classrooms serving 32 students, receives roughly $288,000 in pre-k subsidy and has a pre-k budget of about $208,000; in the last fiscal year the district reported roughly $78,000 in CDS reimbursements for IEP-ordered services. District staff emphasized that reimbursement timing is quarterly and based on count dates (July 1, Oct. 1, Jan. 1, April 1), and that figures are snapshots that may change.

Providers and parents urged preserving community options and program diversity. Several local preschool owners and teachers described play-based, nature-focused and therapeutic programs and warned that forcing all children into a single public-school model risks shutting some community providers down or creating transitions harmful to children. Multiple speakers recommended hybrid approaches: public pre-k seats on the school campus for some students, partnership MOUs with community providers for others, and mechanisms to pass through funding when a child remains in a community-based program.

Operational questions remain: how general-education hours will be ordered on IEPs (DOE staff said guidance and model language are being developed to ensure general-education time is explicitly included and billed), whether the district will need a dedicated pre-k coordinator, and how to staff summer evaluation and continuity of services. DOE and OCFS officials offered technical assistance, pointed to cohort models used by other districts, and recommended focused next steps: local cost projections, provider focus groups and outreach to families currently using community childcare.

The board did not take a final policy vote at the workshop but outlined next steps including further community focus groups, additional financial modeling, and a timeline for a decision later this school year about MSAD 51's implementation approach for 2027/2028.