20-A M.R.S. §7405-E: Placement; Mackworth Island preschool and site-based programs

Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the following provisions apply to student placement.

1. Placement. The State's intermediate educational unit or the school administrative unit in which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education pursuant to chapter 301 for a student placed in the Mackworth Island preschool program or a site-based program and for providing statewide education and family services. An individualized education program or 504 plan team for a school administrative unit or Child Development Services System regional site under section 7209 in which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides is responsible for the placement decision for that student. When the Mackworth Island preschool or a site-based program is being considered as a placement for a student, the school administrative unit or Child Development Services System regional site administrator shall invite the center's administrator, or the administrator's designee, and the host school's special education director, or the director's designee, to attend the individualized education program or 504 plan team meeting at which the placement is being considered. In collaboration with the student's individualized education program or 504 plan team, the administrator and the host school's director are responsible for determining if the child's needs can be served within the existing deaf education site-based program in accordance with the enrollment criteria established through the memorandum of understanding between the center and the host school.