Pre-K students at RSU 13’s Thomaston Grammar School (photo credit: RSU 13)

When John McDonald took on his role as superintendent of RSU 13 more than a decade ago, a goal of his was to establish a pre-K program to serve young children in the community. A grant of about a million dollars and a partnership with Penquis kickstarted that work, but the process was not seamless. McDonald noted that over the years, classroom numbers fluctuated, and budget woes resulted in some cutting back of services. There was, however, a very positive outcome of this effort.

“Ultimately, I ended up with a school board who really understood the benefit of having universal pre-K,” McDonald said.

That mindset presented an ample opportunity for RSU 13 when McDonald learned of the planned transition in Maine of Early Childhood Special Education services for children ages three through five from Child Development Services (CDS) to school administrative units (SAUs) by July 1, 2028. He said he “jumped” at the chance to become a part of Cohort 1 in the 2024-2025 school year, recognizing that this effort would ultimately help his overall student population and special education referrals.

“I just felt like it was a good fit for us and fit right in with our philosophy and our goals,” McDonald said.

A supportive school board invested money in RSU 13’s local budget to support the CDS transition. Now, McDonald is proud to say that RSU 13 offers universal pre-K, with a pre-K classroom available to every school in the district. He said he recognizes that this progress would not have been possible without the strong partnerships that RSU 13 had already established with CDS, Penquis, and the local YMCA.

“On our own, we all have limited resources, and—let’s face it—budgets are tight,” McDonald said. “But we want to provide the best possible educational community that we can for these kids. These partnerships are really all-important, in terms of being able to share resources, share information, share expertise.”

Pre-K students at RSU 13’s South School (photo credit: RSU 13)

“We all went into this with our eyes open, recognizing what the needs are,” Gail Page, Site Director of CDS Midcoast, said. “We knew what we needed to do in order to meet the needs of children. We were all very clear about what our mission was.”

Page said that prior to this transition, there was not enough programming available to meet the needs of local children. Over the past year, however, Page said huge steps of progress have occurred. For example, local children who were receiving tele-speech services are now receiving in-person speech services. Page works closely with Janet Corcoran, RSU 13 Special Education Director, and they do their best to address the needs of every child.

“Our work has really proved that this can be done, and it can be done well,” Page said.

“We’re trying to build something new, and whenever you’re trying to build something new, there are always going to be hitches and things that didn’t go the way you planned—but I think it has gone really well,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran noted that in her close work with Page, she is able to provide honest feedback—and the two work together to determine the questions that they want to ask leaders at the state level, as they continue to improve operations. Despite any hurdles, Corcoran said the universal pre-K model is essential, as it allows students who are receiving Early Childhood Special Education services to interact with and learn from their general education peers.

Corcoran said ultimately, the goal is to graduate students out of special education services, leading to better educational outcomes overall.

“Early intervention is the key,” Corcoran said. “The earlier you can get to students and provide those services, the less likely they’re going to need them long term.”

Pre-K students at RSU 13’s Ash Point Community School (photo credit: RSU 13)

Corcoran also highlighted that what public school offers—social workers, school psychologists, speech and occupational therapists, etc. on-site—is hard to meet elsewhere. Perhaps one of the best outcomes of the transition in RSU 13 thus far has been the reaction from local families.

“I get feedback all the time from families about how appreciative they are that we offer classes and services for these really little kids,” McDonald said. “There are lots of working families where both [parents] work. Child care is very expensive, if it’s even available in this area. They are just so, so appreciative of this.”

RSU 13, CDS Midcoast, and the Maine DOE Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education contributed to this article, written as part of a series highlighting the ongoing efforts of CDS and public schools in providing comprehensive educational services to Maine’s children with special needs. To submit a good news story to the Maine DOE, please fill out the good news submission form.