Administrative Letter: Clarification on Requirement to Ensure Parents’ Meaningful Access to IEP Information

Administrative Letter: #23
Policy Code: BGE
To: Public School Administrators, Special Ed. Directors, EL Coordinators/Directors, and ESOL Teachers
From: Pender Makin, Commissioner
Date: March 12, 2019
Subject: Clarification on Requirement to Ensure Parents’ Meaningful Access to IEP Information

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees parents’ right to receive communication from their children’s schools in a language they can understand. The US Department of Education has provided guidance (PDF) clarifying that, “State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have flexibility in determining what mix of oral and written translation services may be necessary and reasonable for communicating the required information to parents with limited English proficiency.”

For parents of students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), LEAs must ensure that parents are able to understand the proceedings of the IEP meeting and access the IEP document as needed.

In a 2007 letter (PDF) to Conway Public Schools in Arkansas, the Office of Special Education (OSEP) indicated that, “while providing written translations of IEP documents is not required under IDEA, we believe in some circumstances it may help to show that a parent has been fully informed of the services his or her child will be receiving.”

A 2016 Dear Colleague Letter (PDF) from OSEP states that, “Under Title VI, all vital documents, including a student’s IEP, must be accessible to Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents, but that does not necessarily mean that all vital documents must be translated for every language in the district. For example, a timely and complete oral interpretation or translated summary of a vital document might suffice in some circumstances. A district must, however, be prepared to provide timely and complete translated IEPs to provide meaningful access to the IEP and the parental rights that attach to it. This is because a parent needs meaningful access to the IEP not just during the IEP meeting, but also across school years to monitor the child’s progress and ensure that IEP services are provided.”

This notice does not serve as legal advice, and LEAs should consult legal staff and/or the Office for Civil Rights for guidance pertaining to their specific contexts.

The Maine Department of Education would like to acknowledge and thank Maine’s special education directors, administrators, and educators for ensuring federal and state regulations for educating students with special needs are met, and for their ongoing dedication to the students and families that these processes serve.

For further information about translation/interpretation please contact April Perkins, Director of ESOL/Bilingual Programs & Title III at (207) 624-6627 or april.perkins@maine.gov. For further information about supporting students with an IEP, please contact Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services at (207) 624-6713.

Guidance Regarding Automated Translation/Interpretation Services

As Maine districts have experienced increasing numbers of students and parents who speak languages other than English, there has also been an increase in the availability of machine or automated translation/interpretation software and apps. While these tools may seem like a convenient (and oftentimes free) way to meet a district’s civil rights obligations for communicating with parents, they have not yet reached the level of accuracy necessary to serve as a substitute for a qualified human translator/interpreter. Meaningful communication with parents, including parents whose children have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), is not only a civil rights requirement, but it also serves to strengthen family engagement and promote positive relationships between families and schools.

A 2015 guidance document from the US Department of Justice and US Department of Education clarifies that even a bilingual person without appropriate training cannot be used by a school to translate/interpret for parents. Whether for the vital communications listed in this guidance document or for more casual interactions, best practice is always to utilize trained professionals, such as through a phone interpretation service or translation/interpretation agency.

For a list of translation/interpretation providers, please refer to the Maine Department of Education website. For parent notices required under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Maine Department of Education has partnered with TransACT to give districts free access to notices in 17 languages.

The Special Education Staff Certification Report (EF-S-05 Part II) Open on March 1, 2019; Deadline is April 5, 2019.

The EF-S-05 Part II Special Education Staff Certification report must be verified and certified by the Special Education Director in the Maine DOE’s NEO System. The report is used to verify the full-time equivalency (FTE) and qualification status of special education teachers, paraprofessionals (educational technicians), and related services personnel who were employed or contracted to provide special education services to students with disabilities ages 3 through 20 as of December 1, 2018.

Access instructions for completing the EF-S-05 Part II report.

If you have trouble logging into NEO or have other technical issues, contact the help desk at 207-624-6896 or MEDMS.Helpdesk@maine.gov.

For questions about the EF-S-05 Part II report, contact Brandi Giguere at 207-624-6648 or brandi.a.giguere@maine.gov.

Public Comments Sought on Maine’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B Application for Federal Funds

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) is seeking public comments on its annual application for federal funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which covers services to children with disabilities, ages 3-20.

The application, which covers Maine fiscal year 2020 (starting July 1, 2019) is posted on the Maine DOE’s website:

IDEA Part B Application can be found on the Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services web page.

The Part B budget is projected on the basis of Maine’s award for the current State fiscal year (2019), pending the State’s receipt of the finalized federal award for the coming year. Both documents will be posted from February 22, 2019 through May 10, 2019.

Written comments will be accepted from March 1, 2019 until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 1, 2019. Please send comments to Ann Belanger at ann.belanger@maine.gov or 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME. 04333.

EPS High-Cost Out-of-District Report (EF-S-214) Open for Reporting on March 1, 2019; Deadline is April 15, 2019

The EF-S-214, also known as the EPS High-Cost Out-of-District Report will be open for data entry to Maine public schools on March 1 in the Maine DOE’s NEO Portal.

The report can be located by logging into NEO at: https://neo.maine.gov/DOE/NEO/Accounts/Account/Login then Navigate to→ Special Education → Forms → EFS-214.

School districts should sign into the report as early as possible to allow time for data entry as well as the two-step submission process. The deadline to complete the report is April 15. The Department must approve the report by April 15 to allow time to make possible EPS adjustments.

This report is required for all publicly funded school districts, including districts that do not meet the High-Cost Out-of-District tuition threshold of $16,214 (see further details below).

Below are a few important things to note about the EF-S-214 report:

School districts will need to project the tuition cost for the full fiscal year.

Fiscal Year 2019 tuition/board cost that total above $16,214 for each student should be included in the report.

Adjustments to the Special Education High-Cost Out-of-District allocation will be based on costs above $16,214 for placements in Regional Special Education Programs, $24,321 for placements in other school administrative units, and $32,428 for placements in private schools.

Questions about the report should be direct to Stephanie Clark (Fiscal Compliance Specialist) for the Maine Department of Education at 207-624-6807 or (Stephanie.clark@maine.gov).

Administrative Letter: Clarification Concerning Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Administrative Letter: #22
Policy Code: BGE
To: Public School Administrators, Special Ed. Directors
From: A. Pender Makin, Acting Commissioner
Date: January 31, 2019
Subject: Clarification Concerning Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

To assist and support school districts in their diligent work to document student Individual Education Plans (IEP), Maine Department of Education is providing clarification concerning least restrictive environment (LRE) and the calculation of the percentage of time that a child is with non-disabled peers (Section 9 of the IEP).

The information in this letter is our best guidance. It has been reviewed by our legal team in the Office of the Attorney General and has been confirmed by the federal Office of Special Education Programs.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

The time during which a child receives instruction within the regular education setting is to be considered as non-special education time in the LRE calculation. The physical location of the child’s program dictates the regular education setting calculation regardless of the type of instruction he or she may be receiving (special or regular education). If the child is receiving special education services outside of the regular education setting, that amount of time should continue to be considered as time away from non-disabled children.

Further questions may be directed to the Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Services at 207-624-6713.

Due Process Procedure Update

The Office of Special Services would like to inform school districts and parents that the Due Process Office has a new email address specific to special education due process issues. Requests for Mediations, State Complaint Investigations, and Requests for Hearings should be submitted to dueprocess.DOE@maine.gov and mailed to

The Office of Special Services, Due Process
Maine DOE, 23 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0023.

Please submit any new requests to this email address. The telephone number for information about due process procedures remains 624-6644. For further questions, please contact Ann Belanger, Deputy Director, Office of Special Services, her email is Ann.Belanger@maine.gov.

MaineCare Seed Adjustments to be Made; Review Q119 Reports by January 18, 2019

The recovery of Q119 MaineCare Seed will occur in the January 2019 subsidy payment and the Maine DOE is asking School Administrative Units (SAUs) to review their reports by January 18, 2019 to ensure accurate adjustments to subsidy. SAU staff must review student by student claims on both the public and private MaineCare reports for Q119 by January 18, 2019.

To access the MaineCare Seed reports, please follow the instructions below.

Log into NEO
As in the past, if a new staff member needs permission to access this module, a request from the Superintendent to the Maine DOE helpdesk will be necessary. The helpdesk contact information is medms.helpdesk@maine.gov or 207-624-6896. Anyone who currently has Special Education Director permissions to the Special Education module, will automatically have permissions to access MaineCare reports.
Click on the Student Data tab
Click on the Student Report tab
Select MaineCare in the Reporting Area drop-down
Choose the quarterly Seed report and the report type (private/public)
Click view report button
Once the report appears on the screen, choose the export button.
Export Button
You may export the reports to Excel but, please be aware that there may be multiple worksheet tabs within the workbook. Save the file to your computer.

If you disagree that a particular student or time period should be on the report, please provide the reason that you disagree along with the following to Denise.towers@maine.gov.

Identify the type of report (public or private) and the quarter in which the claims are located.
State Student ID
Service provided dates (to and from)
Total amount of Seed being disputed

Summer services: Students must be enrolled for the time period they are receiving educational services. This means that students that are receiving extended school year services in district or extended school year services in an out of district placement must have a primary enrollment for that time period in order for the MDOE to have the most accurate enrollment data to determine SAU responsibility for MaineCare Seed.

For more information or technical assistance related to MaineCare Seed, please contact Denise.towers@maine.gov.

Maine DOE Offers Two Opportunities to Participate in a 1% Alternate Assessment Support Webinar

Letters were sent out Friday, December 21^st to all districts that have identified more than 1% of their students as alternate assessment students. Three levels of support are offered to all districts. Districts assigned to a level of support in Tier 2 and Tier 3 are required to attend one of the 1% Support Webinars listed below. All other districts are welcome to attend.

Jan 9, 2019 2:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
Jan 11, 2019 9:00 AM
Join Zoom Meeting

The webinar will include an overview of the 1% ESSA regulation – Section §1111(b)(2)(D)(I) for providing alternate assessments, including: the definition of significant cognitive disabilities, meeting the criteria within the Participation Guidelines, how to identify students in Synergy, and how to complete the Action Plan for districts over the 1% participation threshold. Concentration on the Action Plan will look at three levels of support and what that means to districts, how to provide justifications, and a look at disproportionality.

Please contact Sue Nay at sue.nay@maine.gov or Ann Belanger at ann.belanger@maine.gov with questions.

Proposed Rule Chapter 8: Rules Relating to the use of Essential Programs and Services Targeted Funds for Economically Disadvantaged Students

The Maine Department of Education is proposing a new Rule Chapter 8 that outlines the ways in which districts may use the targeted funding allocation, which was enacted by the 128th Legislature, to support economically disadvantaged students. The purpose of the funding is to increase achievement among economically disadvantaged students through extended learning programs. The rule includes eligible uses of the funds and a process for districts to certify the appropriate use of these funds.

The proposed rule was posted in the Secretary of State Newspaper ad on December 19, 2018. The comment period ends January 18, 2019 at 5 PM.

The proposed Rule Chapter 8 can be found here (proposed rules are listed in order by rule number).

Comments can be submitted by email to Tyler Backus at tyler.backus@maine.gov or by mail to Tyler Backus, 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333