Special Education

Child Find Notice

NEPN/NSBA Code: IHBAC

MSAD No. 20

The MSAD No. 20 Board of Directors seeks to ensure that all children within its

jurisdiction are located and evaluated who are school-age, five and under the age of 22

and who are in need of special education and supportive assistance. 

This includes homeless children, state wards, state agency clients, students who have been suspended or expelled, children attending private schools receiving home instruction, children incarcerated in county jails, children who have the equivalent of 10 full days of unexcused absences or seven consecutive school days of unexcused absences during a school year, highly mobile children (including migrant or homeless), and children who are suspected of being disabled and in need of special education and supportive assistance even though they are advancing from grade to grade.

MSAD No. 20 is responsible for Child Find for resident students attending private or

public schools through public tuition payments or public contract and shall meet this duty either through appropriate arrangements with the receiving unit or school or through direct child find services by unit personnel or contracted personnel.

The school unit’s Child Find responsibility shall be accomplished through a unit-wide

process which, while not a definitive or final judgment of a student’s capabilities or

disability, it is a possible indicator of special education needs. Final identification of

students with disabilities and programming for such students occurs only after an

appropriate evaluation and a determination by the IEP Team.

The school unit shall provide Child Find during the first 30 days of the school year or

during the first 30 days of enrollment for transfer students, in addition to other Child Find

activities provided by the school unit.  This Child Find process shall include obtaining data on each child through multiple measures, direct assessment, and parent information regarding the child’s academic and functional performance, gross and fine motor skills, receptive and expressive language skills, vision, hearing and cognitive skills. 

The MSAD No. 20 may schedule Child Find activities during its annual kindergarten enrollment to assist in planning for necessary special education and related services at the start of the school year. If screening occurs in the spring prior to school entry, the MSAD No. 20 will refer the child to the regional Child Development Services (CDS) site within 10 school days.

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If the Child Find process indicates that a student may require special education and

supportive services in order to benefit from regular education, the student shall be

referred to the IEP Team to determine the student’s eligibility for special education services.

NEPN/NSBA Code: IHBAC

School staff, parents, or agency representatives or other individuals with knowledge of

the child may refer children to the IEP team if they believe that the student, because of a

disability, may be in need of special education and supportive services in order to benefit

from regular education. Such a referral should follow the school unit’s pre-referral and

referral policy.

Legal Reference: 34 C.F.R. § 300.111 (2006)

Me. Dept. of Educ. Rule Ch. 101, IV 2(A), (C) (2015)

Me. Dept. of Educ. Administrative Letter 1 (January 21, 2021)

Adopted: January 22, 2008

Revised: December 13, 2016

Revised: March 8, 2022

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