Maine: 3 elem schools trying inclusive model; 21% of state students have special needs
- Aug 18, 2025
- 3 min read
Aug 17, 2025, Maine Monitor: Three Maine elementary schools to test new inclusive education model
Special education students are typically separated from the rest of the student body to receive services. A state-run pilot program aims to change that.
In Bangor’s Downeast School, teachers are setting up for the upcoming year. Crayon boxes and name plates top small desks, signs spell out the ABC’s. In one classroom, a banner proclaims “All Are Welcome.”
Principal Sarah Vickers said the elementary school has been working toward better serving and including students who have disabilities for a few years. This has meant pushing for more collaboration across departments, developing more proactive responses to negative behavior in the classrooms, as well as planning lessons to serve a diverse array of needs.
“We do have students that receive special education services for the majority of their day, and with these kinds of support and practices in place, we’ve been able to transition them to a less restrictive environment,” Vickers said.
“Being able to spend more time or the majority of their day in the regular (education) setting without additional supports, or supports being much less than what they previously had, has been a big success for us.”
About a third of the children at her school need special education services, according to state data.
This year, Downeast’s pursuit of more inclusive education is scaling up: it is one of three elementary schools that is working with the state and the University of Maine at Farmington as part of a five-year pilot program aimed at helping teachers learn how to incorporate students with various needs in their classrooms and move away from the silos that have long separated students with disabilities.
The other two schools are Turner and Leeds Central, both near Lewiston.
The program, which is supported through federal grant funding from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and through a partnership with the University of Maine, launches as special education costs are on the rise in Maine and as federal priorities are shifting.
The state Department of Education declined to say how much the program will cost. “We are unable to provide a specific dollar amount to you at this time,” wrote Erin Frazier, from the Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education, in an email, “as the project is in its infancy.”
In 2022, roughly 56 percent of Maine special education students spent most of their day in the general education classroom — 10 percent lower than the national average, according to state data and the National Center for Education Statistics. Since then, Maine’s inclusion rate has only risen by one percent.
Nationally, around 15 percent of students need special education services. In Maine, that figure is 21 percent, according to 2023 data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Maine is tied with New York and Pennsylvania for the second-highest rate, behind Puerto Rico.
As the special education student population has grown, so have the costs. A 2018 state task force looking at special education costs recommended that the state “remove barriers between special education and general education and develop an integrated, inclusive system in which special education and general education work collaboratively to deliver services to all students.” . . .
Reducing barriers
The pilot program will pay for participating schools to get leadership and teacher training, and will help schools restructure their schedules so special education students have more time in the general classroom. The state saw just four applications for the three spots.
For Tracy Whitlock, a special services coordinator at the state’s Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education, it was important that the schools were invested in the work.
“We never want to come into a school and say ‘you’re going to do this,’ it needs to be something that educators are passionate about,” Whitlock said.
The goal is to develop a model of inclusive education that other schools could eventually adopt. . . .
A recent report released by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) found that high rates of challenging behavior — that is, types of student behavior in class that was disruptive, dangerous, or did not meet teacher expectations and required additional attention — is a growing issue for schools.
“Persistent challenging student behavior can overburden administrative and education staff, lead to an increase in special education referrals, contribute to over-identification of students with behavioral disorders and be a critical factor in the ongoing teacher shortage,” the report states.
Carrie Woodcock, the executive director of the Maine Parent Federation, explained that how schools address challenging behavior is tied to the siloed structure of special education.
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