Maine: "Statewide transition" for districts to provide services for all 4yos with special needs by 2028

Feb 15, 2026, Maine Monitor:  RSU 9 to begin special education services for 4‑year‑olds ...

The Regional School Unit 9 board of directors received an update Tuesday on preparations to offer special education programming for 4‑year‑olds beginning next year.

RSU 9 is among the districts that will begin providing services to younger children next year as part of a statewide transition that must be completed by July 2028.

The change is driven by 2024 legislation that shifts responsibility for children ages 3 to 5 with individualized education programs from Child Development Services to local school districts.

The statewide transition is organized into four cohorts. Districts in the first two cohorts are already providing services, while Cohort 4 will take responsibility for eligible children by 2028. More than 70 districts are in Cohort 3, including RSU 9.

Operating under the supervision of the Maine Department of Education, Child Development Services, or CDS, coordinates early intervention for children through age 2 and provides early childhood special education for children ages 3 to 5. The agency operates nine regional sites across the state.

For decades, CDS has provided these services to young children, who then transition to their local school programs once they are old enough.

Cynthia Bernstein, RSU 9’s director of special services, said that while that system “had a really good purpose to it decades ago,” it has increasingly created a more difficult transition for children entering school programs.

“It’s a structure that’s done throughout the country,” Bernstein said of the new system, noting that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides services for those between ages 3 and 22. “It promotes seamless instruction for our children and introduces families to the school district at that younger age.”

As is the case for many districts, Bernstein said RSU 9 wanted to take on 4‑year‑olds first. That would give the program time to build momentum and “really get our feet under us,” she said, noting that 3‑year‑olds come with another set of rules. . . .

RSU 9 already provides special education services to 5‑year‑olds. The plan is to begin serving 4‑year‑olds in the 2026‑27 school year, adding 3‑year‑olds the following year.

District staff members have begun attending meetings of the state Department of Education’s Early Childhood Special Education section — biweekly meetings that will later include other districts in Cohort 3, which Bernstein said would be interesting and helpful. . . .

The new law allows children in child care centers to receive district services, rather than coming to the district’s prekindergarten programs. . . .

Once up and running, the program is supported financially by the state Department of Education through a per‑pupil allocation. That is mandated by the law, which forbids using general education funds to support the program, and during the 2024‑25 fiscal year the state paid out more than $7 million to the first cohort of schools. That increased to $39 million in the 2025‑26 fiscal year as the second cohort came online. . . .

Predicting the number of children who qualify for services has been challenging elsewhere in the state. Before implementation, the state Department of Education told the 17 districts in the first cohort to plan for 189 students. A total of 437 were ultimately recorded as receiving special education services. . . .