Program Plan for Special Education
| To: | Superintendents of Schools and Charter School Leaders |
| From: | Marcia Mittnacht, State Director of Special Education |
| Date: | July 2008 |
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) provides this Special Education Program Plan Statement in order to ensure that regular updating of information is easy and straightforward. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) paperwork reduction elements allow districts to meet requirements for submission of local policies and procedures through verifying their awareness of the requirements and assuring the ESE that all local actions and procedures are completely consistent with these requirements.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires an original assurance of compliance with these requirements for each district and charter school to be on file. In order to continue to meet the federal requirements and to ensure uninterrupted access to federal special education funds, all districts or charter schools must review and submit an updated Special Education Program Plan Statement prior to any Coordinated Program Review (CPR) or Mid-Cycle Review (MCR) conducted by the ESE as part of its three year monitoring cycle. The Special Education Program Plan Statement continues to be structured in such a way that each community must individually consider each required element and state that the district or charter school is in compliance with that element. If local policies or procedures differ from the requirements detailed in the statement, then the district or charter school must submit the local procedures for review and approval. It is the expectation of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, however, that the need for such submissions of local procedures will be minimal because each of the elements and the procedures associated with the elements is required by law. Procedures at the local level that reinterpret the law to allow alternative activities must be submitted for review and approval prior to implementation.
Please complete the Special Education Program Plan Statement and submit the original to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Special Education Planning and Policy Development Office, by October 30th of the 2008-2009 school year if your district or charter school has been scheduled for a CPR or MCR that will occur before January 1, 2009. For CPRs or MCRs that will occur after January 1, 2009, please submit the Special Education Program Plan Statement by December 1, 2008. The timely submission of this updated Special Education Program Plan Statement is required for continued receipt of any federal special education funds. Failure to submit this signed statement and any additional required documentation will jeopardize the timely release of federal funds for your district or charter school.
For questions regarding the Program Plan for Special Education, please contact Will Blackwell at wblackwell@doe.mass.edu.
  Download Program Plan Statement (updated 6/30/08)
last updated: September 12, 2008
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