REPORT OF SERVICES TO EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
Frequently Asked Questions
December 1st Child Count 2008
The purpose of this Question and Answer sheet is to answer frequently asked questions. Since some of these responses affect subsidy under EPS, change has been made to the Parentally Placed Students in private schools (unilaterally placed) and the Superintendent of School Agreement.
Please see: http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/misteam/enrollment/superintendentsgreements.htm
EF-S05 and Infinite Campus/MEDMS (Maine Education Data Management System)
Question: Who enters the demographic data on students with disabilities into IC/MEDMS?
The IC/MEDMS administrator or school administrative assistants in the attending school administrative unit enters the demographic data.
Question: Who enters the educational placement, related services, exit and anticipated services data on children with disabilities?
The IC/MEDMS administrator or school administrative assistants in the attending school administrative unit enter the non-demographic data and updates the data throughout the year.
- FOR THIS YEAR ONLY, we will not be collecting Related Services or Anticipated Services
Question: Who adds new children with disabilities to the December to the IC/MEDMS system for the December 1st Child Count?
Only the IC/MEDMS Administrators in your attending school administrative unit can add children with disabilities to the IC/MEDMS system. These adds are made throughout the year as students enter the system.
Question: Who exits children with disabilities from the special education program or the school administrative unit.
The IC/MEDMS administrator or school administrative assistants in the attending school administrative unit will enter all the exiting data in IC/MEDMS that will result in the student being exited. This should be done throughout the school year.
Parentally Placed Students in Private Schools. (Unilaterally placed)
Question: Can we count on our December 1st child count special education students who have been unilaterally placed by their parents in private schools?
There are several scenarios with different answers:
School Administrative Units (SAU) where the private school is located are responsible for child find, the identification and evaluation of children with disabilities in private schools regardless of the legal residence of the student.
Only those student identified with a special education disability have an I.S.P. (Individual Service Plan) and are receiving services on December 1st will be entered in the IC/MEDMS system and appear on the Dec 1st child count.
Note: There may be students with disabilities that were included for the calculation of federal funds to the private school but only those that have I.S.P’s and are receiving services on December 1 are included in IC/MEDMS for the Dec 1st Child Count.
If a school district has DEVELOPED AN ISP and is PROVIDING SERVICES according to that ISP to a student who is in unilateral placement, then the attending school district enters the student in the IC/MEDMS system that student appears on the December 1st child count even if the student is a resident of another unit.
Should a child enrolled in a home instruction program, who chooses to enroll in specific day school classes at the public school, request access to special education and related services in a public school within their SAU, the provision of 20-A MRSA §5021 shall apply and the Individual Education Program Team will meet to develop an ISP for services provided in a public school. MUSER, Chapter 101, IV Section 2, H.
Home schooled children with an ISP should be entered in the IC/MEDMS and counted on December 1st.
If a school has DEVELOPED AN ISP, but the parents have refused services, then the school district DOES NOT enter that student in IC/MEDMS.
- Students, who are parentally placed in approved private schools that are located within your district and who have been enrolled in Infinite Campus and flagged as special ed, will show up on your report. IF they do not, you can create a “Special Ed Enrollment” for the student. A “Special Ed Enrollment” is created by selecting a Service Type of “N: Special Ed Services” and it should ONLY be used for students who are parentally placed in private schools that are physically located within your school district. Please call Charlotte Ellis (624-6808) or the MEDMS helpdesk (624-6896) before creating one of these enrollments.
REGULAR CLASS – PLACEMENT
Question: What placement option do I use for a student who is in the regular classroom 80% or more of the day but has a full-time or part-time education technician assigned to them.
Answer: You would report the student in the regular class placement. The mistake districts make is reporting these students as Self-Contained because they are assigned an Education Technician. The least restrictive issue is how much time students spend with regular education students in the regular education classroom regardless of the amount of time the education technician is with them or the number of education technicians’ are assigned to the student.
Home Schooled Students
Question: Can we count on our December 1st Child Count students with disabilities who are home schooled?
Yes, home school students can be entered into IC/MEDMS for the December 1st Child Count if they have a disability as defined in Chapter 101 Special Education Regulations, an *I.S.P. and are receiving services on December 1st.
Home Schooled students who receive special education and related services should be recorded in a placement using the placement options available and not reported as Homebound or Hospital placements.
*ISP = Individualized Service Plan
Diagnostic Placements
Question: Can we count students who are in a diagnostic placement on December 1st?
No, the student has not been identified as a special education student. Even if the student has an IEP, the student cannot be counted unless the student has an identified disability under IDEA and Chapter 101.
State Wards/State Agency Clients
Question: Who counts students who are state wards and/or state agency clients?
School administrative units where the student is educated (attending school) should enter the state ward or state agency client in IC/MEDMS. Department of Education and unit show up on IC/MEDMS in the SAU where the residential treatment center is located.
504 Students
Question: Can we count 504 Students on the December 1st Child Count?
No, since they are not identified as disabled under IDEA or Chapter 101, Special Education. If you have a 504 student as special education students in IC/MEDMS, you need to exit them to regular education.
Private School Placement
Question: Who counts students placed in private special purpose schools?
All special education students in special purpose private schools will be entered into IC/MEDMS by a school administrative unit and show up on your school administrative units list of special education students for the December 1st Child Count. The student should have a concurrent enrollment at the special purpose private school.
Hospitalized Students
Question: Who counts hospitalized students?
School administrative units enter into IC/MEDMS students who will appear on the December 1st Child Count who are hospitalized and receiving their special education from the school administrative unit. This includes either directly providing the services or contracting for tutorial services. Hospitals do not enter your students into IC/MEDMS.
School administrative units enter into IC/MEDMS students who will appear on December 1st child count that are patients at psychiatric hospitals and receiving their instruction through the hospital or by any other means even if the services are provided through contract or agreement with a private school or another public school.
School administrative units enter into IC/MEDMS students who will appear on the December 1st Child Count who are patients of psychiatric hospitals and receiving special education.
Psychiatric hospitals commonly utilized include St. Mary's, Spring Harbor, Acadia, Portsmouth Pavilion (NH), Lakeview Neuro-rehabilitative Center (NH), Hampstead Hospital (NH) and Brattleboro Retreat (VT).
Public Residential or Private Day Placement
Question: What is the placement for students at The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Governor Baxter School for the Deaf?
Public Residential or Private Day Placement – If a student lives there, you select the option for residential placement; if the student is a day student and commutes, you select the option for public day placement.
Tuitioned Secondary Students
Question: All our secondary students are tuitioned to other school districts. Who counts them?
The attending school enters these students into IC/MEDMS, including the special education information. These students will be included on your December 1st child Count by IC/MEDMS.
Superintendent of Schools Agreement
Question: Who counts the special education students attending school in another unit under a Superintendents Agreement?
The school administrative unit where the student receives his/her education (attending unit) under the agreement enters the student into IC/MEDMS and the student will appear on their December 1st child count. The number of these students are very small. Attending unit will also count them on the October 1st and April 1st Enrollment. Information on Superintendents agreement is at http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/misteam/enrollment/superintendentsgreements.htm
Personnel Data
Question: Why would Educational Technicians not be fully certified?
For an educational technician, "certified" means they are registered or endorsed by the Department of Education, Division of Certification. If they are not registered or hold an endorsement, they are to be counted as not fully certified. (This becomes a problem only for subsidy if not fully certified educational technicians are reported on the EF-S-02.)
Question: Where do we report speech and language personnel?
Report speech and language teachers employed under Part II, Section A.
Report speech and language pathologists, clinicians and therapist employed or contracted under Part II, Section B.
Question: Where do we report a psychological examiner?
Since there is no category for psych examiner, count these in the PSYCHOLOGIST cell.
Question: How do we report tutors and other staff hired for only small period of time?
You do not have to report these staff hired for special circumstances. The personnel data is intended to give a general picture of staff in your district and in the state of Maine, specifically for supply and demand and personnel preparation projects and programs.
NEW- Pre-School children with Disabilities Ages 3 to not yet school age 5
Question: Who enters children with disabilities who are three, four and not yet 5 on or before October 1 into IC/MEDMS for the December 1st Child Count?
The Child Development Services (CDS) will enter into the EF-S-05 those 3-5 year olds they are serving to be included in the December 1st child count.
Question: What about the 4 year old children with disabilities served by the school administrative unit in their 4 year old program.
The school administrative unit will enter into IC/MEDMS all 4 year olds including 4 year old children with disabilities. These students will be enrolled as “main” students. Only flag the student as a special education student IF the school unit (not CDS) is providing and paying for the special education services.
