An Act To Clarify Special Education Reporting Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0775
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: LOVEJOY, ALFOND, JOHNSON, SANBORN, WAGNER, LANGLEY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §7207-D

Legislative Document 
No. 775 
H.P. 582 
House of Representatives, March 1, 2011 
An Act To Clarify Special Education Reporting Requirements 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative LOVEJOY of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator ALFOND of Cumberland and 
Representatives: JOHNSON of Greenville, McCLELLAN of Raymond, SANBORN of 
Gorham, WAGNER of Lewiston, Senator: LANGLEY of Hancock. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §7207-D is enacted to read: 
§7207-D.  Reporting requirements 
1.  Report of legal dispute.  A school administrative unit must report to the 
commissioner when there is a legal dispute between a parent, surrogate parent or guardian 
of a child with a disability and the school administrative unit concerning a student's 
special education program.  The reports must: 
A.  Identify the reporting school administrative unit.  The reports may not provide 
any personally identifiable information about the student involved in the dispute; 
B.  Identify the nature of the dispute; 
C.  Identify any expenses the school administrative unit incurred for consultants or 
attorneys to settle the dispute, including the purpose of the expense and the dollar 
amount paid to each party; 
D.  Identify the names of any individuals, including special education educators, 
counselors or therapists, who are not in agreement with the school administrative 
unit's position in the dispute; and 
E.  Identify the final resolution of the dispute, including all costs.  An agreement 
negotiated to settle a dispute may not contain a nondisclosure provision. 
In a legal dispute when the department believes the school administrative unit has not 
complied with the provisions of this chapter, the commissioner shall refer the matter to 
the Attorney General, who shall take appropriate action to bring the school administrative 
unit into compliance. 
2.  Report to Legislature.  The commissioner shall track the reports submitted 
pursuant to subsection 1 by school administrative units to identify any unusual patterns of 
disputes from one school administrative unit to another.  The commissioner shall report 
annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
education matters the number of disputes each school administrative unit has been 
involved in, the resolution of each dispute, the costs incurred to settle each dispute and 
whether there are significant variations in the types of disputes in which the school 
administrative units are involved. 
3.  Information retained regarding dispute.  A school administrative unit involved 
in a dispute under subsection 1 shall maintain a file on the dispute, including the costs 
incurred to settle the dispute and any expenses paid to the parties involved in the dispute.  
The file may not contain personally identifiable information on the student involved in 
the dispute.  The files must be available to the public upon request. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires a school administrative unit to report legal disputes between a 
parent, surrogate parent or guardian of a child with a disability and the school 
administrative unit concerning a student's special education program to the Commissioner 
of Education.  This bill also requires the Commissioner of Education to track these 
reports and report annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over education matters a summary of the reports received from school 
administrative units.  This bill also requires school administrative units to maintain files 
on each dispute.