An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Report Defining Cost Responsibility for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Students Receiving Services from the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1769
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Amends: 20-A MRSA §7403, 20-A MRSA §7405, 20-A MRSA §7405-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1769 
S.P. 703 
In Senate, February 11, 2014 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Report Defining 
Cost Responsibility for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Students 
Receiving Services from the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf 
and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf 
Reported by Senator MILLETT of Cumberland for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Education and Cultural Affairs pursuant to Public Law 2013, chapter 347, section 1. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §7403, as amended by PL 2011, c. 683, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
§7403.  Responsibility; location; geographic access 
The center school is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education to 
students enrolled pursuant to chapter 301.  The center school programs are operated by 
the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter 
School for the Deaf located on Mackworth Island or at a location determined by the 
school board in accordance with section 7407, subsection 17.  Satellite school programs, 
including a residential program in accordance with section 7407, subsection 17, may be 
located near the population centers of deaf and hard-of-hearing students within the State. 
1.  Responsibility; repeal.  The center school is responsible for providing a free, 
appropriate public education to students placed pursuant to chapter 301. 
This subsection is repealed July 1, 2015. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §7405, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4.  Repeal.  This section is repealed July 1, 2015. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §7405-A is enacted to read: 
§7405-A.  Placement; state and federal educational services requirements; technical 
assistance 
Beginning July 1, 2015, the following provisions apply to student placement, state 
and federal educational services requirements and technical assistance. 
1.  Placement.  The school administrative unit in which a deaf or hard-of-hearing 
student resides is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education pursuant 
to chapter 301 for a student placed in the center school or in one of the satellite school 
programs.  An individualized education program team for a school administrative unit in 
which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides is responsible for the placement decision 
of that student and, when the center school or one of the satellite school programs is 
being considered as a placement for the student, shall invite a representative of the center 
school or the satellite school to attend the individualized education program team meeting 
at which this placement is being considered.  The school administrative unit in which the 
student resides shall pay the sums necessary to ensure that the services required to meet 
the individualized education program for each student placed in the center school or in 
one of the satellite school programs are provided, including: 
A.  The cost of tuition; and 
B.  The costs of transportation and other related services as defined by section 7001, 
subsection 4-B. 
The school board shall pay the room and board costs for each student placed in a 
residential program in the center school or in one of the satellite school programs through 
funds appropriated by the State. 
2.  State and federal educational services requirements.  The center school, center 
preschool and any satellite school shall comply with all standards for state public schools 
and shall comply with all federal and state laws and department rules for the provision of 
educational services to children with disabilities. 
3.  Technical assistance.  A school administrative unit may request technical 
assistance from the school in matters relating to the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing 
students. 
SUMMARY 
This bill has been submitted by the Joint Standing Committee on Education and 
Cultural Affairs pursuant to Public Law 2011, chapter 683, section 11, as amended by 
Public Law 2013, chapter 347.  As required by these public laws, the Commissioner of 
Education and the Executive Director of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and 
Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf submitted a joint report to 
the committee that included their findings, recommendations and the necessary changes 
to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 304 that clarify the procedural and 
financial responsibilities of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of 
Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf and school administrative units that 
send students to attend the center preschool, the center school or a satellite school that is 
operated by the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the 
Governor Baxter School for the Deaf.  This bill incorporates changes to law that the joint 
report indicated are necessary to implement its recommendations. 
The committee has not taken a position on the substance of the joint report or this bill 
and by submitting this bill the committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest 
that it agrees or disagrees with any aspect of the recommendations and the necessary 
changes to Title 20-A, chapter 304 included in the joint report or this bill.  The committee 
is submitting the bill for the sole purpose of turning the proposals in the joint report into a 
printed bill that can be referred to the committee for an appropriate public hearing and 
subsequent processing in the normal course of business.  The committee is taking this 
action to ensure clarity and transparency in the legislative review of the proposals 
included in the joint report submitted by the Commissioner of Education and the 
Executive Director of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing 
and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf. 
The bill provides that, beginning with the 2015-2016 school year: 
1.  The school administrative unit in which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides 
is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education to a student placed in a 
center school program or in one of the satellite school programs operated by the Maine 
Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for 
the Deaf; 
2.  The individualized education program team for the school administrative unit in 
which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides is responsible for the placement decision 
of the student and, when the center school or one of the satellite school programs is being 
considered as a placement for the student, must invite a representative of the center 
school or the satellite school to attend the individualized education program team meeting 
at which this placement is being considered; 
3.  The school administrative unit in which the student resides must pay the sums 
necessary to ensure that services required to meet the individualized education program 
are provided, including tuition, transportation services and other related services as 
defined by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 7001, subsection 4-B, for each 
student placed in a center school program or in one of the satellite school programs 
operated by the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the 
Governor Baxter School for the Deaf; and 
4.  The School Board of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of 
Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf must pay the room and board costs 
for each student placed in a residential program in the center school or in one of the 
satellite school programs through funds appropriated by the State.