REFERRAL/PRE-REFERRAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
School employees who are making a referral shall do so by contacting the
Principal and by filling out the appropriate referral forms. Parents may at any
time refer their child to the Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) if they believe the
child may be in need of special services. Parents should contact the Principal,
497-2830, to make a referral, but also may contact the child’s teacher to make
that referral. School professionals who are informed by parents or others of a
desire to refer a student should immediately direct that person to the Principal
for initiation and discussion of the referral process. The school professional
should also document in writing the contact with the parent or other person and
should immediately forward that documentation to the Principal.
Once a referral has been made, the PET members have 15 school days to review any
existing evaluation data and to determine what evaluations may be needed as part
of the referral process. That review may occur either at a PET meeting or
through other discussions that fully include the parent. If PET members are
unable to reach agreement on necessary evaluations outside of a PET meeting, a
PET meeting shall be held to discuss the issue.
Within 15 school days of receiving the referral, the local school unit should
send to the parent a consent for initial evaluation form. When the school
receives that consent form back from the family with the appropriate signatures,
the local school unit has 45 school days to complete the evaluation and to hold
a PET meeting to determine whether the student qualifies for special education
services. If the student is identified as a child with a disability in need of
special education, the PET should develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
for that child within 30 days of the determination that the student is eligible.
Transfer students who have already been identified as in need of special
services shall on transfer and with prior written notice to the parent be
provided with special education consistent with the IEP developed at the prior
school, and shall be referred to the PET to review the program. If the transfer
student’s current IEP from his/her prior school unit is not available or is
believed to be inappropriate by either the parent or the school, the school
should develop a new IEP through appropriate procedures within a short time
after the student enrolls at the school.
Upon enrollment in public school, a student who was being served by the Child
Development Services (CDS) system shall be treated by the local school unit in
the same manner as are transfer students under the state special education
regulations, except that the student’s Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP)
from CDS will be considered as his/her current IEP until such time as a PET
meets to alter or amend that program. Placement, however, will be in the public
school system rather than at the site provided by CDS.
Pre-referral Strategies
Professional school staff members who observe that a student is encountering
academic, social or emotional difficulties in school that interfere with the
student’s education shall document those specific difficulties on a Pre-referral
Checklist.
The school staff member shall then develop an intervention strategy, using the
intervention checklist that accompanies the pre-referral checklist. The staff
member may consult with other school employees/the student’s parents in
developing the intervention strategy. The intervention strategy shall have an
established time period for implementation, and at the end of that time, its
success shall be assessed and documented at the bottom of the intervention
checklist. If the intervention strategy fails to resolve satisfactorily the
difficulties that were interfering with the student’s education and the staff
member suspects that the student may be in need of special education, the staff
member shall refer the student to a PET in accordance with the referral process
noted above.
Parental Notice
In addition to other requirements for parental notification, the school unit
shall notify parents in writing consistent with state special education
regulations whenever their child has been referred to the PET and shall notify
parents whenever their child has demonstrated educational difficulties that have
led to completion by a staff member of the pre-referral checklist and
intervention strategy checklist.
That notification of pre-referral interventions should include copies of the
completed checklists and shall request that the parents contact the staff member
who has completed the documents. That notification shall also inform parents
that they have a right to refer their child directly to the PET if they suspect
that their child may need special education services. The local school unit may
advise the parents as to why it may be appropriate to have the child participate
in the intervention strategies prior to a referral to the PET, but the local
school unit shall not reject or delay the referral until the intervention
strategies have been tried if the parents request that the school proceed
immediately with the referral. The school shall document the parents’ decision.
That notification shall also inform the parents that they have a right to
request a due process hearing from the Maine Department of Education in response
to any refusal by the school to proceed with their request to refer their child
to the PET.
Legal Reference: 20 U.S.C. § 1400(c)(5)(F)
34 CFR Part 300, App. A., Q. 17 (Mar. 1999)
Me. Dept. of Ed. Reg. ch. 101 §§ 7.7, 9.8, 9.17 (Nov. 1999)
DATE ADOPTED: July 1, 2003