Portland Press Herald

As more districts prepare to take over services for 3- to 5-year-olds with disabilities, a pilot program shows positive results and steep challenges ahead. Under federal law, states are required to ensure all children can successfully participate in the public education system. For young children with disabilities, that means providing them with the resources. St. George Municipal School District superintendent Mike Felton thought long and hard about opting into a Maine Department of Education program to have public school districts provide special education services to qualifying 3- to 5-year-old children. Now, as the first year of the program comes to an end, he says that although there were bumps in the road, he’s glad he opted in.