SUMMARY REPORT OF PUBLIC COMMENT

SUMMARY REPORT OF PUBLIC COMMENT on the Proposed Revisions to the MASSACHUSETTS SPECIAL EDUCATION REGULATIONS At its meeting on December 21, 2004, the Massachusetts Board of Education invited public comment on proposed revisions to Massachusetts’ special education regulations contained in 603 CMR 28.00 et seq. This summary report reflects all of the public comment received by the Department during the public comment period from December 22, 2004 to March 1, 2005 relative to all of the proposed changes. The proposed changes were publicized widely, and posted on the Department’s website. The Department contacted and held meetings with advocacy groups, and with state agencies involved in the cooperative promulgation of these regulations to discuss these proposals and receive additional comment. On February 15, 2005, in response to public concerns about certain of the proposed changes, Commissioner David Driscoll determined to withdraw many of the proposed changes to allow further public discussion. While this report contains a summary of all public comment receiving during the public comment period, the Department is moving forward only with technical changes to the regulations and with proposed changes related to the assignment of school district responsibility, primarily in the new proposed Section 28.10. This report is organized in two sections: (1) Section 1 reflects on the public response to areas of proposed regulations related to ...