{
 "about": "The state rule everybody argues around, quoted: how many students may be in one special education instructional group, and what staff that takes. With Lunenburg\u2019s own published placement counts beside it, and the reason neither one gives a staffing number.",
 "age_months": 48,
 "bands": [
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "band": "School age",
   "cites": [
    "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c)",
    "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)"
   ],
   "drop": 4,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "rows": 5,
   "sub": 12,
   "top": 16,
   "top_setting": "partly separate"
  },
  {
   "ages": "three and four years of age",
   "band": "Young children",
   "cites": [
    "603 CMR 28.06(7)(e)",
    "603 CMR 28.06(7)(f)"
   ],
   "drop": 11,
   "role": "teacher",
   "rows": 3,
   "sub": 9,
   "top": 20,
   "top_setting": "integrated"
  }
 ],
 "clauses": {
  "28.02(3)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(3)",
   "text": "(3) Certified special educator shall mean a person with a teaching certificate or license in an area of special education or a related service provider with appropriate certification or license in his or her professional area. Licensure shall meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval at 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 7.00 and the requirements for renewal of license at 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 44.00, as necessary. A certified or licensed special educator may provide, design, or supervise special education services.",
   "title": "What a certified special educator is"
  },
  "28.03(1)(a)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.03(1)(a)",
   "text": "The school district shall provide such staff training in methods of collaboration among teachers, paraprofessionals, and teacher assistants to accommodate diverse learning needs.",
   "title": "The one place paraprofessionals are named"
  },
  "28.06(6)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)",
   "text": "(6) Instructional grouping requirements. When eligible students aged five and older receive special education services for some or all of the school day outside of the general education environment, the school district shall make every effort to maintain the student's access to the general curriculum and participation in the life of the school. The school district shall devote resources to develop the school district's capacity for serving such eligible students in less restrictive alternatives.",
   "title": "Instructional grouping requirements"
  },
  "28.06(6)(b)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(b)",
   "text": "(b) The size and composition of instructional groupings for eligible students receiving services outside the general education classroom shall be compatible with the methods and goals stated in each student's Individualized Education Program IEP .",
   "title": "The grouping must match the IEP"
  },
  "28.06(6)(c)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c)",
   "text": "(c) Instructional grouping size requirements are maximum sizes and school districts are expected to exercise judgment in determining appropriate group size and supports for smaller instructional groups serving students with complex special needs. When eligible students are assigned to instructional groupings outside of the general education classroom for 60% or less of the students' school schedule, group size shall not exceed eight students with a certified special educator,12 students if the certified special educator is assisted by one aide, and 16 students if the certified special educator is assisted by two aides.",
   "title": "Outside general education 60% or less of the schedule"
  },
  "28.06(6)(d)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "text": "(d) Eligible students served in settings that are substantially separate, serving solely students with disabilities for more than 60% of the students' school schedule, shall have instructional groupings that do not exceed eight students to one certified special educator or 12 students to a certified special educator and an aide.",
   "title": "Substantially separate \u2014 more than 60% of the schedule"
  },
  "28.06(6)(e)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(e)",
   "text": "(e) After the school year has begun, if instructional groups have reached maximum size as delineated in 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.06(6)(c) and (d), the Administrator of Special Education and the certified special educator(s) providing services in an instructional group may decide to increase the size of an instructional grouping by no more than two additional students if the additional students have compatible instructional needs and then can receive services in their neighborhood school. In such cases, the Administrator must provide written notification to the Department and the parents of all group members of the decision to increase the instructional group size and the reasons for such decision. Such increased instructional group sizes shall be in effect only for the year in which they are initiated. The district shall take all steps necessary to reduce the instructional groups to the sizes outlined in 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.06(6)(c) and (d) for subsequent years.",
   "title": "Two more students, mid-year, by decision"
  },
  "28.06(6)(f)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(f)",
   "text": "(f) The ages of the youngest and oldest student in any instructional grouping shall not differ by more than 48 months. A written request for approval of a wider age range may be made to the Department, which may approve such request.",
   "title": "No more than 48 months between youngest and oldest"
  },
  "28.06(6)(g)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(g)",
   "text": "(g) Instructional group sizes in all programs approved under 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.09 shall be limited to those outlined in 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.06(6)(d), and no such instructional groups shall have an age range greater than 48 months.",
   "title": "Approved programs take the substantially separate sizes"
  },
  "28.06(7)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)",
   "text": "(7) Programs for young children. The school district shall ensure programs are available for eligible children three and four years of age. Such programs shall be developmentally appropriate and specially designed for children ages three and four years.",
   "title": "Programs for young children"
  },
  "28.06(7)(e)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)(e)",
   "text": "(e) Type of Setting - Inclusionary. Inclusionary programs for young children shall be located in a setting that includes children with and without disabilities and shall meet the following standards: Services in such programs may be provided in the home, the public school, Head Start, or a licensed childcare setting. For public school programs that integrate children with and without disabilities, the class size shall not exceed 20 with one teacher and one aide and no more than five students with disabilities. If the number of students with disabilities is six or seven then the class size may not exceed 15 students with one teacher and one aide.",
   "title": "Young children \u2014 an inclusionary setting"
  },
  "28.06(7)(f)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)(f)",
   "text": "(f) Type of Setting - Substantially Separate. Substantially separate programs for young children shall be those programs for three and four year olds that are located in a public school classroom or facility that serves primarily or solely children with disabilities. Substantially separate programs shall adhere to the following standards: Substantially separate programs shall be programs in which more than 50% of the children have disabilities. Substantially separate programs operated by public schools shall limit class sizes to nine students with one teacher and one aide.",
   "title": "Young children \u2014 a substantially separate setting"
  },
  "28.09(7)(e)": {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.09(7)(e)",
   "text": "Instructional groupings and student/teacher ratios shall not exceed the class size standards set forth at 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.06(6) and (7). The Department may impose additional limits, if, in the opinion of the Department, the population requires more specialized services.",
   "title": "Approved schools are held to the same sizes"
  }
 },
 "closes": "The district\u2019s own list of special education instructional groups by school and setting, with the students and the staff assigned to each \u2014 the list compiled for DESE\u2019s program approval under 603 CMR 28.09 and not published anywhere.",
 "code_ages": {
  "other": "3 to 5",
  "this": "6 to 21"
 },
 "code_values": [
  {
   "code": "10",
   "description": "Full Inclusion \u2014 special education services outside the general education classroom less than 21% of the time"
  },
  {
   "code": "20",
   "description": "Partial Inclusion \u2014 special education services outside the general education classroom 21% to 60% of the time"
  },
  {
   "code": "40",
   "description": "Substantially Separate Classroom \u2014 special education services outside the general education classroom more than 60% of the time"
  },
  {
   "code": "41",
   "description": "Public Separate Day School"
  },
  {
   "code": "50",
   "description": "Private Separate Day School"
  },
  {
   "code": "60",
   "description": "Residential School"
  },
  {
   "code": "70",
   "description": "Homebound/Hospital"
  },
  {
   "code": "90",
   "description": "Public Residential Institutional Facilities (0370XXXX schools)"
  }
 ],
 "codes": [
  {
   "code": "10",
   "definition": "special education services outside the general education classroom less than 21% of the time",
   "element": "DOE034",
   "label": "Full Inclusion"
  },
  {
   "code": "20",
   "definition": "special education services outside the general education classroom 21% to 60% of the time",
   "element": "DOE034",
   "label": "Partial Inclusion"
  },
  {
   "code": "40",
   "definition": "special education services outside the general education classroom more than 60% of the time",
   "element": "DOE034",
   "label": "Substantially Separate Classroom"
  }
 ],
 "conclusions": [
  {
   "basis": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d), read out of DESE\u2019s own published text of the regulation on every build.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "A substantially separate group may not exceed 8 students to one certified special educator",
   "detail": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d), quoted in full below: a setting \"serving solely students with disabilities for more than 60% of the students\u2019 school schedule\" shall have \"instructional groupings that do not exceed eight students to one certified special educator or 12 students to a certified special educator and an aide\". These are the numbers residents argue about, and until this regulation was added to the archive nothing in this town\u2019s published record set them out.",
   "figure": "cap",
   "figures": {
    "aide": {
     "text": "12",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 12
    },
    "cap": {
     "text": "8",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 8
    },
    "threshold": {
     "text": "60%",
     "unit": "",
     "value": 60
    }
   },
   "id": "eight-to-one",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)"
   ],
   "not_shown": "Anything about Lunenburg. This is the ceiling on a GROUP, and nothing on this page says how many groups this town runs or how large they are.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "With an aide it is 12. The aide is what raises the ceiling; the teacher count never changes."
  },
  {
   "basis": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(b), (c) and (e); and the absence of any published list of Lunenburg\u2019s special education instructional groups.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "Nothing published lets anybody compute how many staff this rule requires in Lunenburg",
   "detail": "The regulation binds instructional groups. Lunenburg publishes a count of children by placement label and no count of groups, no size for any group, and no assignment of children to them. Three further things in the regulation would defeat a ratio even with that list: the sizes are MAXIMUMS and districts are \"expected to exercise judgment in determining appropriate group size and supports for smaller instructional groups serving students with complex special needs\"; grouping must be \"compatible with the methods and goals stated in each student\u2019s Individualized Education Program\", which can require one-to-one support no class size predicts; and a group already at maximum may take two more students mid-year by decision of the Administrator of Special Education. This page therefore states the rule and stops, and the limit is a registered row in money-gaps.csv rather than a sentence only this page carries.",
   "figures": {
    "sub": {
     "text": "41",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 41
    }
   },
   "id": "no-required-number",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [],
   "no_figure": "No published figure exists. The town publishes children by label; the rule binds groups; nobody publishes the groups.",
   "not_shown": "That Lunenburg is over-staffed or under-staffed. Nothing on this page supports either reading, and it is not an audit.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "41 children could be four groups or seven, needing very different staffing. Both are lawful."
  },
  {
   "basis": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c) and (d) and 28.06(7)(e) and (f), parsed tier by tier out of the sentences that state them.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "Every tier the rule sets names one educator \u2014 at every age, in every setting",
   "detail": "8 tiers, in two age bands: 28.06(6)(c) and (d) for students aged five and older, 28.06(7)(e) and (f) for children three and four years of age. In every one of them the adult in charge is singular. What changes between 8 and 12, and between 12 and 16, is an aide. The build refuses to publish this table if a single row ever names a second educator, because the shape is the finding.",
   "figure": "tiers",
   "figures": {
    "high": {
     "text": "16",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 16
    },
    "low": {
     "text": "8",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 8
    },
    "mid": {
     "text": "12",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 12
    },
    "tiers": {
     "text": "8",
     "unit": "group-size tiers",
     "value": 8
    }
   },
   "id": "one-educator-every-tier",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "28.06(6)(c)",
    "28.06(7)(e)"
   ],
   "not_shown": "That the two bands name the same qualification. 28.06(6) says \"certified special educator\" and 28.06(7) says \"teacher\", and nothing here establishes those are the same thing \u2014 the table prints each clause\u2019s own word. Nor what an aide is: the regulation never defines it, while DESE\u2019s staffing files and the district\u2019s budget lines say \"paraprofessional\".",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "Across all 8 tiers only the aides change. A bigger group never buys a second educator."
  },
  {
   "basis": "All four class-size clauses, parsed; and a count of the phrase \"two aides\" across the full regulation.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "The more separate the setting, the lower the ceiling \u2014 in both age bands",
   "detail": "This is the opposite of what most people assume, and it holds at every age the regulation covers. 28.06(6)(c) governs groups outside general education 60% of the schedule or less and runs to \"16 students if the certified special educator is assisted by two aides\"; 28.06(6)(d), above that threshold, names two tiers and stops at 12. The phrase \"two aides\" occurs exactly once in the whole of 603 CMR 28.00, which this build asserts on every run. The preschool clauses run the same way and further: an integrated class may reach 20 under 28.06(7)(e), a substantially separate one is limited to 9 under 28.06(7)(f). The build refuses to publish if either band stops falling, or if preschool stops falling further than school age.",
   "figure": "ytop",
   "figures": {
    "high": {
     "text": "16",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 16
    },
    "mid": {
     "text": "12",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 12
    },
    "threshold": {
     "text": "60%",
     "unit": "",
     "value": 60
    },
    "ysub": {
     "text": "9",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 9
    },
    "ytop": {
     "text": "20",
     "unit": "students",
     "value": 20
    }
   },
   "id": "ceiling-falls-with-separateness",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "603 CMR 28.00",
    "28.06(6)(c)",
    "28.06(6)(d)",
    "28.06(7)(e)",
    "28.06(7)(f)"
   ],
   "not_shown": "Why. The regulation gives no reason for the pattern and this page offers none \u2014 any explanation would be a hypothesis about drafting decisions nobody here witnessed. Nor are the two bands strictly comparable: 28.06(6) caps an instructional GROUP and 28.06(7) caps a CLASS, and the preschool clauses count children with and without disabilities together.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "School age falls 16 to 12. Preschool falls 20 to 9 \u2014 same direction, bigger drop."
  },
  {
   "basis": "Every class-size clause, read for what it counts; a worked room checked back against the tier it satisfies on every build; and a search of the full text of 603 CMR 28.00 for eight phrasings of individual support, published beside the result.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "The rule sets the MINIMUM staffing for a group size. IEPs add on top of it",
   "detail": "This is the most misread thing about the class-size rule, and it runs in both directions. Take the room people actually ask about: 12 children, one certified special educator, and 3 aides of whom 2 are assigned to individual children by their IEPs. The rule asks two questions \u2014 are there 12 students or fewer, and is there a certified special educator with an aide \u2014 and both are answered, so the room complies and has more staff than the rule requires. Every tier caps CHILDREN given a staffing configuration; not one of them limits adults. A room may also hold a speech therapist and a behaviour specialist and the class-size rule speaks to neither. So a room at the legal minimum and a room staffed three times over look identical from outside, which is why \"we have a lot of paras\" and \"our groups are within the rule\" can both be true and neither explains the other. And the regulation carries 0 limits on adults anywhere: this build searches its full text for 8 phrasings of individual support \u2014 \"one-to-one\", \"1:1\", \"individual aide\" among them \u2014 on every run, and publishes the count beside the result.",
   "figure": "caps",
   "figures": {
    "adults": {
     "text": "3",
     "unit": "aides",
     "value": 3
    },
    "caps": {
     "text": "0",
     "unit": "limits on adults in the room",
     "value": 0
    },
    "iep": {
     "text": "2",
     "unit": "aides assigned by an IEP",
     "value": 2
    },
    "students": {
     "text": "12",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 12
    },
    "terms": {
     "text": "8",
     "unit": "phrasings",
     "value": 8
    }
   },
   "id": "caps-children-not-adults",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "1:1"
   ],
   "not_shown": "The corner of it. Where a group of 12 has exactly ONE aide and that aide is assigned to a single child, nothing says whether they also satisfy the tier: the regulation says \"assisted by one aide\" and defines neither the aide nor their duties. Assuming they do understates the staffing a group needs; assuming they do not overstates it. The document does not say, and this page does not choose. Registered as a gap.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "12 children with one educator and 3 aides is lawful. So is 12 with one aide."
  },
  {
   "basis": "DESE\u2019s SIMS data handbook, element DOE034; and 603 CMR 28.06(6)(d).",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "DESE counts placements on the same axis the rule uses: time outside general education",
   "detail": "The SIMS data handbook defines element DOE034 value 40 as \"special education services outside the general education classroom more than 60% of the time\". The regulation governs settings \"serving solely students with disabilities for more than 60% of the students\u2019 school schedule\". The two are cut on the same axis, which is what makes the counts on this page comparable to the rule at all \u2014 and is also as far as the comparability goes, because the regulation binds a GROUP and DOE034 labels a CHILD.",
   "figure": "threshold",
   "figures": {
    "threshold": {
     "text": "60%",
     "unit": "",
     "value": 60
    }
   },
   "id": "labels-share-the-axis",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "DOE034",
    "28.06(6)(d)",
    "40"
   ],
   "not_shown": "That the two count the same population. The regulation applies to eligible students aged five and older and has separate rules for three- and four-year-olds; DOE034 covers ages 6 to 21 and a different element covers ages 3 to 5. Those are not the same line.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "Its \"Substantially Separate\" label and 28.06(6)(d) both turn on the same 60% threshold."
  },
  {
   "basis": "DESE\u2019s special education program characteristics file, Placement rows for Lunenburg, most recent year published.",
   "bearing": "sizes",
   "claim": "DESE reports 41 of Lunenburg\u2019s 258 students with disabilities as substantially separate",
   "detail": "In FY2026, 41 of 258 \u2014 15.9%. Two things about that count before anybody divides it by eight. It is a count of CHILDREN and the rule binds GROUPS. And DESE\u2019s Placement breakdown is in-district only: its four printed categories account for 242 of the 258, with 16 children in none of them: the breakdown is in-district only, and element DOE034 allows 8 placements where this prints four.",
   "figure": "sub",
   "figures": {
    "fy": {
     "text": "FY2026",
     "unit": "",
     "value": 2026
    },
    "named": {
     "text": "242",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 242
    },
    "pct": {
     "text": "15.9%",
     "unit": "",
     "value": 15.9
    },
    "sub": {
     "text": "41",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 41
    },
    "total": {
     "text": "258",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 258
    },
    "unnamed": {
     "text": "16",
     "unit": "children",
     "value": 16
    },
    "values": {
     "text": "8",
     "unit": "placement values",
     "value": 8
    }
   },
   "id": "how-many-are-in-scope",
   "kind": "measured",
   "literals": [
    "DOE034",
    "28.06(6)(d)"
   ],
   "not_shown": "How those children are grouped, which is the only thing that would connect them to the rule. Nothing published says it.",
   "see": [],
   "so_what": "That is the group 28.06(6)(d) covers. It is children, not groups, so it sets no staffing number."
  }
 ],
 "fy": 2026,
 "gap": {
  "side": "people",
  "what": "How many paraprofessionals Lunenburg needs, against how many it employs",
  "why": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d) is now in this archive, and it sets the class-size rule everybody argues around: a substantially separate group may not exceed eight students to one certified special educator, or twelve to a special educator AND AN AIDE. So a paraprofessional is partly what PERMITS a larger group rather than being a ratio in itself \u2014 which means paraprofessional counts track PROGRAM STRUCTURE and not student headcount, and would explain the thing /school-staffing measures and cannot account for: paras rising while enrolment fell. WHAT STILL CANNOT BE COMPUTED: the regulation binds INSTRUCTIONAL GROUPS and nothing published says how many groups Lunenburg runs, how large each is, or how its 41 substantially separate students are divided among them. 41 students could be four groups or seven, needing very different staffing, and both are lawful. THREE THINGS THAT WOULD DEFEAT ANY RATIO ANYWAY, all in the regulation itself: the sizes are MAXIMUMS and districts are expected to go smaller for complex needs (28.06(6)(c)); grouping must match each student\u2019s own IEP, which can require one-to-one support no class-size rule predicts (b); and a group at maximum may take two further students mid-year by decision of the Administrator of Special Education (e). IT IS NOT: evidence that staffing is too high or too low. Nothing here supports either. \u2014 closes: the district\u2019s own list of special education instructional groups by school and setting, with the students and staff assigned to each \u2014 compiled for DESE\u2019s program approval under 603 CMR 28.09 and not published."
 },
 "gaps_also": [
  {
   "side": "people",
   "what": "Whether an \u201caide\u201d in the class-size regulation is a paraprofessional the town budgets",
   "why": "603 CMR 28.06(6) sets every group size in terms of a certified special educator AND AN AIDE \u2014 a group of eight becomes lawful at twelve because an aide is present. 28.02(3) defines the certified special educator in full and the regulation defines no counterpart for the aide anywhere; the word \u201cparaprofessional\u201d appears in the whole of 603 CMR 28.00 only in the staff-training clauses of 28.03(1)(a), one of which names \u201cteachers, paraprofessionals, and teacher assistants\u201d as three separate things. DESE\u2019s staffing return and every Lunenburg budget line say paraprofessional. So the term that DECIDES whether a group of twelve is lawful cannot be matched to any post the town funds, and a count of paraprofessionals is not a count of aides in the regulation\u2019s sense. This sits directly under the gap about how many paraprofessionals the town needs: even with the group list, the units would not match. \u2014 closes: DESE\u2019s guidance on what qualifies a person as an aide for 603 CMR 28.06(6), or the district\u2019s own job descriptions mapped to that clause."
  },
  {
   "side": "people",
   "what": "Where 16 of Lunenburg\u2019s students with disabilities are placed, in FY2026",
   "why": "DESE\u2019s placement breakdown prints four categories \u2014 Full Inclusion, Partial Inclusion, Substantially Separate and Separate School in District \u2014 and in FY2026 they sum to 242 of the 258 the same file prints as the total. Element DOE034 has nine acceptable values and this breakdown is in-district only, so the other 16 children are in categories the file does not print, and nothing published says which. That bounds every reading of the placement mix: the four printed rows are not a partition, and adding them and treating the result as the whole is the same error as summing a column that was never the total\u2019s parts. \u2014 closes: DESE\u2019s full DOE034 distribution for Lunenburg, or the district\u2019s 1 October SIMS placement submission."
  },
  {
   "side": "people",
   "what": "Whether an aide assigned to one child also counts as the aide that raises a group from eight students to twelve",
   "why": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c) and (d) raise the maximum group size from eight students to twelve when the certified special educator is \"assisted by one aide\". The regulation never defines the aide, never states their duties, and \u2014 searched on every build for eight phrasings \u2014 contains NO rule about one-to-one support of any kind. So where a child\u2019s IEP assigns an aide to that child, nothing published says whether that person also satisfies the tier. THE DIRECTION OF THE ERROR IS THE POINT: assuming they do understates the staffing a group needs, and assuming they do not overstates it, so neither assumption is safe and this project makes neither. It is the same wall as the paraprofessional gap, hit from the other side \u2014 the rule counts students and the staffing record counts posts, and nothing converts one into the other. \u2014 closes: DESE\u2019s program approval materials under 603 CMR 28.09, which describe how each approved group is staffed; or the district\u2019s own group descriptions naming which adults are counted against which tier."
  }
 ],
 "grain": "A REGULATION and a HEADCOUNT, and they are not the same quantity.",
 "midyear_extra": 2,
 "minutes": {
  "first_date": "2009-01-05",
  "held": 12015,
  "image_scan": 3096,
  "last_date": "2026-11-17",
  "published": 12065,
  "searchable": 8899,
  "searchable_share": 0.7407,
  "text_files_present": 12014,
  "unsearchable": 3116
 },
 "not_established": [
  "How many special education instructional groups Lunenburg runs, how large each is, or which children are in which. That list is what the regulation actually binds, and no published document contains it \u2014 so no staffing number follows from anything on this page.",
  "That an \"aide\" in the regulation is a \"paraprofessional\" in DESE\u2019s staffing files or in the district\u2019s budget. 603 CMR 28.02(3) defines a certified special educator and defines no counterpart; the word paraprofessional appears in the regulation only in the staff-training clauses, one of which names teachers, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants as three separate things.",
  "Whether any Lunenburg group is at, under or over any of these maximums. Nothing in this archive reports a group size, and nothing on this page is a compliance finding.",
  "How DESE\u2019s placement label was assigned to any individual child. It is reported by the district at a census date on element DOE034, and the percentage-of-time judgement behind each one is not published.",
  "What any of it costs. A placement label is not a dollar and a group size is not a budget line \u2014 the money is a different report, at a different grain."
 ],
 "part_cap": 16,
 "placement": {
  "fy": 2026,
  "named": 242,
  "rows": [
   {
    "count": 183,
    "label": "Full Inclusion",
    "pct": 70.9
   },
   {
    "count": 41,
    "label": "Substantially Separate",
    "pct": 15.9
   },
   {
    "count": 16,
    "label": "Partial Inclusion",
    "pct": 6.2
   },
   {
    "count": 2,
    "label": "Separate School in District",
    "pct": 0.8
   }
  ],
  "sub": {
   "count": 41,
   "label": "Substantially Separate",
   "pct": 15.9
  },
  "total": 258,
  "unnamed": 16
 },
 "room_extra_iep_aides": 2,
 "rooms": [
  {
   "aides": 0,
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "educators": 1,
   "headline": "8 children",
   "iep_aides": 0,
   "key": "minimum-no-aide",
   "minimum": true,
   "students": 8,
   "verdict": "Complies, at the minimum the rule allows",
   "why": "One certified special educator and no aide. This is the largest group the rule permits without one."
  },
  {
   "aides": 1,
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "educators": 1,
   "headline": "12 children",
   "iep_aides": 0,
   "key": "minimum-one-aide",
   "minimum": true,
   "students": 12,
   "verdict": "Complies, at the minimum the rule allows",
   "why": "The aide is what raises the ceiling from 8 to 12. Nothing more is required at this group size."
  },
  {
   "aides": 3,
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "educators": 1,
   "headline": "12 children",
   "iep_aides": 2,
   "key": "ieps-on-top",
   "minimum": false,
   "students": 12,
   "verdict": "Complies, with more staff than the rule requires",
   "why": "The same group size, staffed three times over. The rule asks two questions \u2014 12 students or fewer, and a certified special educator with an aide \u2014 and both are answered. The other 2 are there because IEPs require them, not because this rule does."
  }
 ],
 "said": [
  {
   "board": "Finance Committee",
   "cite": "/docs/meetings/text/finance-committee/2026-01-12-minutes-7597.txt",
   "date": "2026-01-12",
   "key": "noaides",
   "kind": "minutes",
   "quote": "noting that kindergarten classrooms were operating with 25 students and no aides",
   "town": "https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01122026-7597",
   "why": "The nearest thing in the whole meeting archive to a Lunenburg group size said out loud beside a staff count. It is a KINDERGARTEN class \u2014 a general education classroom \u2014 and 28.06(6) governs special education instructional groupings, so this is not a figure the rule applies to. It is here because it is the shape of the argument residents are having."
  },
  {
   "board": "Finance Committee",
   "cite": "/docs/meetings/text/finance-committee/2024-03-14-minutes-6469.txt",
   "date": "2024-03-14",
   "key": "noformula",
   "kind": "minutes",
   "quote": "Julianna Hanscom states there is no formula. The school is aware of what students are in programs who will then go into a program next year. There hasn\u2019t been a large or small caseload, and the inclusion of teachers is between 15 to 20 students",
   "town": "https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03142024-6469",
   "why": "The Director of Special Education, asked how the budget decides staffing, answering that there is no formula. That is consistent with a regulation that sets MAXIMUMS and requires judgement below them \u2014 and it is a statement about how the district budgets, not a measurement of any group."
  },
  {
   "board": "Finance Committee",
   "cite": "/docs/meetings/text/finance-committee/2026-01-27-minutes-7619.txt",
   "date": "2026-01-27",
   "key": "pullout",
   "kind": "minutes",
   "quote": "seven of her IEP students with significant pull-out service needs were being seen by a paraprofessional rather than a certified special education teacher",
   "town": "https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01272026-7619",
   "why": "A Turkey Hill special education teacher, in public comment. The regulation draws exactly this line \u2014 28.02(3) defines the certified special educator and never defines the aide \u2014 which is why the distinction matters. THIS IS NOT EVIDENCE OF A BREACH, and the same clause is why: it says a certified special educator may \"provide, design, or supervise\" special education services, so a service delivered by somebody the educator supervises is contemplated by the regulation. What is established is that a teacher said this at a public meeting. What is not is how many students, which posts, or what supervision was in place; no FTE by assignment is published."
  },
  {
   "board": "School Committee",
   "cite": "/docs/meetings/text/school-committee/2024-01-24-minutes-6375.txt",
   "date": "2024-01-24",
   "key": "backbone",
   "kind": "minutes",
   "quote": "they are the backbone of special education and without them the department cannot run",
   "town": "https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01242024-6375",
   "why": "A parent, in the public comment on the FY25 budget, on the proposed paraprofessional cuts. It establishes that residents argue about paraprofessional numbers. It establishes nothing about instructional groups, which is what the regulation on this page binds."
  }
 ],
 "searched": [
  {
   "documents": 21,
   "term": "class size"
  },
  {
   "documents": 38,
   "term": "paraprofessional"
  },
  {
   "documents": 3,
   "term": "caseload"
  },
  {
   "documents": 0,
   "term": "substantially separate"
  },
  {
   "documents": 0,
   "term": "603 CMR"
  }
 ],
 "silent_on": [
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "one-to-one"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "one to one"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "1:1"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "individual aide"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "individualized aide"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "dedicated aide"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "personal care"
  },
  {
   "count": 0,
   "term": "number of adults"
  }
 ],
 "silent_total": 0,
 "sources": [
  {
   "bytes": 895948,
   "docs_url": "/docs/state-dese/603cmr28-special-education-regulations.html",
   "note": "The regulation itself, as DESE publishes it in one page. Every clause quoted on this page is read out of the extracted text on every build and every figure in the table is parsed from the sentence that states it, so a change at DESE stops this build rather than being republished under the old citation.",
   "path": "sources/state-dese/603cmr28-special-education-regulations.html",
   "publisher": "Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 603 CMR 28.00",
   "sha256": "33943cfe2e3068d218774c627399e22d84836f6b7192b01ecaea2d11a57e3e13",
   "table": "(quoted, not loaded)",
   "url": "https://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr28.html?section=all"
  },
  {
   "bytes": 208588,
   "docs_url": "/docs/state-dese/sims-datahandbook-current.docx",
   "note": "The Student Information Management System data handbook, which defines element DOE034 \u2014 the placement label DESE counts on \u2014 as a percentage of time outside the general education classroom. This is what makes the counts and the regulation comparable at all.",
   "path": "sources/state-dese/sims-datahandbook-current.docx",
   "publisher": "Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education",
   "sha256": "c73f309549e13b0c07cc59c30b0e60b6f37a0efd1749b309b44132ec00071ec2",
   "table": "(quoted, not loaded)",
   "url": "https://www.doe.mass.edu/"
  },
  {
   "bytes": 5447420,
   "docs_url": "/docs/state-dese/dese-sped-program-characteristics.xlsx",
   "note": "Special education program characteristics, the source of the placement counts. Its Placement breakdown is in-district only and its four printed categories do not sum to the total it prints beside them \u2014 measured on every build rather than assumed.",
   "path": "sources/state-dese/dese-sped-program-characteristics.xlsx",
   "publisher": "Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education",
   "sha256": "417435bddfcac3eb1f2f05ab9b3c39ef837a6f46594494036030df7dd377c971",
   "table": "dese_sped_program",
   "url": "https://educationtocareer.data.mass.gov/d/n62c-bx65"
  }
 ],
 "sub_aide_cap": 12,
 "sub_cap": 8,
 "terms": [
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(3)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(3) Certified special educator shall mean a person with a teaching certificate or license in an area of special education or a related service provider with appropriate certification or license in his or her professional area. Licensure shall meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Regulations for Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval at 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 7.00 and the requirements for renewal of license at 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 44.00, as necessary. A certified or licensed special educator may provide, design, or supervise special education services.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "Certified special educator",
   "uses": 7
  },
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(20)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(20) Special education shall mean specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of the eligible student or related services necessary to access the general curriculum and shall include the programs and services set forth in state and federal special education law.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "Special education",
   "uses": 208
  },
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(9)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(9) Eligible student shall mean a person aged three through 21 who has not attained a high school diploma or its equivalent, who has been determined by a Team to have a disability(ies), and as a consequence is unable to progress effectively in the general education program without specially designed instruction or is unable to access the general curriculum without a related service. An eligible student shall have the right to receive special education and any related services that are necessary for the student to benefit from special education or that are necessary for the student to access the general curriculum. In determining eligibility, the school district must thoroughly evaluate and provide a narrative description of the student's educational and developmental potential.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "Eligible student",
   "uses": 63
  },
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(12)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(12) Least restrictive environment ( LRE ) shall mean the educational placement that assures that, to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities, including students in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with students who are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of students with disabilities from the general education environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the student's disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "Least restrictive environment",
   "uses": 8
  },
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(10)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(10) In-district program shall mean a special education program operated in a public school building or other facility that provides educational services to students of comparable age, with and without disabilities.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "In-district program",
   "uses": 10
  },
  {
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.02(14)",
   "defined": true,
   "definition": "(14) Out-of-district program shall mean a special education program located in a building or facility outside of the general education environment that provides educational services primarily to students with disabilities and shall include all programs approved under 603 Code of Massachusetts Regulations CMR 28.09. Such program may be operated by a private organization or individual, a public school district, or a collaborative.",
   "note": "",
   "term": "Out-of-district program",
   "uses": 6
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "the word that decides whether a group of eight may hold twelve, and the regulation defines neither the person nor their duties. It names no other document for the meaning either.",
   "term": "aide",
   "uses": 7
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "every occurrence is in the staff-training clauses of 603 CMR 28.03(1)(a), one of which names \u201cteachers, paraprofessionals, and teacher assistants\u201d as three separate things. The regulation never says what one is, or what one may do.",
   "term": "paraprofessional",
   "uses": 2
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "the only licensure requirement anywhere in the regulation is 603 CMR 28.09(7)(b), and it governs APPROVED SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS rather than a district classroom. Nothing here states what a teacher in 28.06(7) must hold.",
   "term": "teacher",
   "uses": 15
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "",
   "term": "teacher assistant",
   "uses": 1
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "",
   "term": "instructional grouping",
   "uses": 9
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "",
   "term": "substantially separate",
   "uses": 7
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "",
   "term": "class size",
   "uses": 4
  },
  {
   "cite": "",
   "defined": false,
   "definition": "",
   "note": "searched for in 8 phrasings across the full text. The regulation contains no rule about individual support at all.",
   "term": "one-to-one",
   "uses": 0
  }
 ],
 "threshold_pct": 60,
 "tiers": [
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "aides": 0,
   "band": "School age",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c)",
   "condition": "",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 8,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "separateness": "partly separate",
   "separateness_rank": 1,
   "setting": "Outside general education 60% or less of the schedule",
   "short": "Partly separate",
   "staff": "a certified special educator",
   "students": 8
  },
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "aides": 1,
   "band": "School age",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c)",
   "condition": "",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 12,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "separateness": "partly separate",
   "separateness_rank": 1,
   "setting": "Outside general education 60% or less of the schedule",
   "short": "Partly separate",
   "staff": "a certified special educator assisted by one aide",
   "students": 12
  },
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "aides": 2,
   "band": "School age",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(c)",
   "condition": "",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 16,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "separateness": "partly separate",
   "separateness_rank": 1,
   "setting": "Outside general education 60% or less of the schedule",
   "short": "Partly separate",
   "staff": "a certified special educator assisted by two aides",
   "students": 16
  },
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "aides": 0,
   "band": "School age",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "condition": "",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 8,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "separateness": "substantially separate",
   "separateness_rank": 2,
   "setting": "Substantially separate \u2014 more than 60% of the schedule",
   "short": "Substantially separate",
   "staff": "one certified special educator",
   "students": 8
  },
  {
   "ages": "aged five and older",
   "aides": 1,
   "band": "School age",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(6)(d)",
   "condition": "",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 12,
   "role": "certified special educator",
   "separateness": "substantially separate",
   "separateness_rank": 2,
   "setting": "Substantially separate \u2014 more than 60% of the schedule",
   "short": "Substantially separate",
   "staff": "a certified special educator and an aide",
   "students": 12
  },
  {
   "ages": "three and four years of age",
   "aides": 1,
   "band": "Young children",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)(e)",
   "condition": "up to five of the class have disabilities",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 5,
   "role": "teacher",
   "separateness": "integrated",
   "separateness_rank": 0,
   "setting": "Integrated with children who do not have disabilities",
   "short": "Integrated preschool",
   "staff": "one teacher and one aide",
   "students": 20,
   "swd_cap": 5,
   "swd_min": null
  },
  {
   "ages": "three and four years of age",
   "aides": 1,
   "band": "Young children",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)(e)",
   "condition": "six or seven of the class have disabilities",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 7,
   "role": "teacher",
   "separateness": "integrated",
   "separateness_rank": 0,
   "setting": "Integrated with children who do not have disabilities",
   "short": "Integrated preschool",
   "staff": "one teacher and one aide",
   "students": 15,
   "swd_cap": 7,
   "swd_min": 6
  },
  {
   "ages": "three and four years of age",
   "aides": 1,
   "band": "Young children",
   "cite": "603 CMR 28.06(7)(f)",
   "condition": "more than 50% of the class have disabilities",
   "educators": 1,
   "order": 9,
   "role": "teacher",
   "separateness": "substantially separate",
   "separateness_rank": 2,
   "setting": "Substantially separate \u2014 serving primarily or solely children with disabilities",
   "short": "Substantially separate preschool",
   "staff": "one teacher and one aide",
   "students": 9,
   "swd_cap": null,
   "swd_min": null
  }
 ],
 "young_share": 50
}