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The purpose of this memo is to provide school districts and other interested parties with information related to the Department's Out of District Monitoring Form . The Department has developed a standard Out of District Monitoring Form to assist school districts with implementing the requirements in 603 CMR 28.06.
In accordance with 603 CMR 28.06, the sending school district is required to monitor the provision of services to and the programs of individual students placed out-of-district.
Administrator of Special Education is required to make a good faith effort, to ensure that the student's IEP is being appropriately implemented and that service delivery in the out-of-district setting is aimed at assisting the student to meet the goals identified on the student's IEP for the duration of any student's placement in an out-of-district setting in Massachusetts.
Documentation of monitoring plans and all actual monitoring must be placed in the files of every eligible student who has been placed out-of-district. To the extent that this monitoring requires site visits, such site visits shall be documented and placed in the students' files for review. The duty to monitor out-of-district placements cannot be delegated to parents or their agents, to the Department, or to the out-of-district placement. The school district may, however, contract directly with a person to conduct such monitoring.
School districts that place eligible students in out-of-district programs retain full responsibility for ensuring that the student is receiving all special education and related services in the students' IEP as well as all procedural protections of law and regulation, including but not limited to those specified in 603 CMR 28.09. Any Team meetings conducted during the time that a student is enrolled in the out-of-district program must be initiated by the school district in coordination with the out-of-district placement.
If you have additional questions related to these requirements, please contact the department at specialeducation@mass.gov .
Last Updated: September 18, 2025