SECTION 1. Subsection (c) of section 4E of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 36-38, the words, “The commissioner shall appoint an individual to serve as a voting member of the education collaborative board of directors;” and inserting in place thereof the words, “The commissioner shall appoint an individual to serve as a liaison from the department of elementary and secondary education to the education collaborative board of directors;”.

SECTION 2. Said subsection (c) of said section 4E of said chapter 40 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 102-104, the words “in a form approved by the department of revenue and in a sum not less than the amount established by the department,” and inserting in place thereof the words “in a form approved by the department of revenue and in a sum not less than the amount established by said department”.

SECTION 3. Said subsection (c) of said section 4E of said chapter 40 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 124, the words “and articles of incorporation”.

SECTION 4. Said section 4E of said chapter 40 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsections:-

(n) Education collaboratives shall be organized into 6 geographic regions established by the board of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives. One collaborative from each region shall be designated by majority vote of the member collaboratives as a regional liaison for a period of 3 years. Each regional liaison shall: (1) identify regional needs and priorities for educational services; (2) develop policies to coordinate the delivery of services to school districts in a manner that responds to regional needs and priorities; and (3) work in partnership with the department of elementary and secondary education and other regional entities, including but not limited to, district and school assistance centers, readiness centers, and workforce investment boards, to coordinate the dissemination of information and support to districts.  The department shall, subject to appropriation, provide grants to regional liaisons to support their planning and coordination activities.

(o) For a particular state initiative, the board of elementary and secondary education may designate a lead collaborative in each region to provide support for the implementation of that initiative. The board of elementary and secondary education shall accept applications for such designation and choose the applicant best suited to lead the particular initiative.

(p) The department shall promote the use of education collaboratives as providers of educational services and programs for local school districts and shall give special consideration to grant applications that include the use of education collaboratives for the purpose of procuring services and programs. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department may designate educational collaboratives as eligible recipients and local education agencies (LEAs) for any federal or state grants to cities, towns, and regional school districts for educational programs. 

(q) An education collaborative formed under this section may provide services to developmentally disabled individuals over the age of 22, upon the approval from the commissioner of developmental services and shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the department of developmental services.

SECTION 5. Chapter 43 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by striking out Section 4.

SECTION 6. The provisions of subsection (n) of Section 4 shall take effect 12 months from the effective date of this act.

SECTION 7. The board of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate regulations as may be necessary to carry out this act.

SECTION 8. The Massachusetts School Building Authority, established under section 1A of chapter 70B of the General Laws, shall award incentive points to districts for projects that include spaces for in-district special education programs and services provided by education collaboratives as defined in section 4E of chapter 40.

SECTION 9. An education collaborative formed under section 4E of chapter 40 of the General Laws that was providing services to developmentally disabled individuals over the age of 22 prior to the effective date of this act may continue to provide such services upon the approval from the commissioner of developmental services.