Objective

To determine if the New York City Department of Education (DOE) arranged for eligible students to be placed in special education services and programs within the required time frames, and provided all of the services and programs recommended in the students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP). We also assessed the time frames for students to commence receiving services and programs. Our audit covered the period of July 1, 2016 through January 21, 2020, and included all students who were initially referred during the 2016-17 school year.

About the Program

Special education services and programs are designed to meet the educational and developmental needs of children with disabilities. Part 200 of the Regulations of the New York State Commissioner of Education (Regulations) stipulates the requirements for evaluating and placing students in special education. In New York City (NYC), the DOE is responsible for determining eligibility for and providing special education services to such students. Specifically, the Regulations require that DOE arrange for the placement of eligible students in special education services and programs within 60 school days of receipt of parental consent to evaluate. However, arranging placement is not the end of the process as it is more important that eligible students be provided with the services and programs recommended in their IEPs in a timely manner. State Regulations do not define how long this should take.

A report issued in August 2019 by New York University/Steinhardt’s Research Alliance for New York City Schools stated that the percentage of students with disabilities varies greatly across NYC – ranging from less than 5 percent in some areas to more than 25 percent in others – with disability rates higher in low-income neighborhoods.

Key Findings

• Our analysis determined that DOE did not arrange for special education services within the required 60 school days for 18 percent of the eligible students in school year 2016-17. Noncompliance ranged from 32 percent in District 9 (located in the South Bronx) to 4 percent in District 11 (Northeast Bronx).
• DOE deprives itself of critical performance data by not calculating or tracking its compliance with the 60-school days requirement for arranging the placement of students in special education services and programs.
• 112 of our sample of 158 referred students were found eligible for special education services. However, we found that 28 of the 112 students either did not receive any or received only some of the services recommended in their IEPs.
• We also found situations where DOE provided services without the required parental consent. For 12 of the 112 students, there was no parental consent for any of the services, and for another 39 of the students, parental consent was not received for at least one of the services.

Key Recommendations

• Calculate and track compliance with the 60-school days requirement for arranging special education services for eligible students.
• Assess the reasons for non-compliance with the 60-school days requirement for arranging services for eligible students, and take appropriate action(s).
• Develop guidelines for the length of time it should take for students to start receiving recommended related and program services. Similar to the analysis presented in this report, track compliance with these guidelines and take corrective action when lengthy time frames are identified.
• Ensure that students receive all special education services listed in their IEP.
• Ensure that parental consent for services is obtained prior to service provision.