New York’s Staten Island. Many Staten Island families who applied for and were initially denied special education services for their children attending non-public schools are still waiting to receive the required supports more than a month into the 2024–2025 academic year.
Outraged families in Staten Island and throughout New York City learned before the 2024–2025 school year started that their children attending non-public schools would not receive special education services because a written request was not completed by the June 1 deadline.
For children attending non-public schools, such as Catholic, private, or home-school settings, parents are required by state law to submit a letter of intent by June 1 for special education assistance, known as the Individualized Education assistance Program (IESP). It guarantees that students receive medical accommodations, occupational, speech, or physical therapy, as well as other academic concessions like extra time for tests.
The Staten Island Advance/SILive.com reported that many Staten Island parents stated that the city had not enforced the deadline until this year. Others said that the city or another source had not informed them of a deadline.
A number of parents on Staten Island who send their children to private or Catholic schools said that the city Department of Education (DOE) told them before the school year that their child would not be qualified for special education assistance. While waiting for services to be restored, some parents have chosen to pay out of pocket.
The DOE told Advance/SILive.com in early September that it was monitoring requests from families who failed to submit a request by the June 1 deadline. After serving all families who filed by the deadline, the organization stated that it will begin working to provide resources.
In a statement released in early September, DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said, “We’ve seen an exponential increase in filing for special education services over the past decade by families attending private or parochial schools and not seeking a public school education.” The June 1st deadline is a long-standing requirement outlined in state laws and regulations. It is one of several constraints NYCPS [New York City Public Schools] must adhere to in order to help guarantee that public funds are being used to support students who actually need services. We will always engage families, even those who missed the deadline, and work to serve them as quickly and effectively as possible, even though we are legally obligated to prioritize serving families who make requests by the deadline.
Affected families were recently contacted by Advance/SILive.com, and they disclosed that they were still awaiting services. Since calling the city regarding services, Alexis Petruzzelli, a parent of an eighth-grader at a Catholic school on Staten Island, said there has been absolute radio silence.
According to Petruzzelli, it would be an understatement to say that the entire experience has been frustrating. Our children have been thrown aside while we have been given a full runaround. Their rights as pupils with special needs have been completely violated. Someone needs to take responsibility for this and quit blaming others.
Referring to a boilerplate email she received from the Committee for Special Education (CSE), Kelly, a parent of a fifth-grader attending a Catholic school on Staten Island, also stated that she has not heard anything more about when her daughter will resume receiving assistance.
Services are not being reinstated at this time. Kelly, who asked to be identified only by her first name, stated, “I communicate with them on a regular basis.”
In an attempt to get attention, she added, she had also lodged a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
In response to an inquiry from Advance/SILive.com regarding the progress of restoring services to affected families, a DOE representative said: We informed them of the next steps!
The repatriation of these resources, which are thought to affect at least 1,000 Staten Island kids, has been urged by political leaders to be expedited by former school chancellor David C. Banks.
Speaking at a rally outside St. Clare School last month, Kim Calvo revealed that the mishap also affected her daughter, who is legally blind and needs vision-related services.
Calvo claimed that despite our repeated requests, we have not had the information or assistance we need to make sure our kids’ needs are satisfied. Rather, we have seen automated responses and ambiguous remarks indicating that we are being watched. This isn’t useful information.
On October 9, Assemblyman Michael Reilly wrote the school chancellor again to ask for clarification.
The letter from Reilly said, “It is shameful that we are 30 days into the 2024–2025 school year with no clarity and no resolution for these families.” I’m calling on the NYCDOE to prioritize this and fulfill its federally mandated obligation to offer these programs to our pupils.
More education stories
-
From the classroom to the community : How a comic book store recently engaged S.I. students | In Class column
-
Councilman David Carr secures $360K for athletic trainers at 3 Staten Island high schools
-
Top public high schools ranking: Here s what the data shows for New York state, NYC and Staten Island
-
Staten Island students get hands-on with healthcare, as program seeks to build the borough s future medical professionals
-
Fraud, identity theft charges for founder of artificial intelligence company used by NYC, LA schools
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!
+ There are no comments
Add yours