New York’s Staten Island. City education officials said they are working to provide help for pupils who attend non-public schools after incensed families in Staten Island and throughout New York City realized their children will not receive special education services for the 2024–2025 school year.

According to a number of Staten Island parents whose children attend private or Catholic schools, the city Department of Education (DOE) notified them that their child would not be eligible for special education support for the 2024–2025 academic year because a written request was not filed by the deadline of June 1.

Thursday, September 5th, was the first day of public school.

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.

Many parents on Staten Island claimed 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.

Kelly, a parent of a fifth-grader at a Catholic school on Staten Island, claimed she was not informed of the deadline for her child’s yearly evaluation of services in April. She noted that even after speaking with the District 31 Committee for Special Education (CSE) regarding extra assistance her child would receive for the next school year, she was still unaware of the deadline.

She said, “They never said a word to me.”

She urged other parents to certify that their child would receive services in September by posting on social media. Since then, maybe four or five families have contacted her with similar problems.

Never notified

Kelly, who requested that her last name not be published in this story, claimed that they were never informed. To find out, they had to contact CSE. What occurs, then, if providers fail to appear this week and the following week? Since they neglected to inform parents that they were not receiving services, I suppose that’s when parents will start to realize.

DOE is monitoring requests from families who failed to file a request by the June 1 deadline, the agency acknowledged to Advance/SILive.com. After serving all families who filed by the deadline, the organization stated that it will begin working to provide resources.

According to DOE spokesperson Nathaniel Styer, “we’ve seen an exponential increase in filing for special education services over the past ten years 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.

Many parents who spoke with Advance/SILive.com said that it wasn’t until they contacted the CSE directly that they learned that services will not be offered for this school year.

Last month, borough parents received a boilerplate email notification regarding the rejected services.

New York state law

According to New York state law, parents must submit a written request for equitable (IESP) special education services to the school district where their child attends a private school by June 1st of the year before the requested school year. Your request was sent after the deadline of June 1, 2024. According to the email obtained by Advance/SILive.com, NYCPS will not offer your child equitable (IESP) special education services for the 2024–2025 academic year.

This is the first year the deadline has been enforced, according to Eileen, a parent of a junior in high school at a private school on Staten Island. Her child has been receiving an IESP since pre-K. She expressed her worry that high school students would suffer if accommodations like extra time to take college admission exams like the SAT or ACT were not provided.

I’m not sure if they were trying to discover a loophole or if they had to make cuts to their budget. She asked that her last name not be mentioned in this story, saying, “That’s what it sounds like to us.”

The CSE’s announcement to parents also gave them the choice to enroll their kids in a public school in order to obtain special education assistance. Families were offended by it, with many saying the comment discriminated against parents who send their kids to private schools.

Alexis Petruzzelli, a parent of an eighth-grader at a Catholic school on Staten Island, stated, “I was told, verbatim, if I want my services back, then take my kids out of their Catholic school and put them in public school, and then I can have them back.” That seemed discriminating to me.

Opting to pay, for now

While they struggle for their requests to be granted, some parents are choosing to pay for some services for their kids. Kelly stated that since it would cost more than $400 per week to pay for all the services her child need, she will just be paying for a few of them for the time being.

Additionally, Petruzzelli voiced concern for the providers who will no longer be able to fulfill their contracted duties to deliver these crucial special education services. She clarified that many of them get compensated on a session basis. She expressed concern that if services are reimbursed, providers may quit to pursue other opportunities.

Many of these individuals are returning to jobs that either don’t have children to serve or [attend other schools] because they weren’t compensated during the summer. Petruzzelli clarified, “You’re putting out the kids and service providers.”

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