NYC urged to expedite return of special ed services to students in non-public schools

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After many New York City students in non-public schools were denied special education services for missing a June deadline, Staten Island elected officials are calling on the schools chancellor to expedite the return of these resources.

Elected officials on Staten Island — including Borough President Vito Fossella, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Councilmembers Joseph Borelli, Kamillah Hanks and David Carr, Assemblymembers Charles Fall, Michael Tannousis, Sam Pirozzolo and Michael Reilly, Sen. Andrew Lanza, and Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton — penned a letter to Schools Chancellor David Banks asking that he fix the snafu, which has been estimated to impact at least 1,000 students on Staten Island.

They are requesting that existing IESP files be used to expedite the return of these services to students to prevent any further delays.

“While we appreciate that the Department of Education will be sending letters to parents that missed the deadline to remedy the situation, we are requesting that existing IEP / IESP files be used to quickly return these students to their services and not delay them further by requiring reevaluations. This would also allow for the Department of Education to begin the placement process for these students sooner,” the elected officials wrote in the letter. “What should hopefully be fixed within a few weeks could become months should evaluations need to take place.”

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