REMARKS
Explanation of Carter cases and IESP services for private and religious schools
0:36:27
ยท
3 min
Christina Foti provides a comprehensive explanation of Carter cases and Individualized Education Services Program (IESP) services for students in private and religious schools. She details the types of cases, recent policy changes, and efforts to ensure service provision.
- Carter cases involve parents unilaterally placing their children in private schools due to perceived inadequacies in public school services.
- IESP services are for students in private and religious schools who require special education services from the public school system.
- A June 1st deadline for IESP applications was enforced this year, with 18,000 families complying and about 3,000 missing the deadline.
- The DOE implemented a waiver system to still provide services to families who missed the deadline, balancing legal requirements with the need to serve children.
- Efforts are being made to improve communication about IESP applications and deadlines for the upcoming school year.
Christina Foti
0:36:27
I just wanted to if public advocate, if I may, I just wanted to step back and just do a little bit of a high level landscape of this $1,350,000,000 question you're asking.
0:36:38
So in the due process system, right, just to reiterate, there are 2 different types of cases.
0:36:45
There are the Carter cases, Carter and Connor, which are tuition.
0:36:50
The example is my child has autism, New York City Public School.
0:36:53
I don't think that you can serve him well.
0:36:56
I'm going to go ahead and unilaterally place them in a in a private school, which a parent has every right to do if in fact we cannot offer that.
0:37:04
And then the other the other the other, bucket, of this funding goes to, what Liz is saying, our our services for private and, religious schools where a family says my child, has a hearing impairment and I want him to attend this Catholic school and I need these services from the New York City public schools.
0:37:27
Now, for that group of families, just to start there, the June 1st deadline has always existed.
0:37:36
This year, we were required to enforce the June 1st deadline.
0:37:42
We did a lot of, communicating, but not everybody got the message.
0:37:47
18,000 families got the message we received.
0:37:50
About 3,000 did not.
0:37:54
By law, those families that did not get the message are not entitled to services.
0:37:59
Now as people who wake up every day desperate to provide services to children, we wanted to figure out a way to still get those families service.
0:38:09
Because it none of us could live with the idea of families going without because they missed a deadline that for the first time this year was was being enforced.
0:38:20
We get it.
0:38:21
Not everybody got the message and that we take we understand that reality.
0:38:26
In order to get those families services, we had to ask them to sign a waiver.
0:38:30
The reason being that if they did not sign the waiver, they were not going to be entitled, to the service because New York City public schools would be required to provide wouldn't we wouldn't stand up in any litigation.
0:38:47
And thus far as a result, we wouldn't be enforcing the deadline, and we wouldn't be able to hold, hold ourselves up, against that again, in in light of it.
0:38:58
And I'm I'm not saying that well, but, please ask any clarifying questions.
0:39:04
And the waiver was to say, yes, we got our services, and we're not gonna be looking to to go backwards in time.
0:39:11
That waiver is only for this school year.
0:39:13
A parent maintains their rights in the upcoming year.
0:39:17
We have posted the guidance, and we really believe that every family we're we're gonna be emailing, sending home, via, you know, a hard copy mail.
0:39:28
Those, information about IESPs and how to how to get them moving forward, we do not expect this issue in the upcoming year.
0:39:36
And the waiver was sorry.
0:39:38
Go ahead.