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Q&A
IEP services and paraprofessional assignments
1:30:55
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133 sec
Council Member Farías raises concerns about IEP services, particularly the assignment of paraprofessionals to students who need them. DOE officials respond to questions about the hiring process and assignment timelines for paraprofessionals.
- Schools are asked to plan for paraprofessional assignments in advance
- The DOE maintains a large pool of substitute paraprofessionals
- The time to hire brand new paraprofessionals who haven't gone through the vetting process is not specified
- Schools often use the substitute paraprofessional pool as a source for assignments
Amanda Farías
1:30:55
IEP services are critical to help ensure students with disabilities receive the necessary skills and educational support they require in their instruction.
1:31:03
At the beginning of the school years my office and I often receive issues and reports of IEPs not being directly addressed in terms of paraprofessionals not being assigned to those students who need it.
1:31:14
What is the average time it takes for a paraprofessional to be hired once the demand has been recognized and how long does it take for a student to be assigned a paraprofessional on average?
Christina Foti
1:31:31
Dan will address First Deputy Chancellor Weisberg will address the the first question.
1:31:35
But on on in response to the second question, you know, we ask schools to do that planning as far and in advance as possible.
1:31:42
Kids obviously come in on a rolling basis and we will assign as needed.
1:31:47
So we don't track the number of days per se for assignment, but we do track the date of assignment.
1:31:54
And once that assignment is made, we ask that our schools reach out to families to let them know which paraprofessional has been assigned to their child.
1:32:04
And then those records are updated in the IEP portal system.
Daniel Weisberg
1:32:11
And typically, what what happens, council member, we we maintain a very large pool and growing pool of substitute paraprofessionals, many
Paul Thompson
1:32:21
of
Daniel Weisberg
1:32:21
which are nominated by the schools themselves.
1:32:23
They they identify a potential paraprofessional.
1:32:27
That's really important because those people have already gone through to fingerprinting and so forth, and so they can move much more quickly from the sub parapool to be assigned.
1:32:37
If it's a brand new paraprofessional who hasn't gone through the process yet, I don't have a number for you.
1:32:45
We'll get that about how long it takes to get through the process.
1:32:48
But it does take some time because obviously we're never gonna assign anybody to a child who hasn't been fully vetted.
1:32:55
But we do maintain that subpar pool of many thousands of subparas.
1:33:01
So often, that's our source to assign somebody.
Amanda Farías
1:33:05
Okay.
1:33:05
Thank you.
1:33:06
A follow-up would be necessary.