Objective

To determine the extent of implementation, as of August 2026, of the seven recommendations included in our initial audit report, Access to Preschool Special Education Services (Report 2023-S-1).

About the Program

One of the most critical periods of growth in a child’s development occurs during the first 5 years of life. Quality early education programs can make a difference and increase a child’s opportunity for successful learning and later life accomplishments. Providing special education programs and services at an early age helps prepare a child with a disability to enter school ready to learn.

Preschool special education is overseen by the State Education Department’s (SED) Office of Special Education (OSE), which works to promote educational equity and excellence for students with disabilities. Preschool special education services for children 3 to 5 years of age can include but are not limited to: speech pathology and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, specialized instruction, parent training, and counseling. For the 2024–2025 school year, a total of 82,682 children received programs and services at some point during the school year.

The special education process begins when a child suspected of needing special education services is referred, in writing, to the school district in which the child resides. The child must next be evaluated by an SED-approved agency or a school district’s evaluation team after the district receives parental consent. Initial evaluations must be completed within a time frame that allows the Individualized Education Program (IEP), which details recommended services to be provided, to be developed within 60 calendar days of parental consent to evaluate a child not previously identified as having a disability. Every child has the right to receive all the services prescribed in their IEP, and services must begin as soon as possible following the development of the IEP, and within 60 school days of the receipt of consent to evaluate the child.

OSE’s Special Education Quality Assurance (SEQA) regional offices conduct reviews of compliance with the 60-day timeline for evaluations of preschool-age children and evaluate whether children transitioning from Early Intervention with an IEP have it implemented by their third birthday. These reviews cover 1/6 of the State’s school districts on a 6-year rotational basis to assess compliance with regulation requirements (i.e., every year, 1/6—approximately 118 of the 710 school districts—are reviewed).

The objective of our initial audit, issued in December 2024, was to determine if SED was effectively overseeing preschool special education in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations to promote timely access to services for children across New York State. The audit covered the period from July 2018 through January 2024. The initial audit found preschool special education students may not have been receiving all required services within required time frames or, in some cases, may not have been receiving them at all. Students were waitlisted for services that districts were unable to furnish due to a lack of providers. We conducted a survey of school districts and found, of the 550 responses received, 455 (83%) school districts reported they maintain a waitlist for services. Of the 40 school districts we visited, 21 (53%) stated they maintain waitlists. Further, SED could not adequately perform its oversight responsibilities to ensure that all preschool students with disabilities have access to their recommended services, as it was not aware of the current number of students enrolled in the preschool special education program, the services those students were receiving in real time, or how many school districts maintained waitlists for services.

The audit also found that while SEQA retroactively reviews compliance with some time frames in the special education process, these reviews address only 1/6 of the State’s school districts per year, providing outdated data that may come too late to help students in need of immediate services. Further, discrepancies among various SED data systems and sources resulted in unreliable information regarding services provided, and lack of analysis of the information it does have limited SED’s ability to monitor when school districts were having issues such as unserved students or evaluations that were not occurring promptly due to a lack of providers.

Key Findings

SED officials have made some progress in addressing the problems we identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s seven audit recommendations, three were implemented and four were partially implemented.

Key Recommendations

SED officials are requested, but not required, to provide information about any actions planned to address the unresolved issues discussed in this follow-up within 30 days of the report’s issuance.