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City's Special Needs Online Portal Needs to Be Fixed Immediately, CB3 Says

By Allegra Hobbs | April 15, 2016 4:58pm | Updated on April 17, 2016 4:55pm
 Parents of kids with special needs at The Children's Workshop School in the East Village struggle to ensure their children get the services they need.
Parents of kids with special needs at The Children's Workshop School in the East Village struggle to ensure their children get the services they need.
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Inside Schools

EAST VILLAGE — The city's glitch-ridden online special education data tracking system is preventing kids from getting the services they need, say critics who are calling on the city to fix it immediately.

The Department of Education's Special Education Information System, which tracks data related to special needs kids in city schools, is intended to help parents and school staff keep track of information about each child, their progress in school and the unique services they require.

But repeated failures of the system has sparked a resolution from Community Board 3’s Schools Subcommittee calling for an “immediate remedy” — as well as a lawsuit from the city’s Public Advocate.

“There is a problem with not knowing how many children are getting the services they need,” CB3 Chairman Luke Henry said at a recent meeting.

“We don’t know how much staff is needed to services these children and we can’t even measure it — there are all these gaps.”

Parents of children with special needs say the system’s flaws keep them from accessing important information about their kids and ensuring they have access to the therapists, psychologists, and social workers the city is supposed to provide under their personalized education plan.

“I had no idea if he was meeting his goals, and I had no idea what help he was supposed to be getting at home,” said Hope Baker, whose son has a movement disorder and attends the Children’s Workshop School on East 12th Street. “I felt like I was at a loss.”

Baker has since taken her son’s achievement into her own hands and has sought help from an occupational therapist outside of the school system, she said.

Public Advocate Letitia James in February filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over the system, claiming its failures have left children without the programs and services they are legally entitled to receive while also needlessly draining the city budget of millions, Politico reported at the time.

The resolution will be voted on by the full board on April 26 before being sent to the Department of Education.

CB3's resolution urges the city to take immediate action towards fixing the system or developing an alternative while providing an opportunity for public input.

The Department of Education did not return requests for comment.