NEW YORK — Almost two months into the school year, special needs students and their parents are feeling the effects of being denied services due to new regulations put in place by the New York City Department of Education.
Lawmakers are now calling on federal officials to hold the city accountable.
Sienna Sheen’s struggle
The fifth grade school year isn’t going the way 10-year-old Sienna Sheen had hoped.
“I should have more better grades than this school year. It’s not really the way it’s supposed to be, like last year. Last year was perfect,” Sheen said.
Sheen is deaf and uses a cochlear implant. Last school year, she had speech services, a teacher for the deaf, and an assisted-listening device that helped her excel to a B average. However, just three days before this school year, she and her mom, Marissa Jones, found out that she’s not getting those services, under the Individualized Education Service Program, or IESP. Now, she’s failing science and math.
“They took this all away from her, and I was told if I enroll her in public school, every service would be available to her and those are my options,” Jones said.
Sheen attends Saint Joseph Hill Academy on Staten Island. Private school parents say they are seeing a trend — they’re denied IESP services this school year because they didn’t fill out a new form that was due last June. In the denial email, there’s a link to sign their child up for public school. Parent Karry Gallo met with IESP Services before this school year.
“I asked them what I needed for my child to get services and this letter never came up. So I just want everybody to understand, as a parent fighting to get their child services, we were never given this,” Gallo said.
“We’re calling for the U.S. Department of Education to intervene and hold the city accountable to make sure that these children are receiving the accommodations that they are entitled to, as is required under state and federal law,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. DOE told CBS News New York, “The Department has received the letter from the members of Congress and is reviewing it. We take concerns like this very seriously.”
What the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides
Lawmakers gathered Thursday outside of Sheen’s school saying what’s happening is illegal under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which requires school districts to get federal funds for special services for students with disabilities.
Now, parents like Jones are paying out of pocket for some services.
“Parents have to choose between paying their mortgage or making sure their kids could read,” Jones said.
Until then, she’s hoping her daughter doesn’t regress during these critical school years.
“I just hope it would come back to normal. Just crossing my fingers for good luck,” Sheen said.
Her mom is suing the city DOE over this. A hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday.
The U.S. DOE said “The Department has received the letter from the members of Congress and is reviewing it. We take concerns like this very seriously.”
CBS News New York reached out to the city DOE and has still not heard back.