Res. No. 901

Resolution calling upon the New York City Department of Education to require that prior to each Annual Review, schools inform parents of their right to have their child’s individualized education program translated.

By Council Members Treyger and Cornegy

Whereas, An individualized education program (IEP) is a written statement of an education plan developed to meet the individual needs of a student receiving special education services; and

Whereas, As reported in DOE’s Annual Special Education Data report, on June 30, 2018, of the nearly 200,000 students with IEPs, 37,704 were English language learners, and Inside Schools reported that more than 40 percent of New York City (NYC) public school students speak a language other than English at home; and

Whereas, Although many DOE students come from non-English speaking homes, DOE schools only provide parents with translated IEPs if they request such service; and

Whereas, According to DOE, social workers are required to inform parents of their right to receive their child’s IEP in their preferred language during the initial special education social history interview; and

Whereas, DOE also provides parents with written material, including a family guide, that informs them of their right to receive their child’s IEP in their preferred language; and

Whereas, Despite these resources, during a February 2019 NYC Council Education oversight hearing, advocates testified that many parents are unaware that they can have their child’s IEP translated; and

Whereas, At the hearing, DOE acknowledged that they need a systemic approach to the translation of IEPs, and in September 2018, the DOE’s Translation and Interpretation Unit launched a pilot program to centralize the translation of IEPs for families and schools within community school districts 9, 24 and 75; and

Whereas, As of April 2019, the unit received over 400 requests to translate IEPs, and DOE reported that the results and feedback of this pilot program have been positive; and

Whereas, While there is limited available data on the services received by students with IEPs who have non-English speaking parents, according to DOE, about 40,000, or 22 percent, of students with IEPs received partial or none of their mandated services during the 2017-18 school year; and

Whereas, DOE’s Graduation Report data shows that in 2018, only 50.4 percent of high school students with disabilities graduated within four years compared to 81.6 percent of their nondisabled peers; and

Whereas, At least once a year an Annual Review, or IEP meeting, is held for students receiving special education services to analyze their progress towards their IEP goals, review the special education services they received, and determine their goals for the following year; and

Whereas, During these meetings, which are required to be held in a parents preferred language, parents are provided with their child’s IEP, but unless they request to receive the IEP in their preferred language, the IEP is provided to them in English; and

Whereas, Many non-English speaking parents endure challenges to monitoring their child’s required services and academic progress because they are unable to read their child’s IEP and are unaware that their child’s school is required to translate their child’s IEP at their request; and

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Department of Education to require that prior to each Annual Review, schools inform parents of their right to have their child’s individualized education program translated.

LS # 10135

4/16/19

KJ