Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
IA: Cedar Rapids sees progress on restraints, more work ahead
The Gazette
At a school board work session last week, the Cedar Rapids school district reported that the number of students restrained in response to aggressive behavior has dropped considerably. Between 2018 and 2021, restraints were used 4,145 times. From 2023 to 2026, restraints were used 734 times, including a low of 190 restraints in the 2025-26 school year. We’ve been critical of the district’s use of restraints and seclusion in multiple editorials, so the latest report showing the use of restraints declining is good news. Cedar Rapids did away with the use of seclusion in October 2022.
It was in September 2022 that the district reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which concluded, after a lengthy investigation, that the use of restraints and seclusion discriminated against students with disabilities who were disproportionately subjected to these disciplinary actions. The department required Cedar Rapids to end the use of seclusion. The settlement also directed the district to limit the use of restraints, revise its procedures and practices, and implement them consistently in all schools.
MD: School board to work with unions to expand use of cameras in special ed classrooms
The Frederick News-Post
The Frederick County school board voted 6-0 on Wednesday to move forward with a memorandum of understanding with its three labor unions on a limited expansion of its camera pilot program in special education classrooms.
The implementation of the camera pilot program followed an October 2025 arrest of a former FCPS education instructional assistant, charged with sexually abusing multiple students in special education classrooms at Oakdale Middle School and Carroll Manor Elementary School
MI: Michigan seeks to improve graduation rates for students with disabilities
WILX
Michigan education officials are expanding efforts to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. The Michigan Department of Education said recent gains in graduation rates and other performance measures demonstrate progress, but officials say additional work is needed to ensure students with disabilities receive the support necessary to succeed in school and beyond. State data shows the four-year graduation rate for students with disabilities reached about 62% during the 2024-25 school year, a 5% increase from the 2014-15 school year. The department also found that students with disabilities who spent at least 80% of their school day in general education settings graduated at a significantly higher rate. Those students posted a graduation rate of 68.5% during the 2024-25 school year. The findings are helping shape the department’s strategy moving forward, with officials emphasizing stronger collaboration between general and special education programs.
WV: County school officials tell lawmakers staffing, special education costs outpace state formula
WV News
School finance officials from across West Virginia told lawmakers Monday that the state’s school funding formula is not fundamentally broken but no longer reflects current realities facing county school systems, particularly rising special education costs, declining enrollment and increasing operational expenses. During an interim meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education at Canaan Valley Resort State Park, school business officials from Pendleton, Ohio, Kanawha and Berkeley counties outlined concerns with the Public School Support Plan and urged lawmakers to consider updates to address those challenges.
MI: State Board of Education forms special education review committee
Michigan Advance
Members of the State Board of Education on Tuesday voted unanimously to convene a committee to examine special education programs in Michigan and to work with stakeholders to review statewide needs. The committee was proposed by Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, who will serve as its chair, and was supported by members of the board during its June 9 meeting. The committee will focus on identifying best practices, promising potential outcomes, elevating stakeholder perspectives and, hopefully, support efforts to improve special education services across Michigan.
Pugh said the plan was to work closely with the Michigan Department of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenn Maleyko. The department will offer input and guidance to the committee for information-gathering purposes and meeting planning. Additionally, the board and the department plan to take the committee on the road, with an intended meeting schedule at schools to include students, but also families, educators, advocates and school district officials. Advisory groups, education experts and organizations like the Special Education Advisory Committee and Autism Alliance Michigan will also be included in the effort to seek stakeholder input.
CO: This specialized Colorado school faces scrutiny for improperly restraining students
Chalkbeat
Mark Brostrom’s 11-year-old son was struggling in public school when his school district suggested what seemed like a better fit: a new specialized school near the family’s home. Brostrom remembers thinking that the Austin Centers for Exceptional Students in Westminster could offer the flexibility that his son, who has autism, needed to thrive. A bright boy who scores well on tests, his son also sometimes responded to stress by destroying property or harming himself, his father said. But Brostrom quickly became disillusioned with The ACES, as the school calls itself. His son, whom Chalkbeat is not naming to protect his privacy, experienced multiple restraints, including one that the 11-year-old called “the crucifixion,” Brostrom said. The boy described being pinned to the floor on his back with staff members holding his arms and legs, a situation that his father said only made the boy struggle harder.
The ACES is what Colorado calls a facility school, a placement of last resort for students with intense behavioral, mental health, or special education needs whom public schools can’t or won’t serve. As the number of facility schools dwindled, state lawmakers in 2023 created a new, less clinical category called a “specialized day school” — opening the door for providers like The ACES. Now, less than two years after opening, the school faces state sanctions and a potential loss of funding after complaints about how it physically restrains students, suggesting the state’s changes meant to grow the number of facility schools lacked adequate safeguards.
CT: Westport parents demand independent special education review
Westport Journal
A newly released Request for Proposals to critique the district’s special education program is not sitting well with parents who insist the selected consultant be independent and not hand-picked by district administrators who oversee the program. “We need the board to oversee the scope and choose the consultant,” said Vivian Hsu, one of a half dozen speakers who spoke at the start of the school board meeting on Thursday. “That is the only way to guarantee a truly independent evaluation.” The parents have collected more than 560 signatures on an online petition asking for the same. Earlier that day, on the very bottom of the district website’s bid page, a five-page solicitation was posted for firms willing to conduct a comprehensive, system-level review of the district’s special education programs and services.
At the meeting Thursday, Michelle Vitulich, a parent, said the RFQ, though detailed, does not address parent concerns. She asked that the document be amended and said the district can not rely on the state alone to provide meaningful oversight.
Note: COPAA member and Change Maker graduate Michelle Vitulich is quoted in this story.
GA: Statesboro mother advocates for special education changes after son comes home with unexplained injuries
WTOC
A Statesboro mother says her non-verbal son with autism came home from school with unexplained bruises and scratches, and she has struggled to get answers about how the injuries happened. Chanier Morales is an 18-year-old non-verbal autistic student at Statesboro High School. His mother, Yesenia Leon, acts as his voice and advocate. After filing several complaints with Bulloch County Schools and the Statesboro Police Department, she is making her concerns public. “We should not be, as parents, double-thinking if our kids are safe,” Leon said. Chanier returned from school with noticeable marks, scratches, and bruising. When Leon asked staff about the nature of the injuries, she was met with the same responses — that Chanier had self-injured or that staff did not see the incident occur. With no answers and little documentation, Leon grew alarmed.
Before the school year ended, Leon made the decision to pull Chanier out of school. Now she is pushing for changes to protect students like Chanier. Her requests include increased transparency and the introduction of cameras in special education classes. In Georgia, schools are legally allowed to install cameras in special education classes. However, the decision is left up to the county.
NY: When the school bus doesn’t come: One family’s story
Chalkbeat
Constant delays. No-shows. Missed class. Roughly 145,000 New York City students, 43% of whom have disabilities, rely on yellow bus service to get to school each day. It’s a sprawling system with 9,000 routes operated by more than 50 different companies at a cost of more than $2 billion a year. But sometimes, the buses don’t arrive at all. Parents are often unable to track buses or contact busing companies, forcing many families to pay out of pocket for cabs or keep their kids home from school.
OR: Most Oregon preschoolers with disabilities now learn alongside non-disabled peers
The oregonian
Oregon now includes most preschoolers with disabilities or special health needs in regular preschools or other early learning settings, a big switch from just five years ago, when nearly two-thirds of such children attended programs exclusively for kids with special needs. State education leaders celebrated that win recently, noting it was the result of a years-long drive to allow young children of differing abilities to learn and develop side by side. “Every child deserves to learn, play and grow alongside their peers with the individualized support they need to thrive,” Charlene Williams, Oregon’s state schools chief, said in a statement.