The Texas Education Agency has denied allegations by the U.S. Department of Education that it penalized school districts with more than 8.5 percent of its student populations enrolled in special education programs. TEA stated that the measurement was an indicator, not a requirement, and that failure to comply did not result in punitive measures.

In a Nov. 2 letter to federal officials, Penny Schwinn, deputy commissioner of academics for TEA, dismissed the allegations.

“Allegations that TEA issued fines, conducted on-site monitoring visits, required the hiring of consultants, etc., when districts provided special education services to more than 8.5 percent of their students are entirely false,” Schwinn said.

In Cy-Fair ISD, enrollment in special education programs decreased from 9.1 percent in 2004 to 7.4 percent in 2016. However, Daniel McIlduff, the assistant superintendent for educational support services—which includes special education programs—said the number of students enrolled in the programs increased consistently over that time. He said the TEA’s 8.5 percent marker had no effect on the way CFISD operated its special education programs.

“As a teacher, as an administrator on campus, I have never had anyone tell me that I can’t identify a student as in need of the services,” he said.

The school district identifies students for special education programs in a variety of ways, including advertising the programming to families and day care centers, periodic assessments of children and assessments by request of parents. McIlduff said there is no strict formula for identifying a child in need, though.

CFISD caters its care to each student through Individualized Education Program committees on each campus. The committees look at a student and evaluate his or her needs to develop custom services accordingly. For the 2016-17 school year, the district is serving 9,077 special education students, McIlduff said.

The TEA stated in a Nov. 2 letter to the USDE that statewide enrollment in special education programs had begun to drop before 2004—from 12.3 percent in 2000 to 11.6 percent in 2003—and actually began to climb again in 2016, when it increased 1.2 percent.

The 8.5 percent mark is an indicator of a performance range and is used as a data point in collecting information about a district’s special education programs, not a target, Schwinn said.

“We’ve never punished districts for falling into the representation category above 8.5 percent,” TEA Information Specialist Lauren Callahan said. “It is merely [an indicator of] how much of your student population is represented in a special education setting.”