More Students With Disabilities Admitted to 'Screened' High Schools

It's high school match day in New York City, when thousands of eighth grade students find out where they won a high school seat for next fall. And, this year, among the students admitted to select high schools is an increasing number of students with disabilities. 

More than 2,500 students with disabilities will receive an offer to a screened school on Friday, compared to fewer than 1,000 students in 2012.

The increase applies to the city's 15 most selective screened schools, such as Beacon High School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School both in Manhattan. The number of students with disabilities receiving offers of admission to this group of 15 has more than quadrupled over four years: from 60 special education students admitted in 2012 to 275 admitted in 2016, education officials said.

Across the city, more than 10,300 students with disabilities applied to high school this year. The vast majority of them, 89 percent, were matched to one of their top three choices, education official said.

Corinne Rello-Anselmi, the city's deputy chancellor of special education, called the numbers groundbreaking.

"This is an opportunity that has historically never been granted to a child who may have an I.E.P.," she said, referring to students with Individualized Education Programs, which outline a student's special education needs.

"I think we've learned on a federal level, local level that that is a universal right of any student — to have access to highly performing schools," Rello-Anselmi said.  

The increase is by design. High schools must aim to enroll special education students at a percentage that matches the number of special needs students in the borough. Four years ago, the city's office of enrollment began pressing screened high schools to do the same, and in some cases assigned students with disabilities to selective schools. 

But the city's office of enrollment has been trying to work collaboratively with school leaders to, essentially, think differently about which students would be a good fit and thrive in competitive environments. 

The same goes for middle school guidance counselors, who may not have steered special education students toward these selective schools, said Rob Sanft, director of student enrollment.

"We do have a significant number of very high-performing students with disabilities," said Sanft. "And a number of years ago, the students weren't necessarily being considered by these screened programs because they were adhering to very stringent criteria for their students."

At Eleanor Roosevelt, the number of students with disabilities has increased at the school from "a handful" four years ago to about 9 percent of the student body, said Dimitri Saliani, the school's principal.

To admit more special education students, the school increased its enrollment overall so that the number of seats for general education students remained the same. And the school relaxed admissions criteria for students with disabilities, but only slightly so. Instead of requiring a 90 average in core academic subjects, the school looked for an 87 average from students in special education programs.

"Our program is very rigorous and we want the kids who come here to feel that they belong," said Saliani.

Eleanor Roosevelt now actively recruits special education students, and these students learn in classrooms with their non-disabled peers.

Making sure the school has the supports in place to meet students' needs is a continual challenge. The school has gone from having one full-time special educator to four. Saliani said he'd like to hire another.

City education officials acknowledged that there is still much more work to be done to ensure that high schools enroll students with disabilities in proportion to the number of special needs students in each borough: Brooklyn has 18 percent of students with disabilities; Manhattan has 19 percent; Queens has 16 percent; Staten Island has 24 percent; and the Bronx has 22 percent.