From the start of the 2025-26 school year through March, Detroit Public Schools Community District received 1,680 special education evaluation referrals. Seventy-two were not completed within the time required by state and federal law. Seven hundred and twenty-eight are still in process.
The numbers came from DPSCD administrators during a board study session last week. Board members have heard from parents and advocates for years that the district is not meeting evaluation timelines. The district shared the data in response to that ongoing pressure.
State and federal law requires districts to complete initial special education evaluations within 30 school days of a referral. The timeline can extend beyond 30 days only when parents agree in writing before the original deadline passes. An initial evaluation is a comprehensive assessment that determines whether a child qualifies for an individualized education program, or IEP, which maps out the services, goals, and accommodations the school will provide a student with disabilities.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told board members the district has improved its on-time rate and credited earlier hiring of school psychologists and speech language pathologists this year. "The standard is 100 percent," he said of the legal requirement. He said a "no-excuse culture" around evaluation timelines still needs to be built.
Lohren Nzoma, assistant superintendent of the Division of Exceptional Student Education, cited factors the district says are outside its control: conflicting parent schedules, difficulty reaching families, and students who move frequently between schools or homes. LaTrice McClendon, board chair, asked for a specific breakdown showing how many pending cases fall into each category and how long individual students have been waiting.
"How many are in school, and also, how long have they been in process?" McClendon said, asking whether students are waiting six months, a year, or two years for an IEP. Administrators said they did not have that breakdown at the meeting and would follow up.
Corletta Vaughn, vice chair of the board, said she regularly hears from parents that the district goes silent on pending evaluations for long stretches. Nzoma said communication with families would improve.
The financial picture is part of the context. DPSCD's special education costs for the current school year are projected at more than $214 million. Local, state, and federal grants cover around $179 million. The district draws more than $34.9 million from its general fund to close the gap. Vitti said Michigan does not fund special education adequately at the state level, and that national shortages of school psychologists and speech pathologists compound the district's hiring problems.
For the 728 students whose evaluations are still in process, the data is not abstract. A delayed evaluation means a delayed IEP. A delayed IEP means delayed services. The law sets the 30-day timeline for that reason.
The story was originally reported by Chalkbeat Detroit. The board did not vote on a corrective plan at the April session. A follow-up presentation on the pending case breakdown was requested but no date was set.
