Expanding Special Education to Age 22: Where Are We Now?

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (“IDEA”) states that students can be eligible for special education supports and services starting at age 3 and “inclusive of age 21.” For decades, the New York State Education Department (“NYSED”) interpreted that language as limiting eligibility until the end of the ten-month school year in which students turn 21. Students who turned 21 in July or August of the following school year received “extended” eligibility during those summer months. In July, 2023, NYSED issued guidance in response to A.R. v Connecticut Board of Education, 5 F.4th 155 (2d Cir. 2021), that instructed school districts to continue eligibility until age 22, and encouraging school districts to provide services to students until the end of the school year in which they turn 22, rather than terminating services on a student’s 22nd birthday. In this program, speakers review the legal basis for the A.R. decision, prior and pending cases in other districts that address the same age eligibility issue, the NYSED guidance letter and school district responses to it, and ongoing litigation in NYS and other jurisdictions.