Estimated reading time: 18 minutes
The committee on special education (CSE) is the team that each New York school district’s board of education appoints to evaluate students suspected of having a disability, decide whether they are eligible for special education, and recommend an individualized education program (IEP) to the board. It is New York’s version of the IEP team, with membership set by section 200.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education (8 NYCRR 200.3). This guide covers membership, the preschool committee and subcommittees, timelines, what the CSE decides, English language learners, New York City’s CSE offices and disputes. It describes the regulations; it is not legal advice.
Table of contents
Executive Summary
New York served 558,587 children and students ages 3 through 21 under IDEA Part B in 2024-25, according to the U.S. Department of Education, including 54,682 children ages 3 to 5 not yet in kindergarten. School-age students get their IEPs from a CSE; preschoolers get theirs from a committee on preschool special education (CPSE).
New York adds firm numbers to the federal rules: 60 days to evaluate, 60 school days from consent to services, five days’ meeting notice, and a two-tier hearing system. New rules for impartial hearing officers took effect July 1, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- The CSE recommends; the board arranges. In New York, the committee sends its recommendation to the board of education, which must arrange services.
- A school psychologist is a required member, and the district representative chairs the committee.
- The additional parent member attends only on request: a written request by the parent, the student or a committee member at least 72 hours before the meeting.
- Subcommittees can do most of the CSE’s work, but not certain initial placements, and a parent can send a recommendation to the full committee.
- Clocks: 10 school days to answer a request for referral, 60 days to evaluate, 60 school days from consent to services.
- New York City has 11 CSE/CPSE offices, and all its special education hearings are now conducted by hearing officers at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH).
What Is the Committee on Special Education?
The committee on special education is the multidisciplinary group, appointed by a New York board of education under Education Law section 4402, that evaluates a referred student, determines eligibility, develops the IEP and recommends special education programs and services.
Boards appoint as many committees as they need “to ensure timely evaluation and placement of students” (8 NYCRR 200.3(a)(1)). The CSE serves school-age students; the CPSE serves children ages 3 to 5.
CSE, CPSE, ARD Committee and IEP Team: Same Job, Different Names
| Term | Where | Role |
|---|---|---|
| IEP team | Federal law and most states | Develops, reviews and revises the IEP |
| Committee on special education | New York, school age | Evaluation, eligibility, IEP and a recommendation to the board |
| Committee on preschool special education | New York, ages 3 to 5 | The same functions for preschoolers, with a municipal representative |
| Admission, review, and dismissal committee | Texas | The IEP team under Texas rules; see our ARD meeting guide |
The federal meeting rules apply to all of them; they are explained in our IEP meeting guide.
Who Sits on the CSE
8 NYCRR 200.3(a)(1) lists the minimum membership. One person may fill more than one role where the rule allows it.
| Member | When required |
|---|---|
| Parents | Always |
| Regular education teacher | When the student is or may be in the regular education environment |
| Special education teacher or provider | Always |
| School psychologist | Always |
| District representative, who chairs the committee | Always; qualified to provide or supervise special education and knowledgeable about the curriculum and district resources |
| Person who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluations | Always; may be another member |
| School physician | If the parent or a school member requests it in writing at least 72 hours before the meeting |
| Additional parent member | If the parent, the student or a committee member requests it in writing at least 72 hours before the meeting |
| Others with knowledge or special expertise, including related services staff | As the district or the parents designate |
| The student | If appropriate |
The Additional Parent Member
The additional parent member is a parent of a student with a disability living in the district or a neighboring district, or a parent whose child was declassified or graduated within the past five years. Because the member attends only on request, explain the option and its 72-hour deadline in the meeting notice.
The Committee on Preschool Special Education
The committee on preschool special education is the committee each New York board of education appoints under Education Law section 4410 to determine whether preschool children are eligible and recommend special education programs and services for them (8 NYCRR 200.3(a)(2) and 200.16). A child first becomes eligible in the calendar year of the third birthday, on January 2 for a birthday before July 1 and on July 1 otherwise, and remains a preschool student with a disability through August of the school year in which the child becomes eligible to attend school (8 NYCRR 200.1(mm)(2)). Eligibility rests on a significant delay or disorder in cognitive, language and communicative, adaptive, social-emotional or motor development that adversely affects the ability to learn, or on one of eight classifications, such as autism or hearing impairment. For the federal rules behind preschool services, see our guide to early childhood special education.
The CPSE (8 NYCRR 200.3(a)(2)) includes the parents, a regular and a special education teacher or provider, a district representative as chair, and a person who can interpret evaluations. It adds a representative of the municipality where the child lives, whose attendance is not needed for a quorum, and, for a child moving from early intervention, a professional from the responsible agency at the parent’s request. Its additional parent member, also on written request 72 hours ahead, must have a child in a preschool or elementary program.
Subcommittees on Special Education
City school districts with more than 125,000 inhabitants must appoint subcommittees as needed; other districts may (8 NYCRR 200.3(c)). A subcommittee needs a school psychologist only when it reviews a new psychological evaluation or considers a more intensive staff-to-student ratio. It may do the CSE’s work except recommend an initial placement in a special class, a special class outside the student’s school, or a school serving primarily students with disabilities or outside the district. On a parent’s written request, it must immediately refer a recommendation the parent finds unacceptable to the full committee.
CSE Timelines in New York
| Step | New York rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Referral | Written, to the CSE chair or the building administrator; the chair notifies the parent immediately | 8 NYCRR 200.4(a) |
| Request for referral by staff, a physician or another professional | Within 10 school days: request consent to evaluate, or give the parent a copy of the request and offer a meeting | 200.4(a)(2)(iv) |
| Initial evaluation | Within 60 days of receiving consent, unless extended by mutual agreement | 200.4(b)(1), (7) |
| Meeting notice | In writing at least five days before, unless the parent agrees to a sooner meeting | 200.5(c) |
| Services begin | Within 60 school days of receipt of consent to evaluate | 200.4(d) |
| Approved private school | Within 30 school days of the board’s receipt of the recommendation | 200.4(e)(1) |
| Annual review | At least once a year | 200.4(f) |
The initial evaluation includes at least a physical examination, an individual psychological evaluation (unless a school psychologist finds it unnecessary), a social history, an observation in the learning environment and other assessments as needed, such as a functional behavioral assessment (200.4(b)(1)). Federal steps are in our guide to special education evaluation.
CPSE Timelines and the Transition From CPSE to CSE
The CPSE must recommend services within 60 calendar days of the parent’s consent to evaluate, the board then arranges services by a set start date, and in the year before kindergarten the CPSE refers a child who still needs services to the CSE. The preschool steps are set by 8 NYCRR 200.16.
| Step | Preschool rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Referral | In writing to the CPSE chair, who notifies the parent and requests consent to evaluate | 200.16(b) |
| Evaluation | By an approved evaluator the parent selects from a list of approved programs; completed within 60 days of consent | 200.16(c)(1)-(2), (h)(2) |
| Recommendation | CPSE meeting within 60 calendar days of consent; related services or special education itinerant services alone are considered before half-day or full-day programs, and settings with peers without disabilities come first, as the least restrictive environment rule requires | 200.16(e) |
| Services begin | At the approved program’s July, September or January start date or, when the recommendation comes within 30 school days of that date, as soon as possible and no later than 30 school days after the recommendation and 60 school days after consent | 200.16(f)(1) |
| Contract | After the board approves the recommendation, the municipality where the child lives contracts with the provider | 200.16(f)(3) |
Two transitions frame the CPSE years. For a child leaving early intervention, the county’s early intervention official notifies the district’s CPSE, and, with the parent’s consent, a transition plan is developed no later than three months before the third birthday. During the year before the child is eligible to attend elementary school, the committee decides whether the child still demonstrates eligibility; if so, the CPSE refers the child to the CSE to determine school-age eligibility and services (NYSED, A Parent’s Guide, 2025). Start that referral early: an IEP must be in effect when the school year begins (34 CFR 300.323(a)).
What the CSE Decides
- Eligibility. Using information from many sources, the committee decides whether the student has a disability. It may not find a student eligible when the determinant factor is a lack of appropriate reading or math instruction or limited English proficiency (200.4(c)).
- The IEP, after considering special factors such as behavior, limited English proficiency, Braille, communication and assistive technology (200.4(d)(3)).
- Program recommendations. Options on New York’s continuum include consultant teacher services, related services, resource room, integrated co-teaching (no more than 12 students with disabilities in a class, unless a variance applies) and special classes (8 NYCRR 200.6). See our guides to related services in special education and co-teaching models.
- State assessments. If the student will take an alternate assessment, the IEP explains why, and a student taking a New York State alternate assessment needs short-term objectives or benchmarks (200.4(d)(2)). See our guide to the NYSAA.
- Declassification, after an evaluation, with declassification support services for up to one year (200.4(c)(3), (d)(1)(iii)).
Before it recommends anything, the committee must consider whether reading and math instruction and regular education supports were appropriate (200.4(d)). Every proposal or refusal also calls for prior written notice; see our prior written notice examples.
Special Class Ratios
| Special class need | Maximum class size and staffing |
|---|---|
| Specialized instruction best given in a self-contained setting | 15 students (12 in a State-operated or State-supported school) |
| Management needs that require an additional adult | 12 students, with supplementary school personnel |
| Highly intensive management needs | 6 students, with supplementary school personnel |
| Intensive management needs | 8 students, with supplementary school personnel |
| Severe multiple disabilities, programs of habilitation and treatment | 12 students, plus one staff person for every three students |
Source: 8 NYCRR 200.6(h)(4).
English Language Learners With Disabilities
Subpart 154-3 of the Commissioner’s Regulations governs students with disabilities who may be English language learners (ELLs).
- A Language Proficiency Team (LPT) recommends whether a student with a disability may have second language acquisition needs before the English proficiency identification test. It includes an administrator, a bilingual or ESOL-certified teacher or provider, the special education director or a designee, and the parent, with a qualified interpreter (154-3.2).
- The LPT weighs the CSE’s view on whether the disability is the determinant factor, with an evaluation that includes home-language assessments (154-3.3).
- Each year, the CSE decides whether the student takes the annual English proficiency test with or without accommodations, or an alternate assessment prescribed by the commissioner (154-3.4).
For how to separate language development from disability, see our guide to dually identified students.
The CSE in New York City
New York City Public Schools operates 11 CSE/CPSE offices, most serving three or four community school districts; CSE 11, for District 31 on Staten Island, opened in March 2024. The offices coordinate the special education process for:
- preschool children ages 3 to 5;
- students in private, parochial, charter, State-supported or State-approved nonpublic schools in the city, and city residents in nonpublic schools elsewhere;
- students whose IEP placement is home or hospital instruction, students who are home-schooled, and students not attending school.
Parents who place a child in a nonpublic school at their own expense, or home-school, must send a Notice of Intent to the CSE by June 1 each year to request services under an individualized education services plan (IESP) for the following year.
When Parents and the CSE Disagree
Every district must use the procedural safeguards notice prescribed by the Commissioner, in the parent’s native language unless clearly not feasible (8 NYCRR 200.5(f)). NYSED’s current notice is dated May 2024 and is posted in 18 languages; districts may add a cover letter or local addendum but may not change its content. Older July 2017 copies remain online, so check the date.
| Option | How it works in New York | Key timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Mediation | Voluntary, free, with a mediator selected by a Community Dispute Resolution Center; agreements are binding and discussions confidential | Available before or after a due process complaint |
| Impartial hearing | A hearing officer appointed through the district’s rotational selection process; in New York City, an OATH hearing officer | Within two years of when the party knew or should have known |
| State Review Officer | Appeal of a hearing decision to NYSED’s Office of State Review | Request for review served within 40 days of the hearing decision; decision within 30 days, unless extended |
| Court | A state proceeding under Article 4 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, or a federal action | Four months from the State Review Officer’s decision |
| State complaint | Anyone may file a signed complaint with NYSED about a violation of special education law | Violation within one year; decision generally within 60 calendar days |
Sources: 8 NYCRR 200.5(h), (j), (k), (l); NYSED Procedural Safeguards Notice (May 2024); NYSED, A Parent’s Guide (2025). Hearings have legal consequences: districts should involve counsel early.
2026 Changes for Impartial Hearing Officers
In June 2026, the Board of Regents adopted amendments to 8 NYCRR 200.1(x) and 200.21, effective July 1, 2026. In New York City, hearing officers must be employed by or report to a permanent, standing administrative tribunal, and an OATH hearing officer’s certification depends on continued OATH employment. Complaints against hearing officers must be filed within one year of the final action in the hearing, and the rule now defines misconduct and incompetence and adds remedies such as training or temporary removal from the list.
A separate question is still in court: whether districts must serve students until age 22. NYSED applied a 2021 federal appeals decision; a trial court annulled its determinations, the Appellate Division, Third Department, reversed, and the Court of Appeals granted leave to appeal on April 21, 2026. Check the case status with district counsel before an age-out decision.
Funding and Staffing
Committee work is staff time: a school psychologist and a district representative at every CSE meeting, evaluators for each 60-day clock, and interpreters. IDEA Part B helps pay for evaluations and services, but personnel are the binding limit, with 45 states reporting special education teacher shortages in 2024-25 (Learning Policy Institute, 2026). Subcommittees help keep annual reviews on schedule.
Common Mistakes District Leaders Make
- Treating the additional parent member as automatic, or never mentioning it.
- Letting a subcommittee make a restricted initial placement.
- Counting 60 school days for the evaluation. That clock is 60 days; the school-day clock is for services.
- Missing the 10-school-day answer to a request for referral from staff or a physician.
- Using the July 2017 safeguards notice after the May 2024 edition.
- Leaving the LPT and the CSE unconnected for ELLs with disabilities.
- Ignoring the June 1 deadline when advising families of parentally placed students.
Recommended Actions
- Add the additional parent member and school physician options to every meeting notice, with the 72-hour deadline.
- Track three clocks per student: 10 school days, 60 days and 60 school days.
- Write subcommittee rules that list the initial placements only the full CSE may recommend.
- Replace every July 2017 notice on campus and online with the May 2024 edition in the family’s language.
- Schedule LPT and CSE coordination for each student with a disability whose home language is not English.
- Brief CSE chairs on the 2026 hearing officer rules and the pending age-22 appeal.
Questions District Leaders Should Ask
- What share of initial evaluations met the 60-day clock, and of services the 60-school-day clock?
- How often do parents request the additional parent member, and do our notices explain how?
- Which version of the procedural safeguards notice did families receive this year?
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the committee on special education do?
It arranges and reviews the evaluation of a referred student, decides whether the student is eligible for special education, writes the IEP with the parents, and recommends programs and services to the board of education, which must arrange them within 60 school days of consent. It then reviews each IEP at least once a year and decides on reevaluations, declassification and assessment participation.
Who should be a member of the committee on special education (CSE)?
At a minimum: the parents, a regular education teacher if the student is or may be in regular classes, a special education teacher or provider, a school psychologist, a district representative who chairs, and someone who can interpret evaluation results. A school physician and an additional parent member join if requested in writing 72 hours ahead, and the student attends when appropriate.
What is the difference between the committee on special education and a subcommittee?
A subcommittee is a smaller version of the CSE that can perform most of its functions. It needs a school psychologist only for a new psychological evaluation or a more intensive ratio, and it cannot recommend certain initial placements, such as a first special class outside the student’s school. Parents can ask in writing for the full committee to review a subcommittee recommendation.
What is the committee on preschool special education?
The CPSE is the committee that evaluates and plans services for children ages 3 to 5. Its members mirror the CSE’s, without the required school psychologist, and add a representative of the child’s municipality and, for children leaving early intervention, a professional from that program at the parent’s request. In New York City, CPSEs share the 11 CSE offices.
How do I find the right committee on special education in NYC?
Most of the 11 offices serve three or four community school districts. Preschool families use the office for where they live. School-age students use the office for their school’s district, unless they attend school outside the city, are home-schooled or are not attending school, in which case their home district decides. NYC Public Schools lists each office’s address, phone number and email online.
Can AI help a CSE chair prepare for meetings?
An AI tool can help a chair draft a plain-language agenda, a checklist of the New York clocks, or a summary of evaluation terms for families, which staff then verify against the regulations. Keep student names, evaluations and other identifiable details out of tools the district has not approved. The ChatGPT for teachers guide covers safer use.
Related Resources
- NYSAA: New York State Alternate Assessment
- IEP Meeting Guide
- ARD Meeting Guide
- Special Education Evaluation
- Dually Identified Students
- Prior Written Notice Examples
Conclusion
The committee on special education is where New York decides who is eligible, what the IEP says and which program the board must provide. Districts that seat the right members, explain the on-request options, respect subcommittee limits, run three clocks at once and keep notices current make those decisions faster and easier to defend.
Sources: 8 NYCRR 200.3, Committee on Special Education and Committee on Preschool Special Education (NYSED); 8 NYCRR 200.4, Procedures for Referral, Evaluation, IEP Development, Placement and Review (NYSED); 8 NYCRR 200.5, Due process procedures; 8 NYCRR 200.6, Continuum of services; 8 NYCRR Subpart 154-3, English language learners with disabilities; NYSED, Special Education in New York State for Preschool and School-Age Students with Disabilities: A Parent’s Guide (2025); NYSED, Procedural Safeguards Notice: Rights for Parents of Children with Disabilities (May 2024); NYC Public Schools, Committees on Special Education and Committees on Preschool Special Education; Board of Regents, Amendment of Sections 200.1(x) and 200.21 Relating to Impartial Hearing Officers (June 2026); New York Court of Appeals, Notice to the Bar (May 6, 2026); U.S. Department of Education, OSEP, 2024-25 Static Tables (Part B Child Count & Educational Environments).
Join the 2027 Special Education Pilot
A CSE meets a few times a year, but the goals it writes are reached through many repetitions of practice in between, and the adults who could give that practice 1-on-1 are spread across full caseloads. Telo AI is being adapted for students with IEPs: patient, 1-on-1 practice aligned to each student’s IEP goals, including speaking practice and social-emotional learning. We are inviting districts to shape it with us in a 2027 pilot.
Apply to pilot Telo AI in your Special Education program
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