The purpose of this memorandum is to inform school districts of their responsibilities to provide special education services to students with disabilities who are enrolled in nonpublic elementary or secondary schools by their parents beginning with the 2007-08 school year and thereafter pursuant to section 3602-c of Education Law, as amended by Chapter 378 of the Laws of 2007. This memorandum replaces the guidance issued in April 2007 entitled Revised Interim Guidance on Parentally Placed Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary School Students with Disabilities Pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 and New York State (NYS) Education Law Section 3602-c.

Chapter 378 of the Laws of 2007 was signed into law on July 18, 2007. This Chapter of Laws includes amendments to section 3602-c of the Education Law relating to the education of students with disabilities who are parentally placed in nonpublic elementary and secondary schools. Section 3602-c of Education Law was amended to comply with section 612(a)(10) of IDEA, as reauthorized in 2004, and federal regulations in 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) sections 300.130 to 300.147 to require the public school district where the nonpublic school is located to provide students with disabilities enrolled in nonpublic elementary and secondary schools by their parents with special education services. Changes to State law were made to the extent necessary to comply with federal requirements while still preserving the provisions of preexisting law which ensured that all students enrolled in nonpublic elementary and secondary schools by their parents who were residents of the State have access to those special education services they would have received if they attended public school. Attachment 4 provides a copy of the statutory language in section 3602-c, as amended by Chapter 358 of the Laws of 2007, effective June 30, 2007.

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