Henry Herzog struggles with ADHD, anxiety and hypersensitivity to crowds and noise. The 7-year-old has a physician\u2019s note to prove it.<\/p>\n
The medical diagnosis will give Henry priority when Texas decides which students may receive private school vouchers for the 2026-27 school year. Most students will qualify for roughly $10,500 in public funds to pay for private school during Texas\u2019 inaugural rollout of a voucher program. Henry is among the children with disabilities who could also qualify for nearly $20,000 more.<\/p>\n
But Henry \u2014 and an unknown number of others \u2014 have already missed out on that additional money because voucher applications, which close Tuesday, require public schools to perform disability evaluations of students seeking the extra money. Districts have 15 school days to give parents an opportunity to provide written consent for the evaluation. Upon receiving consent, districts have 45 school days to complete the evaluation. They then have 30 calendar days for parents and educators to meet and develop a plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many parents did not realize they needed the evaluation until they started the voucher application. And the window to apply for vouchers was only 41 calendar days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating. I wish that it would have been communicated better,\u201d said Tony Herzog, Henry\u2019s dad. \u201cThe information wasn\u2019t out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation has inundated public school districts with requests from private schools and prospective voucher parents trying to secure special education evaluations and documentation. That influx has forced public schools to redirect limited resources to kids whose parents want vouchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to have school choice,\u201d said Linda Litzinger, advocacy director for Texas Parent to Parent, a disability rights organization. \u201cBut this piece wasn\u2019t really, completely worked out with an available time frame for people with disabilities to actually have equal access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Completing one special education evaluation can take 10 to 30 hours across several days, requiring input from school psychologists, educational diagnosticians and speech-language pathologists. Ranging from academic performance to health, they assess children in every area of a suspected disability.<\/p>\n
And for families who do not complete the evaluation \u2014 used to develop what\u2019s known as an Individualized Education Program, or IEP \u2014 the financial implications are significant. The new state law creating the voucher program does not allow students with disabilities to receive the funding boost in subsequent school years, even if they receive an evaluation from a public school at a later date. That means if they miss out on the additional funds this year, they likely will not receive them in future years. And that funding boost helps offset additional charges private schools may impose for special education services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is that the implementation period for the program is so fast,\u201d said Laura Colangelo, executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association. \u201cMost of it has been going beautifully, but this IEP issue is the one that is the sticking point.\u201d<\/p>\n
State leaders have celebrated the program as a benefit to low-income families and students with disabilities, saying they designed it to prioritize underserved Texans fed up with inadequate public schools. So far, families of more than 174,000 students have applied for the program, many of whom are already enrolled in private school or home-school. Roughly one-third are students from low-income families. About 13% are students with a documented disability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have that big gap where they can\u2019t get the funding they need is contrary to the spirit and intent of the bill,\u201d Colangelo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Republicans Rep. Brad Buckley and former Sen. Brandon Creighton, the two primary authors of the voucher legislation, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
The Legislature left it to the comptroller \u2014 Texas\u2019 chief financial officer \u2014 to design the application process. The agency, currently headed by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, decided families needed only a medical diagnosis to receive priority acceptance for a voucher but would need a public school evaluation for additional funds as required by state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Travis Pillow, a spokesperson for the comptroller\u2019s office, said state leaders knew families and schools would likely find difficulty navigating special education requirements in the voucher program\u2019s inaugural year. That\u2019s why, Pillow said, the office created multiple pathways for families to prove their child has a disability, such as a doctor\u2019s note or a public school evaluation.<\/p>\n
State leaders opted against a longer application window because they felt schools needed to know as early as possible where students would attend school next year. It is also in the state\u2019s best interest, Pillow said, to verify that additional funding aligns with children\u2019s educational needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand how hard it is to navigate the system and get an IEP evaluation done for your child,\u201d Pillow said. \u201cWe want to do as well as we can at partnering with those families, giving them the resources they need to be successful. And, certainly, one thing that we have learned in the first few months of launching this new program is that supporting families to successfully navigate the special education system and the IEP evaluation process needs to be a priority for all of us moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pillow said the comptroller\u2019s office is reviewing what flexibility it has in future years to ensure families do not \u201cmiss out on funding through no fault of their own or through administrative issues that are beyond their control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because demand has already outpaced the $1 billion available for vouchers, the comptroller will prioritize families based on their household income and whether their child has a disability. Families must still find private schools \u2014 which are generally not required to make special education accommodations \u2014 to accept their children.<\/p>\n
Henry attended public school in Manvel until first grade, when he grew anxious about returning, and his parents thought he could benefit from a more controlled learning environment. They enrolled him in MindSprout Montessori last year, a microschool north of Houston offering smaller class sizes, personalized instruction and a flexible schedule. His dad worked overtime as a paramedic to afford the $7,100 tuition while his mom, Carly, nursed a serious knee injury at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Herzogs hope Henry can soon attend four days on campus, where he would receive all core academic instruction, albeit at a higher tuition. His parents think it would serve Henry better than his current learning arrangement, which includes two days on campus and two days at home. They want their daughter to go to the same school for kindergarten.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But whether both kids do so will depend on whether they receive school vouchers.<\/p>\n
Tony Herzog found the voucher application mostly straightforward \u2014 until it wasn\u2019t. Roughly a week in, he realized Henry needed a special education evaluation, which the family never sought in previous years after hearing others\u2019 negative experiences and because their son no longer attended a public school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unfortunate because now there\u2019s not even enough time left in the school year for us to even get it done in time,\u201d Tony Herzog said. \u201cEven if we started the ball now, it doesn\u2019t matter. We won\u2019t qualify for the extra funding because his IEP is not completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Herzogs waited, others proceeded.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday, public school districts have submitted to the state nearly 2,100 special education evaluations for voucher applicants.<\/p>\n
Victoria Independent School District received 111 private school evaluation requests and counting this school year \u2014 up from an average of 31 a year over the previous five years. Brazosport Independent School District so far has experienced a 35% increase in requests and inquiries from families not enrolled in the district. Northside Independent School District has picked up about 60 voucher-related requests and inquiries. Lubbock Independent School District has received 41 evaluation requests for the voucher program, most of which will not be completed before the application deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as private school evaluations, this is the first time we\u2019ve seen a drastic increase like this,\u201d said Kelli Cotton, executive director of special services for the Victoria school district in south Central Texas.<\/p>\n
Cotton said families are calling the district with uncertainty about the evaluation timeline. They are asking about the status of their voucher applications even though public schools do not manage that process. Others are reaching out even though they do not suspect their child has a disability. To accommodate the influx of requests, the district\u2019s special education assessment staff recently began working Saturdays.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can to help families with this process and help ensure that everything is complete,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cBut there are some barriers innately in the process from the state level that creates confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a chance families who completed the voucher application will not realize until later they needed the public school evaluation for additional funding, said Steven Aleman, a senior policy specialist for Disability Rights Texas.<\/p>\n
Texas public schools serve about 857,000 students with disabilities, a number that has climbed over the years after a federal investigation confirmed reports that the state education agency had illegally denied special education services to thousands of children. Many districts still struggle to meet federal requirements, while funding cuts and staffing shortages have not made their jobs easier.<\/p>\n
In a push to narrow Texas\u2019 $1.7 billion special education funding gap, lawmakers authorized $700 million for special education for 2026-27, including a $1,000 reimbursement for each evaluation conducted by a public school. But evaluations can range from $1,000 to more than $5,000, including those for private school children entering the voucher program.<\/p>\n
Molly Lubbock, who leads a special education coalition of districts in rural South Texas, said voucher inquiries have not increased in her area, which does not have many private schools. Still, Lubbock believes the influx of evaluations in larger districts will exacerbate Texas\u2019 special education struggles that predated the voucher program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really feel sorry for them because they\u2019re doing the best they can,\u201d Lubbock said.<\/p>\n
The Legislature could lessen the load on public schools by keeping students with disabilities at the same funding levels, as lawmakers once proposed, or by funding district partnerships with third-party organizations to help manage evaluations, said Andrea Chevalier, director of governmental relations for the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education.<\/p>\n
But significant changes would not take effect until lawmakers convene for the 2027 legislative session. Pillow, the comptroller spokesperson, sees an opportunity for the office to work closely with public school representatives. Chevalier thinks the damage is already done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is the path that the Legislature wants to take \u2014 where they want this funding to be based on what a child would have received in a public school \u2014 then they need to figure out how to make that process more efficient,\u201d Chevalier said. \u201cBecause right now, it\u2019s taking resources away from public schools at the same time that those schools are being underfunded for special education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tony Herzog plans to request an evaluation for Henry at another time, though he does not anticipate an easy process. He\u2019s grateful for the opportunity to participate in the voucher program but also wishes the comptroller had better communicated the special education requirements. The uncertainty, he said, was \u201cnerve-wracking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I miss something or we didn\u2019t fill something out right or we don\u2019t have the right paperwork submitted and my kids miss opportunities now because of that, that\u2019s what I care about,\u201d Tony Herzog said. \u201cBecause ultimately, it just comes down to them being in the best environment to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disclosure: Texas Private Schools Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here.<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Henry Herzog struggles with ADHD, anxiety and hypersensitivity to crowds and noise. The 7-year-old has a physician\u2019s note…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":650982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,42505,7202,7203,21881,358,36329,3187,7815,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7455],"class_list":["post-650981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-private-schools","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-school-vouchers","tag-texas","tag-texas-tribune","tag-tx","tag-typedaily","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wc-1500-2000"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116217918771329952","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}