Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The Special Education submission collects additional information about students who have an IEP in effect on October 15 and reportable special education activity from the applicable reporting period.

Reportable activity includes referrals, evaluations and eligibility determinations. A student may need a Special Education record even if the student is not receiving special education services on October 15.

Include:

• Students with an IEP in effect on October 15, including students receiving speech-language services
• Students undergoing an initial evaluation on October 15
• Students with reportable referral or evaluation activity during the previous school year, including students who were evaluated and determined ineligible
• Students declassified between End-of-Year reporting and October 15

Review both the student’s October 15 status and reportable activity from the applicable reporting period when determining whether to include a record.

Do not include:

• Students receiving general education services only
• Students with a Section 504 plan only
• Students receiving services through an Individualized Service Plan (ISP). These students are reported in Student Management only.

The 2026-2027 submission includes the following changes:

• PreschoolEdEnvironment and SchoolAgeEdEnvironment are new fields.
• SpecialEducationClassification code 19 is used for students undergoing an initial evaluation whose eligibility is pending on October 15.
• Preschool students are no longer limited to SpecialEducationClassification code 12. Report the classification determined by the student’s eligibility team.
• SpecialEducationPlacement and TimeInRegularProgram have been removed.

Use the current Special Education handbook and Templates A and B when preparing the submission. Save the completed upload file as CSV UTF-8.

No. The annual Fall Special Education submission is the only official Special Education submission. NJSLEDS also opens Special Education practice periods so districts can review and maintain their data. Practice-period data is not an official submission.

The 2026-2027 schedule is:

• Practice Period 1: August 20 through October 15, 2026. Data is compared with current Student Management records and is cleared when the practice period ends.
• Official Fall Submission: October 19 through November 16, 2026. Data must reflect October 15, 2026, and is compared with the Fall Student Management Snapshot.
• Practice Period 2: November 18, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

A preschool-age student who is undergoing an initial evaluation on October 15 must be included in Student Management and Special Education.

In Special Education, report SpecialEducationClassification as 19, ReferralDate and ParentalConsentToEvaluateDate. Report InitialProcessDelayReason when applicable. Leave the eligibility, IEP, service and educational-environment fields blank until eligibility is determined.

If the student has an IEP in effect on October 15, report the classification determined by the eligibility team, the applicable service fields and PreschoolEdEnvironment. Ensure SpecialEducationClassification matches in both Student Management and Special Education.

Include the student in the Special Education submission using SpecialEducationClassification code 19, Initial Eligibility Pending.

Report:

• ReferralDate
• ParentalConsentToEvaluateDate
• InitialProcessDelayReason, if applicable

Leave blank:

• Eligibility determination fields
• IEP fields
• Service fields
• PreschoolEdEnvironment and SchoolAgeEdEnvironment

No. Related services provided in prior years should not be reported for the current year’s Special Education submission. Only services provided during the current reporting year should be included.

No. Students who are parentally placed in non-public schools, meaning they have been found eligible for special education and related services by your district but are attending a private school at a parent expense, should not be reported in the Special Education submission.

Report EarlyIntervention as Y when a child was referred from Part C. For the 2026-2027 Fall submission, report applicable initial referral and evaluation activity from the 2025-2026 school year.

Districts are responsible for making the determination. If support from a personal aide or consultations for physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech are prescribed in a student’s IEP, the district may report them as related services in NJSLEDS.

A ParentalConsentToEvaluateDate must still be reported when a parent requests an independent evaluation from a third party. Report the date the district received parental consent. The date must be on or after ReferralDate.

If the triennial reevaluation was formally waived, report the date the parent provided written consent to waive the evaluation as ReevaluationDate.

Enter Unknown in the applicable field. Do not use FNU for First Name Unknown or LNU for Last Name Unknown. The name must align with the Student Management submission.

No. If the student is not evaluated and the existing classification and IEP remain unchanged, do not report the new referral date. Continue reporting the student’s current classification and IEP information.

Report a change from Eligible for Special Education and Related Services (ESERS) to Eligible for Speech-Language Services (ESLS) as a reevaluation.

Report a change from ESLS to ESERS as a new referral. Leave the reevaluation fields blank and report the applicable ReferralDate and InitialEligibilityDate fields.

Include the student using the SpecialEducationClassification determined by the eligibility team. Report ReferralDate, ParentalConsentToEvaluateDate, EligibilityDeterminationDate and InitialIEPMeetingDate. Report ParentalConsentObtained as N.

Leave ParentalConsentToImplementInitialIEP and the applicable educational-environment field blank. If the initial IEP process extended the required timeline, review the circumstances and report the available InitialProcessDelayReason that most accurately describes the delay.

Yes. If the delay in the initial evaluation process was due to a declared state of emergency, a declared public health emergency, or a directive from a health agency or officer to close schools, report InitialProcessDelayReason as 14.

Report the most recent classification determined for the student before October 15. Complete the remaining fields based on the student’s status as of October 15 and whether the new IEP was in effect.

LocalIdentificationNumber, StateIdentificationNumber, DateOfBirth, FirstName, LastName and SpecialEducationClassification must match Student Management.

During Practice Period 1, Special Education records are compared with current Student Management records. During the official Fall Submission, records are compared with the Fall Student Management Snapshot.

If a value is incorrect, update the authoritative data in the appropriate local source system, export a fresh CSV UTF-8 file and re-upload it to the applicable submission. NJSLEDS does not support direct record edits.

Report the student using SpecialEducationClassification code 19. Report the new ReferralDate and ParentalConsentToEvaluateDate. Report InitialProcessDelayReason when applicable and leave the eligibility, IEP, service and educational-environment fields blank until eligibility is determined.

Include the student using SpecialEducationClassification code 99, Declassified. Report DeclassifiedSPEDDate and the ReevaluationDate associated with the determination.

Do not continue reporting the student as code 99 in future Fall submission unless new reportable special education activity occurs.

Report PreschoolEdEnvironment for a preschool student with an IEP in effect on October 15. First determine whether the student attends a general early childhood program. If the student does, consider the number of hours the student attends each week and where most special education and related services are delivered. If the student attends another setting, report the code for that setting.

Leave PreschoolEdEnvironment blank for students reported with SpecialEducationClassification codes 00, 19 or 99. Review the Special Education handbook for the complete list of codes and conditions.

For a school-age student with an IEP in effect on October 15, calculate the percentage of the school day the student spends with nondisabled peers. Divide the total minutes with nondisabled peers by the total bell-to-bell school-day minutes, then multiply by 100.

Use the resulting percentage or the student’s applicable setting to select SchoolAgeEdEnvironment. Leave the field blank for students reported with SpecialEducationClassification codes 00, 19 or 99. Review the Special Education handbook for the complete list of codes and conditions.