Official Site of The State of New Jersey

1. What does the Special Education submission capture?

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.

2. Who should be included in the Fall Special Education submission?

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 Fall 2025 Special Education Snapshot and October 15, 2026

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

3. Who should not be included in the Special Education submission?

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.

4. Should inactive students be reported in the Special Education submission?

No. Only active students as of the October 15th Student Management Snapshot should be included in the Special Education submission.

5. What changed for the 2026-2027 Special Education submission?

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.

6. Is there an End of Year Special Education submission collected in NJSLEDS?

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.

7. How should I report a preschool-age student who has been referred for special education services?

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.

8. How should I report a student who is undergoing an initial evaluation on October 15?

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

9. Should related services be reported for declassified students if they received services in the year(s) prior to being declassified?

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.

10. Should general education students attending non-public schools within their LEA be reported to the Special Education submission?

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.

11. Does the child have to be at least 3 and already attending before being reported in NJSLEDS?

No. For children referred before their 3rd birthday, the reporting year is based on the referral date:

• Referral received between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026: Report in Fall 2026
• Referral received after June 30, 2026: Report in Fall 2027

12. How should a 2-year-old child referred by a parent or Early Intervention be reported if the evaluation is still underway?

The child does not need to wait until the evaluation is complete or until enrollment begins. If the referral occurred between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, the child must be included in the Fall 2026 submission. If the referral date is after June 30, 2026, they would be reported in the Fall 2027 submission.

13. What GradeLevel should be reported for a 2-year-old child referral undergoing evaluation?

Preschool GradeLevel is based on the child's age, rather than disability or enrollment status. Therefore, a 2-year-old GradeLevel would be Preschool 3 (3H/3F).

14. Should already-reported 2-year-old referrals be deleted from Student Management or excluded from the Special Education submission?

No. Records should not be deleted or excluded solely because the child is 2 years old or is not yet enrolled. If the referral date falls between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, the student should remain in Student Management and be included in the Fall 2026 Special Education submission.

15. How is the reporting year determined for children who were not referred before their third birthday?

For children not referred before age 3, the reporting year is based on the parental consent to evaluate date:

• Date between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026: Report in Fall 2026
• Date after June 30, 2026: Report in Fall 2027

16. Why am I receiving an Initial Process Delay Reason validation error for a student who is outside the current reporting year's Indicator 11 or Indicator 12 population?

Historical Early Intervention transition information remaining on a student's record may incorrectly trigger the Initial Process Delay Reason validation. NJSLEDS is updating the validation logic to verify that a student belongs to the current reporting year's Indicator 11 (Child Find) or Indicator 12 (Early Childhood Transition) population before applying these requirements.

This issue was posted on October 2, 2026. Await updated guidance before changing accurate historical information solely to clear this error. Additional instructions will be posted once the validation updates are confirmed.

17. When should I report EarlyIntervention?

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.

18. Are personal aides or the consultations for physical therapy, occupational therapy or speech reported as related services?

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.

19. How should I report an independent evaluation completed by a third party?

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.

20. What date should be used for the ReevaluationDate if the triennial reevaluation is waived?

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

21. How should I report a student's name if it is unknown?

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.

22. Should I report a new ReferralDate when a student with an existing IEP is referred for additional speech-language evaluation but is not evaluated?

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.

23. How should I report a change between ESERS and ESLS?

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.

24. How should I report an eligible student whose initial IEP has not been implemented by October 15?

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.

25. Is there guidance regarding how to report an InitialProcessDelayReason due to school closures during a declared state of emergency, or a directive by the appropriate health agency or officer to institute a public health-related closure?

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.

26. Which classification should I report if a student was reclassified before October 15 but the new IEP begins after October 15?

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.

27. What must match between Student Management and Special Education?

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 appliable submission. NJSLEDS does not support direct record edits.

28. How should I report a student who was declassified and is undergoing a new initial evaluation on October 15?

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.

29. How should I report a student who was declassified between the previous Fall Special Education submission and October 15 of the current reporting year?

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.

30. How do I determine PreschoolEdEnvironment?

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.

31. How do I determine SchoolAgeEdEnvironment?

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.