State Directs School District of Philadelphia to Award Compensatory Education, Revise Procedures for Students with Disabilities at PJJSC

In response to ELC’s systemic complaint filed in March on behalf of students with disabilities at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center (PJJSC), the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education recently issued a decision, finding in our favor on all seven issues raised. The ruling requires the School District of Philadelphia to determine compensatory education service awards for over 200 students and to significantly revise its process and procedures for serving students with disabilities placed at the PJJSC.

Our complaint was based on information received from partners and families that students with disabilities at PJJSC failed to receive needed services and inconsistent or intermittent access to instruction or were deprived of classroom instruction due in part to conditions of overcrowding.

The Corrective Investigation Report issued by the Department found in part that students with disabilities failed to receive special education services mandated by their IEPs, progress reports, timely re-evaluations, and that youth placed in admissions or quarantine failed to receive access to classroom instruction at all. The state ordered significant compensatory education services for individually named students and directed the District to determine compensatory education awards for over two hundred students placed at the PJJSC by October 25, 2024.  As a result of our complaint and the ensuing decision, the District must also revise its procedures for: transitioning students to the PJJSC; implementing IEPs; ensuring parent participation and conducting evaluations to assess eligibility for special education services.