What Is District 75? A Guide for NYC Parents

In the spring of 2019, my wife Sharon sat in a meeting at a Manhattan public school; the school psychologist recommend a classroom for our 5-year-old that didn't exist.

The psychologist suggested an ICT class — Integrated Co-Teaching — at the neighborhood school. But there was no ICT kindergarten that year, she acknowledged. There would be one in the fall. Our son did well socially, she said. A smaller, self-contained class — or a school designed specifically for students with disabilities — wasn't necessary.

Sharon left without signing anything except the attendance sheet.

That fall, when Sharon tried to visit the classroom before enrolling him, the school told her visitors weren't allowed.

I emailed our attorney: why won't they let her in? His answer stuck with me. It probably wasn't strategic, he said. There are often no consequences for a school administrator if the DOE loses a tuition reimbursement case — the lines of accountability aren't drawn very strongly. They may simply not have wanted the disruption. Either way, it didn't help their case.

A few weeks later we learned that a former pre-K classmate of our son's — a child with similar needs — was now in that exact classroom. Twenty kids, two teachers. No OT. No speech. No PT. Nothing on her IEP was being delivered.

The school psychologist had mentioned District 75 only to rule it out. She never explained what it was.

District 75 is New York City's citywide network of public schools for students with the most significant disabilities — 56 schools, nearly 30,000 students, every borough. It is one of the largest special education systems in the world.

The five borough-specific guides — Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island — are available as separate downloads. Each guide lists every D75 school and program site in that borough, with addresses, grade ranges, and program types.

[Link to Bronx Guide]

[Link to Brooklyn guide]

[Link to Manhattan guide]

[Link to Queens guide]

[Link to Staten Island guide]

District 75 — D75 — is a citywide school district within the New York City Department of Education that serves students with the most significant disabilities. Unlike the 32 community school districts, which are organized geographically, D75 operates across all five boroughs and serves students from pre-K through age 21.

It is not a single school. It is a network of 56 schools operating at approximately 350 sites — in standalone buildings, in wings of regular public schools, in hospitals, and in community settings. Some students receive instruction at home.

D75 serves students across all 13 disability categories recognized under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, speech or language impairment, specific learning disability, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment or blindness.

The common thread is not a specific diagnosis. It is the level of support a student needs — support that cannot be provided in a general education setting, even with significant modifications.

D75 has a reputation problem. Among special education attorneys, parent advocates, and families navigating the IEP process, it is sometimes described — bluntly — as a dumping ground. The phrase comes up in private consultations, in WhatsApp groups, in the frank conversations that happen when no one from the DOE is in the room. The perception is that D75 is where children end up when their parents don't have the resources or knowledge to get them somewhere better.

That perception is not entirely without basis. And it is not the whole story.

D75 is a specialized public school district with its own superintendent, its own professional development infrastructure, its own arts programs, athletics, vocational training, and transition services for students aging out at 21. It is also not permanent. Students move between D75 and general education settings as their needs change. Placement in D75 is based on what a student needs right now — not a lifetime assignment.

And it is not only for students with the most severe cognitive disabilities. D75 serves students with a wide range of profiles — including students with significant behavioral needs, significant communication needs, and students whose disabilities require a level of individualized support that a 25-student classroom simply cannot provide.

District 75 has a history that goes back further than most people know — to a teacher on the Lower East Side in 1900 who started pulling children out of classrooms because she believed the system was failing them, not the other way around. [Read the full history.]

There is no single profile of a D75 student. The district serves children across a wide spectrum — from students with profound multiple disabilities to students with significant autism, from students who are deaf or hard of hearing to students with severe emotional disturbance.

What D75 students share is that their IEPs require a level of support — in staffing ratios, in therapeutic services, in environmental structure — that general education schools are not equipped to provide.

D75 classes are small. Ratios are typically 6:1:1 (six students, one teacher, one paraprofessional) or 8:1:1, compared to the 25:2 or 32:1 ratios common in general education settings. Every student has an IEP. Related services — speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling — are built into the school day, not bolted on after the fact.

The district also operates transition programs for students between 18 and 21, focused on employment, independent living, and community integration.

D75's 29,485 students are 73% male and 27% female — consistent with the documented male-skewed prevalence of autism and other developmental disabilities. By ethnicity, 41% are Hispanic or Latino, 33% are Black or African American, 12% are white, and 11% are Asian or Pacific Islander. Nearly three quarters of D75 students are Black or Latino — a fact that sits at the center of any honest conversation about equity, resources, and accountability in the district.

The largest enrollment category by grade is Ungraded Secondary — 8,923 students, or 33% of the district. These are students whose needs don't fit a standard grade-level curriculum. Ungraded Elementary adds another 4,175 students. Together, nearly half of D75's population falls outside the traditional K-12 grade structure entirely.

By borough, the Bronx has the largest D75 enrollment at 7,094, followed by Queens at 6,743, Brooklyn at 6,146, Manhattan at 2,400, and Staten Island at 1,848. Enrollment grew in every borough between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

New York City's public school enrollment has fallen by more than 123,000 students since the pandemic, according to projections from the School Construction Authority. The city now has about 781,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Charter schools, which enrolled 84,000 students a decade ago, now enroll roughly 150,000.

District 75 sits apart from that story. Its nearly 30,000 students are excluded from the overall enrollment count, and from the decline. Unlike traditional public schools, and unlike most charter schools, D75 serves students who have nowhere else to go. Charter schools are legally required to provide services for students with disabilities, but research and parent advocates have long documented that students with higher needs are disproportionately absent from charter school populations. Those students end up in DOE schools — and for many, ultimately in D75.

Deputy Chancellor Christina Foti, who oversees D75 as part of the Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning, says the district's enrollment is not shrinking with the rest of the system. At a City Council budget hearing in March 2026, Foti testified that the district received $49.6 million in additional funding. "We're focused on getting high quality programming" close to where families live, she said at a recent community council meeting. The work ahead, in her framing, is not managing a decline. It's building something better.

But the CCD75 — the District 75 Citywide Council, the parent body that advises the district — has been direct about the risks of growth without accountability. "As District 75 grows," the council has written, "the Department of Education must match that growth with equitable resources, strategic planning, and robust oversight — particularly in program placement, staff hiring, and family outreach. Without intentional investment, increases in enrollment risk widening service gaps for students who require the highest level of educational support."

Placement in D75 begins with an IEP — an Individualized Education Program — developed by a Committee on Special Education. The CSE team reviews evaluations, observes the student, and makes a placement recommendation.

The recommendation can go several ways: a general education class with support services, an ICT class, a self-contained special education class, or a D75 program. The determining factor is supposed to be what the student needs — what level of support, what ratio, what therapeutic services — not what's available or convenient.

In practice, the process doesn't always work that way.

CSE teams are made up of DOE employees. Their recommendations reflect both the student's needs and the system's constraints — available seats, program capacity, budget. Parents who accept the first recommendation without question may not be getting the most appropriate placement. Parents who push back — who bring independent evaluations, who ask hard questions, who understand their rights — often get different outcomes.

"What does a parent do who doesn't have a lawyer?" our special education attorney said when we described our experience. His answer: talk to a parent advocate if you can't access an attorney. At minimum, visit a serious private special education school and find out what they would recommend — because that benchmark is what you use to push back on the DOE.

That advice applies whether you're fighting for a D75 placement or fighting against one.

Getting a D75 placement is the beginning of the process, not the end. Within D75 there are specialized programs with their own eligibility criteria, their own application processes, and their own seat availability — which is often severely limited.

Parents navigating D75 placements in online communities regularly discuss programs like AIMS — the Autism Spectrum Disorder Implementation in Schools program, which operates at a 6:1:1 ratio within D75 — and Horizon, another specialized program with specific eligibility requirements. These programs exist inside D75, but many parents don't know to ask about them until they're already in a default placement.

The lesson from parent communities is consistent: once an application is submitted, follow up constantly. As one parent put it: "The squeaky wheel gets heard." That should not be how a public school district operates. But for now, it is.

If you believe your child needs the level of support D75 provides and the CSE is not recommending it, here is what matters:

Get an independent neuropsychological evaluation. The DOE's evaluation is done by DOE employees. An independent evaluation — done by a neuropsychologist outside the system — gives you an objective picture of your child's needs that the CSE cannot easily dismiss. It also tells you what your child actually needs before you walk into a room where someone is going to tell you what they're offering.

Understand the difference between availability and appropriateness. A CSE team may tell you that self-contained classes or D75 programs are "few and far between" in your district. That is an availability argument, not an appropriateness argument. Those are legally distinct. The DOE cannot deny an appropriate placement because seats are scarce.

Document everything. Every meeting, every phone call, every email. Date-stamped and in writing. The moment you request a visit to a recommended school and are told visitors aren't allowed — that goes in your file.

Request a visit to every recommended school before you accept a placement. You have the right to observe. If a school won't let you in, that tells you something about how they operate — and it is the kind of thing that matters in a hearing.

Talk to a parent advocate or special education attorney before you sign anything. The IEP meeting is not a neutral process. The people in that room work for the DOE.

If your child is already in a D75 program, your primary job is to stay engaged.

Attend every IEP meeting. Request the annual review. Ask about transition planning — for younger students, what happens at the next educational stage; for older students, what happens at 21.

D75 programs vary significantly in quality. Visit. Ask questions. Compare what your child's IEP promises to what is actually being delivered. If services aren't being provided, you have a claim for compensatory services. Most parents don't know that.

The Co-Location Problem

More than 300 D75 programs operate inside general education school buildings — co-located, sharing space, facilities, and resources with schools that serve non-disabled students. In theory, co-location supports integration. In practice, it often doesn't.

The CCD75 — the district's own parent council — has documented the problems formally. D75 classes are frequently assigned to basement rooms and converted closets, with limited access to gyms, science labs, and art rooms. Scheduling disputes over shared cafeterias, therapy rooms, and outdoor space create daily disruptions. D75 students remain isolated from their general education peers despite sharing buildings. Staff from the two programs rarely receive joint training, contributing to what the council calls "misunderstanding and stigma between programs."

"Co-location should support — not hinder — the educational experience of students in District 75," the CCD75 has written. "Addressing these issues is not just a matter of fairness; it's essential to fulfilling our mission of equity and excellence for all."

If your child is in a co-located D75 program, ask directly: what space does the D75 class occupy in this building? Does it have access to the gym, the cafeteria, the art room on the same basis as general education students? Are there any inclusion opportunities — shared electives, shared events — with the general education population?

Those questions put the school on notice that you're paying attention. That matters.

If Something Feels Wrong, Trust It

Parents in D75 communities describe situations where children who previously loved school begin refusing to go — crying in the morning, showing new self-injurious behaviors, coming home distressed. Children who are nonverbal or have limited communication can't always tell you what's happening. Children who are verbal may tell you in the only words they have.

If your child's behavior changes significantly after starting a new D75 program, take it seriously. Document it. Email the principal — in writing, with dates. Request a classroom observation. If you don't get satisfactory answers, escalate to the district. If you still don't, contact the state.

The accountability structures in the DOE are weak. As one parent advocate put it in an online forum: "The principal will protect the staff, the superintendent will protect the principal, central will protect the superintendent, and the state will protect central." That is not an excuse for inaction. It is a reason to be persistent, documented, and loud.

What is District 75? District 75 is New York City's citywide public school district for students with the most significant disabilities. It operates 56 schools at approximately 350 sites across all five boroughs, serving nearly 30,000 students from pre-K through age 21.

What does District 75 stand for? District 75 is the official designation given to the citywide special education district when it was formally established in 1991. The number 75 distinguishes it from New York City's 32 community school districts, which are numbered 1 through 32.

What are D75 schools in NYC? D75 schools are public schools within the District 75 network that serve students with significant disabilities. They operate across all five boroughs — in standalone buildings, in wings of regular public schools, and in other community settings.

How does a child get placed in District 75? Placement in D75 begins with an IEP developed by a Committee on Special Education. The CSE reviews evaluations and makes a placement recommendation based on the student's needs. Parents have the right to review the recommendation, request an independent evaluation, and reject a placement they believe is inappropriate.

Is District 75 only for students with severe disabilities? No. D75 serves students across a wide range of disability profiles — including students with significant autism, significant behavioral needs, significant communication needs, hearing impairment, and other disabilities that require a level of individualized support a general education setting cannot provide.

What is the difference between a D75 school and a general education IEP? A student with a general education IEP receives services and support within a general education school — in an ICT class, a resource room, or with related services provided during the school day. A D75 student attends a D75 program, which offers smaller class sizes, higher staffing ratios, and more intensive therapeutic services built directly into the school day.

Who is the superintendent of District 75? Dr. Keisha McCoy is the superintendent of District 75. The district is overseen by Deputy Chancellor Christina Foti as part of the Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning.

What happens to D75 students when they turn 21? D75 serves students through age 21. As students approach transition age, D75 programs focus on employment, independent living skills, and community integration. Families should begin transition planning well before a student ages out — ideally by age 14 or 15.

List of District 75 schools — See the borough-specific guides linked above for a complete list of D75 schools and program sites.

Sources: District 75 Data Summary Report, Spring 2024; CCD75 Citywide Council, Colocated Schools and Recommendations; CCD75 community council meeting, April 2026; Christina Foti, Deputy Chancellor, Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning, City Council budget hearing March 2026 and CCD75 community council meeting April 2026; Keisha McCoy, D75 Superintendent, CCD75 community council meeting April 2026; New York City School Construction Authority enrollment projections; New York Times, May 2026; special education attorney, on background; Jose P. v. Ambach, U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1979; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; District 75 historical materials.

Image: The Richard H. Hungerford School, Staten Island. Image: Wikimedia Commons