Comptroller Lander’s Survey of Over 600 School Principals Reveals Major Gaps in Afterschool Access for Students with Disabilities

New York, NY — New York City Comptroller Brad Lander surveyed over 600 school principals, revealing that the City’s afterschool programs left out students with disabilities. The report finds that schools serving students with the most intensive needs—especially District 75 schools—lack access to core afterschool funding, appropriate vendors, and basic bus transportation.  

With 62,000 students relying on IEP-mandated busing, the report raises major red flags about the equity of Mayor Adams’s proposed “universal” afterschool expansion—and outlines a clear roadmap for fixing it, including rebidding the City’s school bus contracts to secure reliable, inclusive transportation. With the State legislative session wrapping up and the City’s school bus contracts set to expire on June 30th, the report calls on both City and State leaders to take urgent action to finally address this long-standing gap in afterschool access as the City designs and rolls out its universal afterschool program. 

“Afterschool programs are essential for student success and support working families” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “The Mayor’s promise of universal afterschool rings hollow while his administration fails to meet the needs of students with disabilities who make up more than one-in-five of all New York City public school children. For the City’s ‘Afterschool for All’ initiative to live up to its name, City Hall must treat the inclusion of students with disabilities as a core commitment, not an afterthought.” 

Comptroller Lander released the report on Thursday morning ahead of the All Means ALL rally in front of City Hall, joined by leaders from Advocates for Children of New York, Alliance for Quality Education, Arise Coalition, Center for Independence of the Disabled (NY), the Citywide Council for District 75, Include NYC, Inter Agency Council, New York Appleseed, Parents to Improve School Transportation, and others. The rally highlighted the systemic barriers students with disabilities face including afterschool access, inaccessible school buildings and a shortage of special education preschool seats—within a chronically under-resourced school system that often falls short of their legally mandated needs.  

Mayor Adams’ recently announced $331 million investment to expand afterschool programming, which was billed as a response to growing demand amid the City’s growing affordability crisis. However, the Mayor’s proposal overlooks students with disabilities, ignores the chronic systemic issues with funding and transportation, and still falls short of meeting the citywide need. Twenty-two percent of public school students with disabilities—including the 60,000 students with Individual Education Plan (IEP) mandated school bus transportation—face acute afterschool needs. According to the Comptroller’s survey of over 600 school principals, only 74% of District 75 respondents reported having any afterschool programming at all, compared to 93% of other schools. 100% of District 75 respondents cited lack of bus transportation as a major barrier to participation. The City’s 46-year-old bus contracts exclude afterschool service entirely, effectively locking out thousands of students.  

At the same time, the City’s primary source for after school funding is through the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), which partners with community-based organizations that often lack the capacity to serve students with complex needs, however DYCD excludes District 75 programs and leaves schools to cover afterschool programming out of their own limited budgets to pay their own staff per session to provide afterschool programming. As a result, the Mayor’s planned expansion of DYCD funding through his Afterschool for All program fails to address the specific needs of students with disabilities and will leaves tens of thousands of students without access to the very programs it promises to expand.  

“A public education system that excludes any child is a system in violation of its own promise. When we say All Means ALL, we are not speaking in slogans—we are affirming a legal and moral obligation. From school building accessibility to equitable afterschool and reliable busing, every student—regardless of ability—deserves full access to the opportunities our laws guarantee,” said New York State Senator Robert Jackson. “As a legislator and lifelong advocate for educational justice, I commend the Comptroller’s Office for this urgent report and stand with the advocates who refuse to let these injustices be ignored. In Albany, I will continue to fight for legislation that centers equity, dismantles exclusion, and makes it clear: New York will not sideline our students.” 

“To this day, 63% of schools in Council District 6 are not fully accessible for students, parents, educators, and community members with physical disabilities,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer. “If New York is serious about ‘after-school for all,’ we must be willing to accommodate and support every child. That means embracing accessibility and ensuring access to special education services, including speech therapy and counseling, as well as after-school bus transportation for all educational programs.” 

“The City has a legal and moral obligation to meet the needs of students with disabilities, yet it continues to fall short, year after year. In my district, nearly half of preschoolers with disabilities are still waiting for at least one of their mandated preschool special education services, and the school year is almost over,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “This is unacceptable. Funding for our students with special education needs should be a priority in this year’s budget, not an afterthought.” 

“In my district, dozens of preschoolers with disabilities are on waitlists for their legally mandated special education classes. This school year, there have been nearly 66,000 school bus delays, with 74% of those delays affecting special education buses. We need to ensure our school system is working to accommodate the diverse needs of all students,” said Council Member Julie Won.“ I will continue to advocate and hold NYC Public Schools accountable to reduce waitlists and bus delays for all our children, especially for those who require special education services.”  

 “Education programs are not universal unless they provide the support students with disabilities need to fully participate,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York. “We hear from far too many families who can’t get the support they need for their children with disabilities to participate in programs that are supposed to be ‘for all.’ Our schools are not ‘for all’ when only one-third of them are fully accessible to students, parents, educators, and community members with physical disabilities. 3-K and Pre-K are not ‘for all’ when more than 600 preschoolers with disabilities are waiting for seats in special education classes and more than 7,000 preschoolers are waiting for needed services. Our after-school programs are not ‘for all’ when bus service is only available at the end of the school day and families of children with disabilities are told that there’s no special education support available.  The City must increase investments in preschool special education services and school accessibility in this year’s budget and work with the State to ensure it can change school bus contracts to add after-school service. We thank the elected officials, parents, students, educators, and advocates joining together to make clear that all must mean ALL.” 

“While New York City often offers incredible programming and enrichment opportunities for students, we too often fall short in ensuring these opportunities are accessible to our most vulnerable students. When programs are announced as being “for all” without the necessary infrastructure to support access, particularly for students with disabilities, students in temporary housing, and those in foster care, we reinforce a model of scarcity and exclusion rather than a model of abundance and inclusion. True inclusion requires deeper investments, reformed student transportation, and intentional inclusive planning, or  “for all”  will remain just a slogan,” said Nyah Berg, executive director, New York Appleseed 

“Families with understaffed, unreliable yellow bus service tell us it impacts how often a child can have a full day at K-12 school — let alone at after school, preschool and summer programs to benefit their development. If the city would take initiatives to recruit and retain well-trained and fairly compensated bus staff, school busing can be a big help to fix the inequities facing students with disabilities,” said Sara Catalinotto, Co-Founder, Parents to Improve School Transportation. 

“Students with disabilities have been historically denied access to equal and equitable education due to the lack of accessibility in New York City public schools. After-School for All unfortunately highlights this issue even more when many students with disabilities would not even be able to take part in the programming due to the lack of afterschool busing and support, on top of existing accessibility issues in the school system,” Said Molly Senack, Education and Employment Community Organizer with the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY). 

“Every child deserves the chance to learn, grow, and thrive—but right now, too many students with disabilities in New York are being left behind, said Raysa S. Rodriguez, Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children. “They’re being shut out of afterschool programs, denied early education opportunities, and faced with physical barriers just to enter their own schools. This is unacceptable. We stand with parents, students, elected officials, and advocates across the city to demand action. The City must ensure equity and inclusion by funding afterschool transportation for students with disabilities, guaranteeing access to special education services for all who need them, and making every school building truly accessible.” 

“The most effective time to invest in special education services is when children are young”. said Tara N. Gardner, Executive Director of the Day Care Council of New York “Yet, hundreds of New York City families are waiting for a Preschool Special Education seat for their children. New York City must work with and fully fund early childhood education provider organizations to ensure that all families can access the early childhood special education services they need.” 

“Students with disabilities are far too often denied access to the same opportunities, programs, and activities as general education students, despite their needs being the same as those of non-disabled students. We are grateful to stand alongside many allies and partners today in calling on the City to be more inclusive and to value and respect ALL students equally,” said Cheryelle Cruickshank, Executive Director at INCLUDEnyc. 

“The Mayor’s promise of ‘After-School for All’ must truly mean ALL,” said Winifred Schiff, CEO, InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc. Right now, students with disabilities placed in state-funded specialized non-public schools—because the DOE lacks appropriate public school placements for them—are being denied access to the same after-school programs available to their peers. Without after-school transportation and proper support, students with higher support needs remain excluded from enrichment opportunities that are essential for their development and socialization. The City must take immediate action to remove these barriers and ensure that students with disabilities receive the same opportunities as every other student in our education system.” 

“Students with disabilities has been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to access to opportunities within our public school system, especially when it’s a seat in an after school program. Our students with disabilities are overlooked and ignored when their applications are presented for a seat in an after school program with their peers. Families constantly need to find alternative solutions that take them away from their peers and comes with an out of pocket cost. In many situations, siblings are forced to separate or denied seats altogether even if one presents as Neuro typical and able bodies. The mayor’s announcement of “after school for all” rings as hollow as an empty vessel. Without appropriate supports such as pupil transportation, crisis intervention training and skilled paraprofessionals, the barriers that existed prior to the announcement are just fortified and our students with disabilities will continue to be an afterthought when it comes to after school access,” said Paullette Healy, D75 advocate and parent leader with the Road to Better Busing Coalition. 

Key Findings 

To better understand the City’s existing afterschool ecosystem, the Comptroller’s Office surveyed more than 600 public school principals and analyzed historical school bus performance data released publicly by the Department of Education (DOE) data: 

• Twenty-six percent of District 75 schools lack after-school programs, compared to just 7% of schools elsewhere.  

• Nearly a third of all survey respondents and 100% of District 75 respondents named the lack of school bus transportation as a barrier to student afterschool participation. 

• DOE provides contracted school bus service to 145,000 students, including an estimated 60,000 students with disabilities who have IEP mandated transportation—this number grew 9% over the last three school years. 

• The Mayor’s plan expects to increase the total number of publicly funded afterschool seats to 220,351 students, however, the Comptroller’s office estimates schools will need 392,000 additional afterschool seats. Given the number of students with IEPs that rely on bus service, and estimated 15% of these unfunded seats represent students with disabilities.  

Transportation remains a key barrier to access. Unfortunately, DOE’s outdated bus contracts, many virtually untouched since 1979, fail to provide adequate service and do not cover afterschool, weekend programs, or Summer Rising. A 2011 State Cout of Appeals decision blocks DOE from rebidding these contracts and including critical labor protections. The report underscores that the passage of Senate bill S1018/Assembly bill A8440 at the state level, would empower DOE to competitively rebid and modernize its contracts.  

Key Recommendations 

Comptroller Lander urges the City and State to build toward a truly universal system of afterschool that includes all students with disabilities. 

• Create dedicated afterschool funding for District 75 programs 

• Survey schools annually on afterschool needs 

• Increase City Council investment in the Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) arts program, with a focus on District 75 programs.  

• Pilot a specialized Multiple Task Award Contract (MTAC) to help District 75 schools access appropriate afterschool vendors 

• Collaborate with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to offer afterschool per session bonuses for special education staff 

Rebid Bus Contracts: 

• Pass New York State Legislative bill S1018/A8440, to allow DOE to use employee protection provisions in new bus contracts.  

• Until this legislation is passed, the NYC DOE should avoid long-term extensions when the school bus contracts expire in June 2025 to keep the door open for a rebid that includes stronger worker protections and afterschool service. 

• Competitively rebid school bus contracts with updated terms, including afterschool, Summer Rising, and Saturday service 

Students with disabilities face systemic barriers far beyond after-school access—from inaccessible buildings to a shortage of special education preschool seats—within a chronically under-resourced school system that often fails to meet their legally mandated needs. For the Mayor’s universal afterschool plan to live up to its name, the City must fix the unresolved funding and transportation issues that prevent students with disabilities from participating in afterschool programs. 

 Read the Comptroller’s report: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/stranded-after-school/

###