The U.S. Department of Education administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which authorizes formula grants to States under Part B to assist them in meeting the excess costs of providing special education and related services (services) to children ages 3 through 21 with disabilities. Most of the Federal funds provided to States must be passed on to local educational agencies (LEA). Federal funds are combined with State and local funds to provide a free appropriate public education to children with disabilities. Under IDEA, a free appropriate public education is provided through an individualized education program (IEP) based on the individual needs of the child. Omaha Public Schools (Omaha), the largest LEA in Nebraska, was awarded approximately $15.3 million in IDEA Part B funds for school year 2023–2024. We conducted an inspection to determine whether Omaha designed and implemented sufficient processes for overseeing the development of IEPs for children with disabilities and ensuring that those children receive the services described in their IEPs. The inspection covered Omaha’s processes in these areas from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. We found that Omaha generally designed and implemented sufficient processes for overseeing the development of IEPs and ensuring that children with disabilities receive the services as described in their IEPs. However, there were a small number of instances where IEPs and related documentation did not show that all applicable IEP requirements were met or that students received all of the services described in their IEPs. When documentation is lacking or does not exist, stakeholders do not have sufficient assurances that the IEP teams considered all required elements when developing the IEPs, the IEPs contained all required information, or all services described in the IEPs were provided to children with disabilities. We made two recommendations to improve Omaha’s oversight of IEP development and documentation of IEP services provided.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finding 2 Recommendation 2.1 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services require Nebraska to ensure that Omaha provides sufficient training and instruction to employees responsible for developing and reviewing IEPs, which in part should remind staff to follow applicable guidance in Omaha’s Special Education Handbook, review IEPs annually, ensure that all required team members attend IEP team meetings, and complete all sections of the IEP template and Notice of IEP Team Meeting form. The training and instruction should be provided to employees on a regular and recurring basis. | |||||
| Finding 3 Recommendation 3.1 | Yes | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services require Nebraska to ensure that Omaha develops policies, procedures, or protocols that describe how and in what level of detail special education staff and other service providers should document the IEP services they provide to each student; and how and for what amount of time that documentation should be retained. | |||||
