OHIO: Number of students with a disability rising; overall enrollment falling

Aug 6, 20206, Springfield Sun: More Ohio students have a disability: Schools, families face challenges | Local | springfieldnewssun.com

The number of Ohio students with a disability is rising compared to before the pandemic, according to Ohio Department of Education and Workforce data analyzed by the Dayton Daily News.

This is creating financial challenges for districts and headaches for parents and children who have not received needed care, our reporting found.

In 2024-25, students with disabilities made up about 20.4% of public school students. About 18% of Ohio students were labeled “students with disabilities” in traditional K-12 schools in 2020-21, according to ODEW.

ODEW defines these students as having gone through an official evaluation and who are on an Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, which is a legally binding document between the student and the school to provide services.

The increase is due to both the number of students with disabilities rising and the number of students in traditional K-12 schools falling. In 2024-2025, there were 16,365 more public school students with a disability compared to 2020-2021, according to ODEW.

Two state voucher programs, the Jon Peterson Special Needs scholarship and the Autism Scholarship Program, have also seen increased use in the same time period. In 2021, the autism scholarship listed 4,229 students, while in 2025, 6,016 students were on the program. The JSPN scholarship rose from 7,406 students in 2021 to 8,680 in 2025. . . .

Districts also told the Dayton Daily News that in addition to more kids requiring IEPs, more students are requiring intervention and a 504 plan.

Why is this happening?

In 2024-2025, Dayton Public Schools had 2,334 students with disabilities; Springfield City Schools had 1,348 students with disabilities; and Hamilton City Schools had 1,921 students with disabilities, according to ODEW.

It’s not clear why there are so many more students with disabilities in Ohio public schools right now, but there are some theories.

More kids have mental health issues, and there’s better awareness from parents about what to look out for, said Mary Beth DeWitt, chief of psychology at Dayton Children’s Hospital.

“In general, we’re seeing more of those behavioral and mental health concerns,” DeWitt said.

Advances in modern medicine have allowed children who previously might not have survived to thrive into adulthood. . . .

 “There’s an ignorant comment of, ‘we didn’t have as many disabled kids when I was in school,’” Dyer said, noting that previously these kids would have been institutionalized. . . .

Wyen said the number of students on a 504 plan — a plan to support students to get them where they need to be, rather than specifically having a documented disability — has grown by 51% in the same period. . . ..

Beavercreek City Schools has seen a similar increase, said Beth Sizemore, director of public relations for Beavercreek schools. She noted that total special education enrollment increased by nearly 32% between 2016 and 2025. During the same period, the number of students with autism has grown by nearly 50%, Sizemore said.

The district has hired more staff to accommodate those students but also had to rethink some of its facilities, Sizemore said.

“Existing classrooms have been repurposed and redesigned to accommodate specialized programming, while additional dedicated spaces, such as sensory rooms, have been created to meet students’ educational and behavioral needs,” Sizemore said.

State reimbursement down

The state of Ohio has a specific fund set aside for special education. Districts get reimbursed for their spending with that fund, but schools have to spend the money first.

To be eligible, schools spend a minimum “threshold cost.” In the 2024-2025 school year, the threshold cost was $27,375 on the special education need of a particular student. The state then reimburses a percentage of the district’s cost above $27,375.

Vandalia-Butler City Schools Treasurer Jordan Shumaker said the state reimbursed 25.57% of the district’s spending above the $27,375 in the 2024-2025 school year. In the 2020-2021 school year, the state reimbursed more than 47% of the district’s spending above the threshold cost.

“We will continue to strive to deliver the absolute best educational experience for all of our students, including students with special needs and those served with IEPs,” said Vandalia Superintendent Rob O’Leary. “But the state has to do something to help us out with adequate funding.”

There are also federal funds for education, but those are typically a smaller part of any local school’s budget. IDEA funds are specific about what they can be used for, like materials the student needs or salaries for special education teachers. The funds can’t be used for a school nurse or a teacher who is in a regular classroom who happens to have a student with a disability.

Cox noted that certain other expenses for some students with additional needs can be reimbursed through Medicaid. However, getting these reimbursements can take extra manpower working through billing.

Early childhood interventions best

Since early childhood is often when delays are flagged, more elementary school teachers need to learn how to deal with these students, too. Special education teachers graduate with a degree in special education, but the regular ed teachers don’t always come out of school with special education knowledge.

“Because we’re seeing more and more students being diagnosed or given a special ed label earlier on, we’ve had to upskill our primary grade regular ed teacher,” Cox said. “And that’s been a very heavy lift.”

Issues are most often identified in young children, so attention is moving to preschools and early childcare centers to provide care as early as possible. . . .