Parents say Detroit schools fail to complete special ed evaluations on time. Here is what the data shows.

Detroit Public Schools Community District is failing to complete many special education evaluations within the legally required 30-day timeframe, with 72 evaluations completed late and 728 still pending out of 1,680 referrals received through March. District officials attribute the delays partly to circumstances beyond their control, including difficulty contacting parents and students frequently changing schools, though Superintendent Nikolai Vitti emphasized the need for a "no-excuse culture" and acknowledged that the legal standard is 100% on-time completion. The district faces challenges from staff shortages and a funding gap of over $34 million between special education costs and available funding, though it has made improvements by hiring more specialists and reducing staff vacancies from over 100 in 2018 to just four.