HEB ISD special-education staff warn TEFA and HB2 will increase evaluation workload and costs

Renee Reek, presenting the district’s special-education update, told the Hurst‑Euless‑Bedford ISD board that House Bill 2 will restructure special-education funding into a tiered system based on level of supports and that districts should have a new funding structure in place by Sept. 1.

Doctor Benitez, the district’s director of special education, said families may apply for Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) beginning Feb. 4 under Senate Bill 2 and that eligible students with disabilities could receive up to $30,000 in Education Freedom Accounts. Benitez said the district must complete initial evaluations, the public-school IEP and an EFA IEP and upload those documents into the TEA platform so the state can calculate award amounts.

Benitez also reported an unusually large number of private‑school evaluation requests tied to TEFA: “As of today, we have gotten 35 private‑school requests,” she said, a step up from the district’s typical annual private‑school request volume of roughly 20–25. She warned many of the new requests require comprehensive psychological evaluations and additional staff beyond the diagnostician and speech‑language pathologist the district typically uses.

Trustees pressed whether the $1,000 per initial‑evaluation payment referenced in House Bill 2 would cover the added cost. Benitez agreed it would not. “Not at all,” she said when asked whether that amount balances out the additional staff time and paperwork.

Reek and Benitez explained technical distinctions between public‑school eligibility and TEFA: public‑school special‑education eligibility requires both a disability and an educational need, while TEFA eligibility requires only a disability. They also noted that while the district has historically completed private‑school evaluations only for private schools inside the district’s attendance boundaries, TEFA opens applications for students who reside in the district but attend private schools outside it.

Reek said the district will likely need to update ARD meetings and PEIMS coding and anticipated substantial staff work to comply with the new program. Board members requested follow‑up data, including a breakdown of eligibility categories and a chart showing where newly created special‑education positions have been filled; Reek agreed to provide that information in a Friday update.

The district also highlighted recent program successes during the presentation: a perfect rating on the TEA cyclical review, six blended Pre‑K inclusion classrooms, learning‑lab pilots on nine campuses, changes to the behavior‑facilitator model, and a 115‑student increase in Special Olympics participation over five years.

Next steps: staff will provide requested breakdowns of special‑education eligibility categories and position‑fill charts and will circulate additional guidance as TEA/comptroller clarifies TEFA reporting and update requirements.