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School district · Alameda County

Berkeley Unified: special education data and contacts

How to ask this district for a free special-education assessment, and what it reports to the California Department of Education each October.

District typeUnified school district
Grades servedpreschool through 12
Students in special education · 2025-261,137
Primary category: autism260
Free assessment

Asking Berkeley Unified for an assessment

Public school districts must assess children 3 and older who may need special education, at no cost, including children who aren't in public school yet. For a child in private school, the district where the school is located may handle the assessment; call to confirm.

  1. Write to the district's special education office, or your child's principal, asking for an assessment.
  2. The district has 15 days to send you an assessment plan.
  3. After you sign the plan, it has 60 days to assess your child and meet with you.

Days between school sessions and school vacations longer than five school days don't count. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Write your request letter

District office

We haven't imported this district's office contact yet. CDE's California School Directory lists it.

We checked this district's own assessment pages. Contacts below come from the district's website.

Free · ages 3 to 5

Early Childhood Special Education (Preschool Assessment Requests): Berkeley Unified School District

A free special education assessment, whether or not your child attends a district preschool.

  • Ages3 to 5
  • CostFree
  • How to startAsk in writing
  • TimelinePlan within 15 days, results within 60 days of signing
  • LanguagesEnglish, Spanish
How to ask the district, step by step
  • BUSD asks families to complete the 'Referral for Special Education and Related Services Assessment Form' (North Region SELPA form, in English and Spanish) and send preschool assessment requests to prek-busd-intake@berkeley.net.
  • For a child who isn't enrolled in a BUSD school, download the Intake Referral Procedures form (English or Spanish) and bring all documentation to the Special Education Department, 2020 Bonar Street, Suite 301, Berkeley, CA 94702.
  • No preschool-specific phone number was found.
  • The department's general line is 510-644-6210, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Write your request letter with the California timelines included.

Checked Oct 16, 2026 · berkeleyschools.net

Free · kindergarten to 12th grade

Special education assessment: Berkeley Unified School District

A free special education assessment for students in the district.

  • AgesKindergarten to 12th grade
  • CostFree
  • How to startAsk in writing
  • TimelinePlan within 15 days, results within 60 days of signing
  • LanguagesEnglish, Spanish
How to ask the district, step by step
  • BUSD's instruction: 'If you suspect that your child, or student, may have a disability that requires Special Education services please complete the attached Referral for Special Education and Related Services Assessment Form and submit it to any of the following: School Site Principal, Vice Principal or Counselor; Special Education Teacher on site; Special Education Administrator / Fax: 510.644.6211.'
  • Families of children who aren't enrolled in a BUSD school should use the Intake Referral Procedures form and bring documentation to the Special Education Department.

Write your request letter with the California timelines included.

Checked Oct 16, 2026 · berkeleyschools.net

We send your address to the U.S. Census Bureau's geocoder to find its location, then match it to CDE district boundaries. We don't store or log it.

Public schools · CDE

What the district reports

On Census Day each October, California public schools report how many students have an active IEP, grouped by each student's primary disability category. Each student is counted once.

Students whose primary category is autism2602025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Students receiving special education1,1372025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Share of special education under autism22.9%2025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025

Alameda County: 25.6% · California: 23.3%

California Department of Education

What this measures: Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate.

AutismStudents with this primary category, by school year
01002003004002022-232023-242024-252025-26260
Show the numbers
PeriodBerkeley Unified
2022-23179
2023-24204
2024-25236
2025-26260
Specific learning disabilityStudents with this primary category, by school year
02004006008002022-232023-242024-252025-26376
Show the numbers
PeriodBerkeley Unified
2022-23433
2023-24433
2024-25406
2025-26376
Speech or language impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
040801201602022-232023-242024-252025-26122
Show the numbers
PeriodBerkeley Unified
2022-23105
2023-2499
2024-25120
2025-26122
Other health impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
01002003004002022-232023-242024-252025-26275
Show the numbers
PeriodBerkeley Unified
2022-23277
2023-24285
2024-25280
2025-26275
Special education by primary category, 2025-26Students with an IEP, by the one category schools record as primary. Categories with no students are left out.
  • Specific learning disability376
  • Other health impairment275
  • Autism260
  • Speech or language impairment122
  • Emotional disturbance38
  • Intellectual disability26
  • Multiple disabilities18
  • Orthopedic impairmentSuppressed
  • Deaf / hearing impairmentSuppressed
  • Hard of hearingSuppressed
  • Visual impairmentSuppressed
  • Traumatic brain injurySuppressed
  • Established medical disabilityNot reported
  • Deaf-blindnessNot reported
Special education by age, 2025-26All disability categories combined. CDE does not publish autism by age.
  • Ages 3–592
  • Ages 6–12515
  • Ages 13–18520
  • Ages 19+ (typically 19–22)Suppressed
Special education by grade span, 2025-26All disability categories combined.
  • Preschool–grade 3 (incl. TK)291
  • Grades 4–6245
  • Grades 7–8195
  • Grades 9–12406

English learners with an IEP: 93. Families can ask for assessment and meetings in their home language, with an interpreter at no cost.

Public schools · CDE

Does the district meet its legal timelines?

Each year CDE checks every district against federal compliance indicators. Two of them concern evaluations: deciding eligibility within 60 days of a signed assessment plan, and having an IEP in place by age 3 for children leaving Early Start.

Reported compliance is not the same as appointment wait time. These rates come from the district's own records of when steps were completed. They don't measure how long families wait to be heard, or the quality of the assessment.

Indicator 11 · target 100%

Initial evaluations completed within the 60-day timeline

92.5%

2024-25 annual performance report · target not met

2023-24: 95.1%

Indicator 12 · target 100%

Children moving from Early Start with an IEP in place by age 3

Not calculated (too few children)

2023-24 annual performance report

CDE's 2024–25 report reprinted the 2023–24 Indicator 12 rates, so we show them once.

What this measures: A compliance rate CDE calculates from records the district submits, for a 100% target set by federal law. CDE publishes the rate only, not how many children were counted, so a small district can swing widely from one year to the next. "Not calculated" means CDE judged the number of children too small. Reported compliance is not the same as appointment wait time.

Public schools · CDE

Where students in special education learn

Each student's IEP placement on Census Day: how much of the day they spend in a regular class, or whether they are taught in a separate school or a preschool setting.

All students with an IEP, 2025-26Program setting as reported to CDE
  • In a regular class 80% or more of the day907
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day91
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day44
  • Separate school or other setting52
  • Preschool setting43
Students in the autism category, 2025-26Program setting as reported to CDE
  • In a regular class 80% or more of the day174
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day20
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day19
  • Separate school or other setting21
  • Preschool setting26

What this measures: Program setting reflects each student's IEP placement on Census Day. Districts with more preschool or more students with significant needs will show different mixes, so a setting mix is not a measure of school quality.

Reading the numbers

Classification counts are not autism rates or school ratings.

What they count

Students whose IEP lists a category as primary. A student served under speech or another category, or without an IEP, is not in the autism count.

Why districts differ

Size, grades served, preschool programs, and county-run programs all change the mix. A higher count is not a sign of better or worse schools.

Small numbers

CDE withholds small cells to protect students. Those show as suppressed, never as zero.

See Alameda County data
Alameda County

Other districts in Alameda County

Sources

Where these numbers come from

Figures are copied from public files without adjustment. Suppressed cells stay blank. Each source's own definitions apply.

Read the methodology
  1. Public schools · CDESpecial Education Enrollment by Program SettingCalifornia Department of Education, DataQuest Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting downloadable files
    Editions used
    2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26
    Retrieved
    Oct 16, 2026
    License
    Public data; CDE conditions of use
    Pipeline run
    cde-sped-20261016175952-b240, cde-sped-20261016175955-607a +2
  2. Public schools · CDESpecial Education Annual Performance Report Measures (LEA reports)California Department of Education, Special Education Division, Local Level Annual Performance Report
    Editions used
    2023-24, 2024-25
    Retrieved
    Oct 17, 2026
    License
    Public data; CDE conditions of use
    Pipeline run
    cde-apr-20261017225142-d83e, cde-apr-20261017225156-f77d