School district · Solano County

Fairfield-Suisun 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 · 2025-263,332
Primary category: autism820
Free assessment

Asking Fairfield-Suisun 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 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 autism8202025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Students receiving special education3,3322025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Share of special education under autism24.6%2025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025

Solano County: 23.2% · 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
02505007501,0002022-232023-242024-252025-26820
Show the numbers
PeriodFairfield-Suisun Unified
2022-23559
2023-24673
2024-25752
2025-26820
Specific learning disabilityStudents with this primary category, by school year
02505007501,0002022-232023-242024-252025-26899
Show the numbers
PeriodFairfield-Suisun Unified
2022-23914
2023-24925
2024-25927
2025-26899
Speech or language impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
02004006008002022-232023-242024-252025-26758
Show the numbers
PeriodFairfield-Suisun Unified
2022-23677
2023-24725
2024-25753
2025-26758
Other health impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
02004006008002022-232023-242024-252025-26546
Show the numbers
PeriodFairfield-Suisun Unified
2022-23434
2023-24489
2024-25529
2025-26546
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 disability899
  • Autism820
  • Speech or language impairment758
  • Other health impairment546
  • Intellectual disability156
  • Emotional disturbance105
  • Multiple disabilities11
  • 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 3–5426
  • Ages 6–121,826
  • Ages 13–181,061
  • Ages 19+ (typically 19–22)19
Special education by grade span, 2025-26All disability categories combined.
  • Preschool–grade 3 (incl. TK)1,200
  • Grades 4–6832
  • Grades 7–8478
  • Grades 9–12822

English learners with an IEP: 425. 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

72.2%

2024-25 annual performance report · target not met

2023-24: 80.3%

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 day2,077
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day387
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day530
  • Separate school or other setting90
  • Preschool setting248
Students in the autism category, 2025-26Program setting as reported to CDE
  • In a regular class 80% or more of the day220
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day111
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day328
  • Separate school or other setting41
  • Preschool setting120

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 Solano County data
Solano County

Other districts in Solano 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