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School district · Santa Clara County

San Jose 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 servedK through 12
Students in special education · 2025-263,625
Primary category: autism801
Free assessment

Asking San Jose 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 autism8012025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Students receiving special education3,6252025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025California Department of Education
Share of special education under autism22.1%2025-26 school year · Census Day Oct 1, 2025

Santa Clara County: 24.4% · 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
02505007501,0002022-232023-242024-252025-26801
Show the numbers
PeriodSan Jose Unified
2022-23588
2023-24635
2024-25692
2025-26801
Specific learning disabilityStudents with this primary category, by school year
04008001,2001,6002022-232023-242024-252025-26980
Show the numbers
PeriodSan Jose Unified
2022-231,324
2023-241,222
2024-251,092
2025-26980
Speech or language impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
02505007501,0002022-232023-242024-252025-26874
Show the numbers
PeriodSan Jose Unified
2022-23804
2023-24885
2024-25874
2025-26874
Other health impairmentStudents with this primary category, by school year
02004006008002022-232023-242024-252025-26650
Show the numbers
PeriodSan Jose Unified
2022-23500
2023-24542
2024-25611
2025-26650
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 disability980
  • Speech or language impairment874
  • Autism801
  • Other health impairment650
  • Intellectual disability135
  • Emotional disturbance93
  • Hard of hearing34
  • Multiple disabilities22
  • Orthopedic impairment18
  • Visual impairment11
  • Deaf / hearing impairmentSuppressed
  • Traumatic brain injurySuppressed
  • Established medical disabilitySuppressed
  • Deaf-blindnessNot reported
Special education by age, 2025-26All disability categories combined. CDE does not publish autism by age.
  • Ages 3–5382
  • Ages 6–121,870
  • Ages 13–181,309
  • Ages 19+ (typically 19–22)64
Special education by grade span, 2025-26All disability categories combined.
  • Preschool–grade 3 (incl. TK)1,219
  • Grades 4–6820
  • Grades 7–8481
  • Grades 9–121,105

English learners with an IEP: 1,178. 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

90.7%

2024-25 annual performance report · target not met

2023-24: 90.7%

Indicator 12 · target 100%

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

39.0%

2023-24 annual performance report · target not met

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 day2,249
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day470
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day583
  • Separate school or other setting111
  • Preschool setting212
Students in the autism category, 2025-26Program setting as reported to CDE
  • In a regular class 80% or more of the day249
  • In a regular class 40–79% of the day87
  • In a regular class less than 40% of the day326
  • Separate school or other setting57
  • Preschool setting82

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 Santa Clara County data
Santa Clara County

Other districts in Santa Clara 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