External Monitor Finds NYC Department of Education Making Progress, But Still Out of Compliance with Eleven Key Settlement Benchmarks Protecting K-12 Students with Diabetes
July 1, 2026—New York, NY—Three years after a federal court approved a landmark settlement requiring the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and other city entities to reform their policies, practices, and procedures so that students with diabetes can fully participate in school and school-related activities, an External Monitor (Monitor) has issued a report recognizing DOE’s progress while finding that it remains out of compliance with eleven key settlement benchmarks.
In November 2018, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Alan L. Yatvin of Weir LLP filed M.F. et al. v. New York City Department of Education et al., a class action lawsuit on behalf of the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) and three individual students with diabetes. The lawsuit challenged DOE’s—and several other city agencies’—systemic failure to ensure that students with diabetes could attend school safely and access the same educational opportunities as their peers.
In April 2023, a federal court granted final approval to the class action settlement. Under the settlement, DOE, New York City, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH), and the Office of School Health (Defendants) agreed to implement new policies, practices, and procedures related to:
- Determining the needs of students with diabetes and how Defendants will meet those needs through Section 504 Plans.
- Providing diabetes-related care so that students with diabetes are not excluded or segregated from their classmates.
- Training staff and contractors—including nurses, paraprofessionals, administrators, bus drivers and attendants, teachers, and other school staff—and providing services during the school day and in afterschool activities.
The settlement also established a multi-year monitoring period during which Defendants must provide semi-annual data on their compliance with the settlement’s terms. That data is reviewed and reported on by the Monitor.
Read the Settlement Agreement.
Compliance Report
The Monitor has now issued his first Compliance Report evaluating Defendants’ compliance with the settlement agreement for the period from September 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026.
Progress Highlights
- Defendants met or exceeded benchmarks for diabetes training for DOE and DOH staff nurses, including initial training, annual refresher training, additional training, and student-specific training.
- Defendants improved data tracking across the school system by moving to a centralized electronic system for recording accommodations needed to keep students with diabetes safe and supported in school.
- Defendants improved compliance with the Agreement’s requirements to hold timely meetings and finalize Section 504 Plans for new students with diabetes.
“Through our Safe at School® campaign, the American Diabetes Association has long been committed to ensuring that the needs of children with diabetes are met at school so that they have a safe and healthy environment and get to enjoy the same opportunities as their peers,” said Crystal Woodward, the ADA’s vice president of legal advocacy. “We applaud the progress being made on behalf of students in New York City and look forward to seeing additional progress to help children with diabetes thrive at school.”
Deficiencies in Compliance
The Monitor found that although Defendants are making targeted, systemic improvements that will benefit students with diabetes, the pace of those improvements is not keeping up with many of the Agreement’s requirements. The Monitor found that Defendants were noncompliant with requirements to:
- Hold meetings and finalize Section 504 Plans before the end of the prior school year for returning students so that students with diabetes have updated plans in place when they return to school after the summer.
- Hold pre-meetings for new students who require a meeting between submitting their doctors’ orders for care and accommodations at school, known as Diabetes Medication Administration Forms (DMAFs), and finalizing a Section 504 Plan.
- Conduct timely diabetes care-related trainings for bus drivers and attendants, paraprofessionals assigned to assist younger students with diabetes, school staff designated as diabetes training recipients, and new school-based administrators who coordinate Section 504 planning.
DOE also reported material discrepancies and inconsistencies between the number of submitted doctors’ orders and the substantially lower number of students with Section 504 Plans. According to the Monitor, these discrepancies raise concerns about DOE’s outreach and follow-through for students with diabetes who do not have Section 504 Plans.
Priority Recommendations
At the Monitor’s request, Defendants will submit targeted corrective action plans within 30 days to address noncompliance in three categories: returning student timeliness, the new student pre-meeting requirement, and unmet training benchmarks. The corrective action plans should include timelines and progress markers. The Monitor also recommended that DOE identify the root causes of delays and implement process changes that move training and planning earlier, so the Agreement’s deadlines are met.
Read the Monitor’s Compliance Report.
“The M.F. settlement agreement completely overhauled the way NYC students receive diabetes-related care,” said Rachel M. Weisberg, directing attorney with Disabilities Rights Advocates. “We will continue to monitor DOE’s progress to ensure that all students with diabetes receive the support they need to participate fully in school and afterschool activities.”
“While we are pleased with the progress made, there is still a long way to go in multiple essential areas under the settlement agreement,” said Alan L. Yatvin of Weir LLP, counsel for the ADA. “As we enter the last year of monitoring and reporting under the agreement, it is essential that DOE and DOH step up their game to come into full compliance. Students with diabetes and their families can accept nothing less to ensure their safe and equal access to all aspects of their school day.”
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Disability Rights Advocates: With offices in New York, California, and Illinois, Disability Rights Advocates is the leading nonprofit disability rights legal center in the nation. Its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide. DRA represents people with all types of disabilities in complex, system-changing, class action cases. DRA is proud to have upheld the promise of the ADA since our inception. Thanks to DRA’s precedent-setting work, people with disabilities across the country have dramatically improved access to education, health care, employment, transportation, disaster preparedness planning, voting, and housing. For more information, visit dralegal.org.
Weir LLP: Weir LLP is a Philadelphia-based, full-service law firm representing businesses and individuals in a variety of practice areas, including banking and finance, commercial, employment, criminal defense, civil rights, special education, and disability rights. For more information, visit www.weirlawllp.com.