There are two very different things a Colorado family can mean when they say their child receives special education services.
In a public school, it means an individual entitlement to a free appropriate public education, documented in an IEP, with procedural protections that include the right to disagree and appeal. In a private school of your choosing, it means an opportunity to participate in a proportionate share of the district’s federal funding, documented in a service plan that is less comprehensive than an IEP and that the private school is not required to implement.
Neither setting is wrong. Each is the right answer for different children. But the decision should be made with a clear picture of what the law actually requires in each case, because the picture most families carry when they choose a private school turns out to be the public school picture.
This article is that picture, written for Colorado families. If you are making this transition ahead of a school year, our back-to-school ABA program helps families across Colorado build support before the first day rather than scrambling after it.
The Foundation: What Federal Law Requires in Each Setting
Both settings start with the same federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but the law says very different things about a district’s obligations depending on where a child is enrolled.
What IDEA Guarantees in Public School
Under IDEA Part B, every child with a disability aged 3 through 21 who attends a public school is entitled to a free appropriate public education, meaning specialized instruction and related services at no cost to the family, in the least restrictive environment.
The entitlement is individual: the school must provide what your child specifically needs, documented in an IEP, reviewed at least annually, with procedural protections that include your right to disagree and request mediation or due process.
In Colorado, that entitlement runs through your child’s Special Education Administrative Unit, which is typically the school district or a Board of Cooperative Educational Services. The AU is the legal entity responsible for identification, evaluation, and services under both IDEA and the state’s Exceptional Children’s Educational Act (ECEA), Colorado’s companion statute.
What Changes the Moment You Enroll in a Private School
When you voluntarily enroll your child in a private school, IDEA’s FAPE requirement stops applying. The district still has obligations, but they are proportional rather than individual, and they are governed by a different part of the law.
Under 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.130 through 300.144, the school district where the private school is physically located, not where your family lives, must locate and evaluate children with disabilities, and must spend a proportionate share of its federal IDEA Part B funds on equitable services for parentally placed private school children. The U.S. Department of Education’s Questions and Answers on Serving Children with Disabilities Placed by Their Parents in Private Schools explains this framework in detail.
“Proportionate” means exactly that. If a district receives $1 million in IDEA Part B funds and 5 percent of its students are in private schools, it must spend roughly $50,000 on private school services across all eligible children. That pool is divided among however many children the district determines are eligible, based on annual consultation with private schools. Your individual child does not have a right to a specified amount.
The ISP Is Not an IEP
A child in private school who is found eligible for services receives an Individualized Service Plan rather than an IEP. The ISP describes what equitable services the district has decided to offer from the proportionate share pool. It is less comprehensive than an IEP, the district is not required to spend more than the proportionate federal share on it, and the private school is not required to implement it.
That last point surprises most parents. Under IDEA, private schools are not obligated to provide or implement the services in an ISP. The services are delivered by the public district, often at a neutral site or by a district employee who visits the private school, and the private school’s participation is voluntary.
How Colorado Administers Equitable Services
Colorado adds state-specific structure on top of the federal framework, and the details matter for families deciding between settings.
The District of Location, Not the District of Residence
In Colorado, it is the administrative unit where the private school is physically located that has Child Find and equitable services obligations for parentally placed private school children, not the AU where your family lives. If you live in Jefferson County but your child’s private school is in Denver, Denver Public Schools is the district responsible for Child Find and for offering equitable services.
This matters because the two districts may have very different proportionate share pools, different histories of offering services, and different processes for consulting with private schools. The CDE’s Equitable Services page describes the obligation and includes contact information for Colorado’s Non-Public Schools Ombudsman, who mediates disputes.
How Proportionate Share Is Calculated in Colorado
Each year, the AU calculates its proportionate share by dividing the number of parentally placed private school children with disabilities in its boundaries by the total number of children with disabilities it serves, then multiplying that fraction by its total IDEA Part B allocation. CDE publishes the budgeted equitable services amounts by AU annually, with the 2025-26 figures available on the CDE equitable services page.
What that looks like in practice: a district with a large number of private schools and a small IDEA allocation may have very little to offer each family. A district with few private schools and a larger allocation may offer more. You generally cannot find out the specific dollar amount your child’s services are worth until the annual consultation process is complete.
Annual Consultation and What It Means for Timing
Districts are required to consult with private school representatives annually before the start of the school year to determine how equitable services will be offered. That consultation happens on a district calendar, not on yours. If you move your child to a private school mid-year or after the consultation window closes, your child may wait until the following year’s cycle to be included in the plan.
Families who know they are considering a private school should contact the district where the private school is located well before enrollment, ideally in spring, to understand the timeline and whether your child would be counted in the current or upcoming cycle.
Special Education Funding in Colorado: The Gap That Follows Children
Colorado’s public school special education funding situation is important context for this decision, because it affects what both settings can realistically offer.
What the State Pays and What Districts Make Up
The Special Education Fiscal Advisory Committee’s 2023-24 annual report documents the funding structure clearly. In the 2023-24 school year, Colorado served 117,119 students with disabilities under IDEA Part B, representing 13.29 percent of total public school enrollment, up from 12.75 percent the year before.
The state funds all special education students at a Tier A rate, which was $1,750 per student in 2023-24 and rises with inflation under Senate Bill 22-127 passed in 2022. Students with more significant needs, including those with autism spectrum disorders, qualify for additional Tier B funding, which reached $5,635.83 per student in 2023-24.
For context, the average total cost of educating a special education student in Colorado in 2022-23 was $11,876. State and federal funds combined covered 39 percent of that. Local districts bore the remaining 61 percent out of their general funds.
That gap, currently around $813 million statewide according to SEFAC, is why special education resources vary significantly across Colorado’s 178 districts, even within the same metro area.
Autism Spectrum Disorder as a Tier B Category
Under the Exceptional Children’s Educational Act, autism spectrum disorders is a Tier B disability category, meaning students identified with ASD generate additional state funding above the base Tier A rate. The December 2023 count recorded 12,382 students identified with ASD in Colorado public schools, 10.57 percent of all special education students, up from 9,380 in 2020. That growth matters both because it drives increased costs and because it affects waitlists, staffing, and the intensity of services available in any given district.
What This Means When Comparing Settings
A private school’s ability to provide intensive support for a child with ASD is not funded by state or federal special education dollars unless the child is receiving equitable services from the district. Most private school tuition for students with disabilities covers general education costs. The specialized services your child needs, whether speech, occupational therapy, behavioral support, or intensive academic instruction, are either included in tuition at a premium, available through equitable services from the district, or need to be arranged and funded separately.
When the District Places a Child in Private School: A Different Situation
There is an important distinction between a parent choosing a private school and a district placing a child in one. The two situations carry entirely different legal obligations.
District-Initiated Placements and FAPE
When a child’s IEP team determines that the public school cannot provide an appropriate education and the district places the child in a private or approved facility school, FAPE continues. The district remains responsible for the child’s IEP, and tuition and related costs are the financial responsibility of the district of residence under C.R.S. § 22-20-108.
This scenario applies to specialized day schools, therapeutic boarding programs, and approved facility schools that the Colorado State Board of Education has recognized under state rules. It is not a pathway a family can unilaterally pursue, but families can request that the IEP team consider it when the current placement is not working.
Reimbursement When Parents Disagree With the District
A separate and more complex situation arises when parents believe the district cannot offer FAPE, place their child in a private school themselves, and then seek reimbursement from the district. Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have recognized parental reimbursement as a remedy in certain circumstances under IDEA, but the standards are demanding. The family must demonstrate that the district’s proposed placement was not appropriate and that the private placement was.
Families considering this path should consult a Colorado special education attorney before making the placement. It is expensive to pursue and the outcome is not guaranteed. Our role as an ABA provider is not to advise on litigation, but we do frequently work with families in this situation and can document behavioral data that becomes relevant in those proceedings.
Section 504 in Private Schools
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by any recipient of federal funding. Most private schools in Colorado receive some federal funding and therefore are subject to 504, though the specific obligations differ from those under IDEA.
What 504 Requires in a Private Setting
A private school subject to Section 504 must make its programs accessible to students with disabilities and must provide reasonable accommodations. It does not have to provide specialized instruction or related services to the same degree a public school does under IDEA, and it does not have to follow the IEP process. The accommodations it offers may be documented in a different format than a public school would use.
Religious Schools and Federal Funding
Whether a religious private school receives federal funding is not always obvious. Schools that participate in federal lunch programs or receive Title I funds are generally covered by Section 504. Schools that accept no federal funding are not. If you are considering a religious private school, it is worth asking directly whether the school receives federal funds and what its accommodation process looks like.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Private School in Colorado
Choosing a private school for a child with autism or another disability requires a different set of questions than the ones used for a typically developing child. These are the ones that matter most for the families we work with.
Questions for the School
- Does the school receive federal funding, and is it subject to Section 504?
- What specialized staff are on site: speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, board certified behavior analysts?
- How does the school handle behavioral challenges, and what is their crisis protocol?
- Will the school cooperate with equitable services provided by the public district, including allowing district personnel on campus?
- What does the school do if a child’s needs exceed what the setting can accommodate?
Questions for the Public School District
- Which administrative unit is responsible for Child Find at the private school we are considering?
- What is the annual timeline for consultation and ISP development?
- What equitable services were offered to children in that private school last year, and can we see the range of services provided?
- If our child currently has an IEP, will it be replaced by an ISP, and what does that transition look like?
- Can we keep an existing IEP if we choose a private school, or does it automatically terminate?
Questions You Should Be Asking Yourself
- Is the primary reason for considering a private school the environment, the teaching philosophy, or the intensity of support? The answer changes what you should look for.
- Are the services my child needs available through equitable services, or would I need to fund them privately?
- Am I considering a private school because the district has not offered an appropriate placement? If so, this may be a due process situation rather than a school choice decision.
How ABA Services Fit Across Both Settings
Families in both public and private school settings frequently add ABA therapy outside school hours, and the way that works differs depending on the coverage source and the school.
ABA in Public School: Coordination Is Possible
When a child has an IEP in a public school that includes behavioral goals, our school-based ABA team can coordinate directly with the school, attend IEP meetings with parental consent, and align treatment goals across settings. The goal is that the same skill your child practices in a hallway in Aurora or Fort Collins transfers to your kitchen table and back.
ABA in Private School: Usually Home-Based
Most families with children in private schools receive ABA through in-home therapy or through settings the family controls. We can still align our goals with what the private school is teaching, but we typically do not have a formal coordination mechanism unless the school is unusually collaborative. Our parent training work becomes particularly important in these cases, because parents become the bridge between what happens in school and what happens in therapy.
Coverage Does Not Change Based on School Setting
Health First Colorado covers medically necessary behavioral therapy for members aged 20 and under who meet EPSDT criteria, regardless of whether the child attends a public or private school. The July 2025 HCPF policy clarification that stopped authorizing full clinic hours for children with access to school applies to children with access to public school hours.
If a child attends a private school and is not receiving school-based behavioral services from the district, that context is relevant to the prior authorization process. For commercial insurance, the Colorado autism mandate under C.R.S. 10-16-104 applies to the insurance plan, not to the child’s school setting.
We verify benefits and prior authorization details before starting services. You can review the plans we work with on our insurance page.
Where Our Teams Support Families Across Colorado
Metro Denver and the Front Range
We support families navigating both settings across the metro: Denver, Lakewood, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. Proportionate share amounts, AU responsiveness, and approved private school options all vary by district, and we can describe what we see in districts where we already work.
Rural Colorado and BOCES Districts
In rural BOCES areas, families often face longer distances to specialized private placements and smaller proportionate share pools. We work in Boulder, Fort Collins, and Pueblo, and can help families understand what local equitable services look like before committing to a private school without district support behind it.
Getting a Clear Picture Before You Decide
If you are weighing this decision and want to understand how your child’s services would fit across settings, we can help. There is no waitlist. We verify insurance within 48 hours and the assessment happens wherever is most useful.
Call our Colorado team at 720-463-9000 or reach out here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my child’s IEP automatically follow them to private school?
No. When you voluntarily enroll your child in a private school, the IEP does not transfer. The district’s obligation to provide FAPE ends, and it is replaced by a proportionate-share obligation. Your child may be offered an ISP, but the services on it may be less comprehensive than what the IEP required, and the private school is not obligated to implement it.
Can I keep an IEP if my child goes to private school?
Not in the traditional sense. An IEP is a document created by a public school team to document FAPE obligations. If FAPE no longer applies because you chose private placement, the IEP framework does not apply either. However, some parents find it useful to keep their most recent IEP as a reference document when requesting accommodations from a private school or when working with ABA providers.
What if the district says it cannot serve my child and recommends a private school?
If the district’s own IEP team determines a private placement is necessary and places your child there, FAPE continues and the district pays. If the district recommends a private school but you are expected to enroll and fund it yourself, that is not a district-placed FAPE situation, and you should seek clarification in writing and potentially consult a special education attorney before agreeing.
Do private schools in Colorado have to accept children with autism?
Private schools are generally not subject to IDEA’s nondiscrimination provisions in the same way public schools are. A private school can decline to enroll a child it believes it cannot serve appropriately, and it can ask a family to make other arrangements if a child’s needs exceed its capacity. This is a practical reality of private placement that families should assess honestly during the enrollment conversation.
Can I get ABA services while my child is in private school?
Yes. ABA services through Achieve are available regardless of school setting. Coverage depends on your insurance plan and medical necessity, not on the school your child attends. For Health First Colorado members, the relevant question is whether school-based behavioral services are available through the district’s equitable services process, since that affects prior authorization considerations.
What is an approved facility school in Colorado?
An approved facility school is a private school or program that has been recognized by the Colorado State Board of Education as able to provide special education services to children placed there by their IEP teams. Placement in an approved facility school is a district responsibility, not a parental choice, and the district of residence pays the costs. The CDE special education page maintains information about approved facility schools in the state.
Sources:
- U.S. Department of Education, OSEP Q&A on Parentally Placed Private School Children (revised Feb 2022). https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/questions-and-answers-on-serving-children-with-disabilities-placed-by-their-parents-in-private-schools/
- CDE, Equitable Services in Non-Public Schools. https://ed.cde.state.co.us/fedprograms/equitableservicescolorado
- CDE, Special Education Laws and Regulations. https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/spedlaw
- CDE, Special Education main page. https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped
- Colorado SEFAC 2023-24 Annual Report (January 2025). https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/sefaclegislativereportjanuary-2025
- C.R.S. 22-20-108, Special Education Programs, district of residence responsibility. https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-22/compensatory-education/article-20/part-1/section-22-20-108/
- C.R.S. 10-16-104, Colorado autism insurance mandate. https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-10/health-care-coverage/article-16/part-1/section-10-16-104/
- HCPF, Pediatric Behavioral Therapies benefit. https://hcpf.colorado.gov/pediatric-behavioral-therapies