Special education and Section 504 advocates for Rye City School District families in Rye.
1 based in New York · 3 virtual advocates who work with New York schools
An advocate is a paid professional who reads the evaluation reports, drafts your concerns, sits beside you at the IEP table, and follows up on whatever the school agreed to do.
Parents in Rye usually start looking for an advocate when a meeting is already on the calendar.
Before the meeting an advocate reads the current IEP against the evaluation reports, pulls the progress data to see whether the goals are actually being met, writes your concerns into one page, and sends it to the team in advance.
Records live with Rye City School District, not with the front office of one building, and a request addressed to the district gets a faster answer than one that is not.
No advocate in this directory lists Rye as their home base. These advocates work from other parts of New York, and each card names the city.
Based in New York, NY
Special Education Advocate
Clara Liriano, M.S., is a Special Education Advocate and New York State Certified Special Education Teacher with more than 20 years of experience supporting children and individuals with…
These advocates are not based in New York. They join IEP meetings by video or phone, which IDEA allows when you and the school agree.
Virtual · based in Inverness, IL · works with New York schools
Special Education Advocate
I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University and a Master’s of Education from DePaul University, with a dual certification in elementary and…
Virtual · based in Austin, TX · works with New York schools
Special Education Advocate
Hi, My name is David Gonzales. Living in Austin, TX, but originally from Los Angeles, CA. I carry a masters degree in special education and currently practice as a sped teacher.
Virtual · based in Midland, TX · works with New York schools
Special Education Advocate
Kate Keenan is a special education advocate serving families in Midland, TX.
See all 24 virtual advocates who work with New York families
5 public schools inside Rye belong to Rye City School District. Each one has its own case manager and its own backlog, and the answer you get about scheduling depends on which building your child attends.
Buildings do not fund services and districts do. Ask which office is deciding before you spend a meeting arguing with the wrong one.
Confirm your child's district by address before you send a letter or name a district-specific process.
No New York deadline applies to a written evaluation request. Federal rules still require a response within a reasonable time.
Keep every email. Most of what an advocate does with a Rye file is date-stamping what the school already told you.
New York gives a school district 60 calendar days to finish an initial special education evaluation. No New York rule sets a separate deadline for answering a written request, so the federal reasonable-time standard is what applies. Missed deadlines are handled by the New York State Education Department, Office of Special Education, which takes written state complaints from parents.
Certification programs exist and some advocates hold them. None of them is issued by the New York State Education Department, Office of Special Education, and none of them is required to sit in a New York IEP meeting.
A certificate says nothing about Rye City School District. Ask instead what the advocate has filed there and what came back.
An advocate cannot make the district agree. What moves a district is the record you build, not the person sitting next to you, and a good advocate spends more hours on the record than in the room.
What worked for a family in Babylon may not fit yours. Ask the advocate what is different about your file before you copy anyone.
Rates and openings decide most of this. An advocate who cannot meet before your Rye meeting date is the wrong hire, and the second-best advocate who is free this month usually beats the best one who is not.
Distance is a scheduling problem and not a legal one. Meetings run by video whenever the parent and the school both agree to it.
Answers about hiring a special education advocate in Rye, New York, including cost, timing, virtual support, and Section 504 help.
How much does an IEP advocate cost in Rye?
Rates run $75 to $250 per hour. What moves the number is experience, the type of case, and whether anyone has to drive to the meeting. Profiles here show the rate when the advocate publishes one.
Which school district serves Rye, New York?
Most Rye families work with Rye City School District. Charter and magnet enrollment can change which agency owes the service, so ask that question before the first meeting.
What records should I ask for before an IEP meeting?
Ask for the full file, which means every evaluation, the progress data behind each goal and any email where the school said no. Put it in writing and keep the date.
Should my child have an IEP or a Section 504 plan?
An IEP provides specialized instruction and related services under IDEA. A 504 plan provides accommodations under a civil rights law and does not require specialized instruction. Eligibility rules differ, so a child can qualify for one and not the other.
Who decides a special education complaint in New York?
The New York State Education Department takes written complaints from parents about missed deadlines and services never delivered. An advocate can prepare one. The advocate does not decide it and cannot make the district settle.
Official New York links for parents in Rye.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11.
The same New York rules apply in Babylon, Massapequa, Montour Falls, Scarsdale and the other cities listed here, or see every New York advocate.
Start with two calls, not six. Ask each advocate what they would do first with a Rye file, and hire the one whose answer is specific enough that you could write it down as a task.
Two questions sort most of this out. What would you do first with this file, and what does that cost.
