DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT: FY26 Statement of Assurances, required for all Public Education Agencies, opens April 2, 2025

DATA MANAGEMENT ALERT  

FY26 Statement of Assurances, required for all Public Education Agencies, opens April 2, 2025 

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the representative body for Special Education for Arizona, Exceptional Student Services (ESS), is required to annually obtain assurances from Public Education Agencies (PEAs) attesting that they are meeting the requirements under state and federal statutes. This requirement is completed via the Statement of Assurances application. 

Completing the annual Statement of Assurances is a requirement for all entities defined as a PEA, regardless of whether they get federal funds. Non-Public Organizations (NPOs) are exempt from this requirement.  

All PEAs must submit the FY26 Statement of Assurances (SOA) through the ESS Portal, accessed via ADEConnect.  

The application will open on April 2, 2025, and close for submissions on June 11, 2025. 

The SOA must be submitted by your Superintendent, Charter Holder, or Special Education Director before FY26 IDEA funding applications are approved in the Grants Management Enterprise system. 

• The PEA’s entity administrator must assign the role of ESS Special Education: Signer in ADEConnect to the individual who will review, sign, and submit the SOA. 

• PEAs that do not apply for IDEA funds are still required to submit the SOA. 

Once the role is assigned, please log in to ADEConnect, navigate to the Exceptional Student Services portal, and select the Statement of Assurances link under Surveys & Assurances:

The survey code will auto-populate for your PEA. Please select the “Yes” checkbox for each page to indicate your assurances for the requirements. 

Upon completion, the SOA can be printed for your records. If your PEA wants to ensure that the SOA was submitted, re-accessing the SOA will display the “Thank you for submitting” page. 

Please direct any questions to the ESS Data Management inbox.