Politico PRO | About 700 children with disabilities were waiting for pre-kindergarten seats at the end of the last school year. According to city Department of Education spokesperson Nicole Brownstein, the city is working to bring at least 300 seats online this fall and more in the winter.

But the first day of school is just a month away and the DOE has yet to submit applications for the additional seats to the state Education Department, which is responsible for approving new pre-K special education classes.

“It is inexplicable for classes not to be up and running for the first day of school,” said Randi Levine, policy director at the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York. “It means that children with autism in the South Bronx will be sitting at home in September while other children get to start preschool.”