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Maribel Gardea spent years trying to convince Texas’ San Antonio Public Schools that her 14-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy and is non-verbal, needed an eye gaze device in the classroom.

She sat in many meetings with staff members, including the district’s technology expert, pleading for the device that would allow her son to communicate through eye movements instead of using a mouse or keyboard.

The district remained unconvinced until she invoked the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, known as IDEA, she said. The federal law, enforced by the US Department of Education, guarantees free public education for disabled children and protects Individualized Education Programs, which are tailored to their unique needs.

Last year, the district finally purchased the eye gaze device, she said, and staff began working closely with her son as he used it.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order kicking off the process of eliminating the Department of Education – a move that could have potential consequences for parents like Gardea.

While entirely shuttering the department would require an act of Congress, the president directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities,” the executive order reads.

“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families.”

The Department of Education provides more than $15 billion annually to help serve 7.4 million students through the IDEA.

A day after signing the executive order, Trump announced the Small Business Administration would take over the department’s student loan portfolio, while the Department of Health and Human Services would handle special needs and nutrition programs.

Gardea worries that if the Department of Education closes, parents of disabled children will lose federal funds and protection and enforcement of their educational needs.

It’s a fear parents of children with special needs across the country have expressed since the Department of Education announced last week it was cutting its workforce by nearly 50%. The staff reductions are the first step in shutting down the 46-year-old agency, McMahon has said.

Gardea called the move to close the department, “disheartening.”

“It really says a lot about our country,” Gardea said. “It says a lot about how we care for our children no matter their race, what their limitations are, what their disabilities are and how this isn’t a priority for our president.”

When parents of disabled children are unable to resolve issues with a school district or state, many resort to filing complaints with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, advocates said.

But that division was hit hard by layoffs, with the Trump administration closing seven of its 12 regional offices.

One employee, who asked not to be named, told CNN the moves “completely halt the vast majority of cases that we can take in, evaluate and investigate.”

Keri Rodrigues, co-founder of the National Parents Union and a mom of four boys with special needs, said she fears dismantling the Department of Education and its civil rights office will mean parents have nowhere to turn when schools don’t treat their children fairly.

Many families can’t afford to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit in federal court if they suspect a school is violating the law, Rodrigues said.

She recalled a time when she filed a complaint with the Department of Education because her 6-year-old son, who has autism, was constantly being suspended from school and staff ignored his Individualized Education Program. But before the department could intervene, the school district addressed Rodrigues’ concerns, she said.

Rodrigues called the Trump administration’s plan to dissolve the federal office that investigates discrimination complaints in schools “utter nonsense.”

Leaving it to the courts will delay the process of reaching a resolution with schools, she said.

“What is going to happen is only the parents that have the privilege, that have the resources and have the agency to be able to file federal lawsuits, are going to be able to get justice for their kids,” she said. “There will be millions of children … that are going to be in danger and at risk as a result of this.”

Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc, an organization advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said the Department of Education has not only offered crucial oversight of school districts but also provided families with recourse when their children are denied an education.

Neas cited an example from 2018 during the first Trump administration when the agency determined that Texas had failed to properly evaluate disabled students and had illegally capped the number of students eligible for special education services.

Neas said the Department of Education also plays a role in training special education teachers and provides guidance to schools on innovative methods for teaching disabled children.

“I think this is such a bad idea,” Neas said of the plan to shutter the agency. “Education is really a core function in our country. And our workforce depends on educated students.”

The Department of Education helps ensure equality for all school children regardless of their race or disability, said David Johns, CEO and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective.

With the downsizing and looming closure of the agency, more students will “have their disabilities undiagnosed and as a result of that unmet,” he said.

“We should expect the assurances that have been provided to students and families to no longer exist,” Johns said.

He said he hopes the civil rights and faith communities can come together to support disabled families when they are being underserved by school districts and states.

“We are equipped to make a way,” Johns said.

Special education teachers are also concerned about how their classrooms will be impacted.

Jennifer Graves, a special education teacher and executive vice president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers in Connecticut, said the Department of Education helps fund many special accommodations for disabled students, such as paraprofessionals, assistive technology, and accessible playground equipment for children in wheelchairs.

Graves said school districts would have to compensate for the potential loss of federal funding, which could only delay the process of getting services to students.

“Parents are going to get frustrated, and we might see more legal matters,” Graves said. “Because students aren’t going to be receiving the services they need in an appropriate amount of time.”

Kasey Dudley, a New Jersey mom who has an autistic son in 7th grade, said she believes the Trump administration is slashing the Department of Education without realizing the impact on American families.

“Listen to those on the ground,” Dudley said. “Listen to parents, listen to those who have the real-life experience. And it’s not about whose side you’re on, it’s about what’s in the best interest of the children.”

Still, parents tell CNN that despite the threats to end a critical federal agency, they will not stop advocating for their children.

“I think this is the beginning of a war,” Gardea said. “If you’ve ever met a special needs mom who fights for her child, it’s game on.”

CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty contributed to this story.