This page is devoted to what Virginia Hearing Officer Frank Aschmann has said and done. It will be updated to include due process decisions, due process transcripts, due process subpoenas and motions, emails, and other documents.
Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, refused to update the transition plan in a student’s Individualized Education Plan. After the student’s parent filed a state complaint with the Virginia Department of Education, VDOE issued a Letter of Findings that found FCPS in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and faulted the parent for not requesting an updated transition plan.
Among other things, the LOF states:
“In reaching our finding on this Subissue, we find the following compelling:
“There is no indication in the record that Parent requested revision to Student’s transition plan . . .”
(This article was first published May 6, 2022. It was updated May 9, 2022, to include new information provided by School Board Member Megan McLaughlin. Scroll to the bottom of the article to see the update.)
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is at fault for the following issues:
1) levying a service fee for a service it doesn’t provide;
2) failing to follow its own pricing guidelines;
3) failing to update its pricing guidelines and failing to have a system in place to identify needed updates;
4) failing to have a system in place to catch fee charging and collection issues;
5) failing to train staff to understand fee charging and collection issues, and to think creatively and critically to identify and/or suggest solutions for such issues; and
6) making the already expensive post-high school graduation planning process more expensive for families and students.
May 6, 2022, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) announced its intent to amend Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and to “gather public input on possible amendments to those regulations in order to strengthen and protect the rights of students with disabilities.”
USDOE’s announcement comes 45 years after Joseph Califano, President Jimmy Carter’s Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary, finally signed the Section 504 regulations April 28, 1977.
Here you’ll find the hearing officer’s decision and the transcripts for a two-day due process hearing, which Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) filed against the parents of a student who was clinically diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, emotional disability, ADHD, and anxiety, and who at the time of the hearing had an Individualized Education Program (IEP). FCPS filed the due process with the purpose of 1) proving the student isn’t eligible for an IEP and 2) terminating the student’s IEP.
April 28, 2022, the Office of Civil Rights announced Los Angeles Unified School District is at fault for civil rights violations and OCR released the resolution reached following its investigation of LAUSD.
This follows OCR’s January 12, 2021, announcement that it would investigate LAUSD, Fairfax County Public Schools (Virginia), and Seattle Public Schools.
Are schools required to conduct their own evaluations after an independent educational evaluation (IEE) is conducted?
“No,” is the answer from Rory Duffield and Lourrie Duddridge, two senior specialists with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), one of the largest school districts in the United States.
Employment contracts for Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) leadership team were released today. FCPS released them in response to a FOIA request submitted by parent Debra Tisler — and then turned around and attempted to recall the response.
The contracts provided to her today include information that should be publicly available as it details the terms of contracts for FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand and numerous other “leadership team” members who are responsible for the education of Fairfax County’s students and the running of its school system.
March 18, 2022, the United States Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration announced an initiative that is “aimed at increasing access for people with disabilities to jobs that pay good wages.”
According to a press release distributed by USDOE, the initiative “is the largest discretionary grant administered by RSA, with $167 million available to State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies and their partners . . .”
The United States Department of Education determined the Virginia Department of Education “has not demonstrated correction of all the noncompliance identified in USDOE’s June 23, 2020, Differentiated Monitoring and Support monitoring letter and that it remains “concerned about the volume and nature of the concerns raised by [multiple parents and other stakeholders].”
February 8, 2022, USDOE sent VDOE its response to VDOE’s corrective action information.
Special Education Action obtained the February 8, 2022, letter yesterday in response to a FOIA request submitted to VDOE.
James Lane, the former superintendent of public instruction at the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is making a move from Richmond to Washington, D.C.
How will USDOE defend hiring the senior official who reigned over so many years of failure?
Fairfax County Public Schools is again the focus of an investigation by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
January 27, 2022, OCR issued a letter announcing the opening of the investigation.
Retaliatory actions are the focus of the complaint.