$65,370.60 = The amount law firm Blankingship & Keith invoiced Fairfax County Public Schools between November 22, 2019, and August 27, 2020.
The result? The Virginia hearing officer ruled that the program “Just Words” is inappropriate for a student with Dyslexia, which was the program FCPS proposed for the student on which the due process hearing was focused.
Two months = The amount of time that passed before Blankingship & Keith started invoicing FCPS for another hearing related to “Just Words” not being appropriate for a student with Dyslexia.
$61,922,28 = The amount law firm Blankingship & Keith invoiced Fairfax County Public Schools between October 29, 2020, and November 24, 2020.
The result? A second Virginia hearing officer ruled that the program “Just Words” is not appropriate for a student with Dyslexia. In this case, FCPS had proposed “Just Words” for the same student four school years in a row.
$127,292.88 = The amount FCPS paid Blankingship & Keith on two cases, almost back-to-back, related to the same program.
If at first you don’t succeed, try again, is a hard concept to get one’s head around when it involves paying $127,292.88 to the law firm that was representing FCPS when the hearing officer ruled “Just Words” to be inappropriate for a student with Dyslexia the first time around. Yet, FCPS went at it again.
But Wait, There’s More!
The first case went beyond the cost of $65,370.60. Remember that’s just for Blankingship & Keith. There’s also the hearing officer’s fee, the fee for the transcript, fees for any expert witnesses, as well as the cost of FCPS staff who testified during the hearing.
Wondering what the total for the first case might be?
Let’s look at case two.
$134,178.83 = the amount FCPS was invoiced by Blankingship & Keith, Hearing Officer Rhonda Mitchell, Veritext (transcription company), and recently retired FCPS staff member Dottie Skrincosky. This does not include the cost of FCPS staff who testified during the hearing, or the time of Dawn Schaefer who attended the entire meeting.
Although $199,549.43 is the total of the invoices included in this case, it is safe to say—given the cost of case two—that the total of these two cases is over $300,000.00.
$300,000.000 = An incredible amount of money to be paid, to twice be told the same thing about “Just Words”.
Case One Invoices
*This list does not include the hearing officer or transcript invoices, or invoices for any expert witness that FCPS paid.
- November 22, 2019:
$9,702.22, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- December 23, 2019:
$7,607.97, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- January 30, 2020:
$13,030,41, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- February 25, 2020:
$2,373.75, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- May 20, 2020:
$6,968.75, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- June 25, 2020:
$2,456.25, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- July 29, 2020:
$19,912.50, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- August 27, 2020:
$3,318.75, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
Blankingship & Keith Invoices
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Case Two Invoices
- October 8, 2020
$761.20, invoiced by Dorothy Skrincosky
- October 30, 2020
$4,372.50, invoiced by Veritext
$4,986.75, invoiced by Veritext
$658.65, invoiced by Veritext
$4,429.20, invoiced by Veritext
$4,939.50, invoiced by Veritext
$2,737.65, invoiced by Veritext
$5,771.10, invoiced by Veritext
$275.00, invoiced by Veritext
- October 29, 2020
$35,364.13, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- November 24, 2020
$26,558.15, invoiced by Blankingship & Keith
- December 7, 2020
$43,325.00, invoiced by Virginia Hearing Officer Rhonda Mitchell
Hearing Officer Rhonda Mitchell’s Invoice
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Blankingship & Keith’s Invoices
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Veritext Invoices
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Dottie Skrincosky Invoice
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Thank you for this update. Could you inform readers further about the parent concerns with the Resolution Meeting attendees and IEP team members? More specifics would help readers assess whether these concerns were unique to this case or more pervasive. The Hearing Officer referenced emails/letter regarding these parent concerns in the time log/invoice submitted to Virginia Department of Education. Many thanks.