Today’s word for the day:
Negligence.
Definition:
Failure to take proper care in doing something.
Example:
Fairfax County Public Schools provided a student a computer that shut down while the student was taking the SAT exam.
Case Law They Use: IEPs & FAPE
Studying case law cited by your State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) in response to parents’ state complaints, and studying case law cited by LEAs, LEA lawyers, and hearing officers during due process hearings is a good way to prepare yourself to 1) understand special education law, 2) understand the different ways it can be interpreted and inappropriately manipulated, and 3) how to use special education-related case law to argue your own case.
Virginia Department of Education Allows Noncompliance to Continue
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) continues to turn a blind eye toward noncompliance within Virginia school districts and fails to heed the United States Department of Education’s (USDOE) dictum, “Completely ignoring credible allegations of noncompliance is not a reasonable method of exercising the State’s general supervisory responsibilities.”
February 28. 2018, documentation of over 400+ special education violations was provided to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). The violations were committed by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and admitted to in unredacted internal FCPS documents title “Hot Topics”.
Two years later, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), advised VDOE. “Completely ignoring credible allegations of noncompliance is not a reasonable method of exercising the State’s general supervisory responsibilities.” And yet, the Hot Topics report remains uninvestigated and the noncompliance continues.
July 30 is Deadline to Submit Comments about Education Secretary Cardona’s Proposed Priorities
July 30, 2021, is the deadline to submit comments related to six proposed priorities that the U.S. Secretary of Education published in the Federal Register.
Please don’t miss this opportunity to provide your input on policies that impact the education of children throughout the United States.
Fairfax County Public Schools Breaches Privacy of Thousands of Students; FERPA Noncompliance Continues
June 29, 2021, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) breached the privacy of thousands of students attending South County High School, Hayfield Secondary School, Edison High School, West Potomac High School, Lake Braddock Secondary School, and FCPS Online Campus.
The breach includes the students’ names, their FCPS identification numbers, their FCPS email addresses, the schools at which they are enrolled, the names of their parents and/or guardians, and the email addresses of their parents and/or guardians.
Innovative Approaches to Literacy: United States Department of Education Holds Competition for 2021 Grant
The United States Department of Education (USDOE) is holding a competition for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) grant in 2021.
April 6, 2021, USDOE published a notice of proposed priorities and requirement (NPP) for this program in the Federal Register (86 FR 17757).
July 12, 2021, USDOE published a notice of final priorities and requirement in the Federal Register (86 FR 36510).
TODAY: $6 Billion Distributed to Six States and the District of Columbia; What is the Status of Your State’s ARP ESSER Plan?
July 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) approved American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) state plans for six states and the District of Columbia, and released $418,634,738 to Arkansas; $611,331,608 to Massachusetts; $138,468,766 to Rhode Island; $127,339,745 to South Dakota; $4,148,464,081 to Texas; Utah: $205,578,303; and $128,932,230 to the District of Columbia.
Each state education agency (SEA) had until June 7, 2021, to submit either: (1) its ARP ESSER plan or (2) the State requirements that preclude submission of the plan by that date and a date by which it will be able to submit its complete ARP ESSER plan.
Contact your SEA to find out if your state is among the 40 states that have submitted a plan. If not, ask why. Either way, request the status of the report.
The Perfect Storm: FCPS Video Features FERPA Violations, Teacher Training Issues, Fidelity of Implementation Problems, and Possible IEP Noncompliance
November 5, 2020, Fairfax County Public Schools again violated student privacy and again exhibited issues related to teacher training, a reading-related program, fidelity of implementation of a reading-related program, and possible noncompliance of student IEPs.
These issues occurred during an office hour session with FCPS’s Alice Lima-Whitney, during which she and the staff in attendance discussed the program iLit and how the teachers were progressing with their students.