News - Special Education Action

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 Stateâ€™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 Stateâ€™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.

U.S. Dept. of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office Rules FCPS at Fault for Privacy Breach

June 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) issued a letter finding Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in noncompliance for another privacy breach. The letter was issued in response to a complaint filed in 2019.

Oops! . . . They Did It Again!; Fairfax County Public Schools Continues to Breach Student Privacy

Today’s privacy violations are brought to you by Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) Office of Special Education Procedural Support.

May 6, 2021, Jane Strong, director of the Office of Special Education and Procedural Support, breached a student’s privacy when she emailed six documents related to the student to individuals to whom she should not have sent them.

Category: News (page 17)