Due Process Hearing Transcript: Six-Day Hearing

The transcript included in this article is for a due process hearing that took place over the course of six days, between December 3, 2019, and December 13, 2019. The mother and father of a student attending Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) filed for due process. FCPS is the local education agency (LEA) involved. FCPS was represented by John Cafferky, a lawyer with Blankingship & Keith. The Virginia hearing officer was Richard Alvey. The parents were represented by lawyer Ashley VanCleef. This hearing and the decision written by Hearing Officer Alvey proved to be a gamechanger, specifically Alvey’s statement that the program “Just Words” is inappropriate for students with Dyslexia. For years, FCPS has had a widespread practice of proposing and implementing the program “Just Words” for students with Dyslexia, even though the publisher of “Just Words”, Wilson, does not endorse the program for students with Dyslexia. Although numerous parents have complained about their children floundering while being administered “Just Words”, FCPS continued to propose and implement the program. In my case, FCPS proposed “Just Words” four school years in a row (8th, 9th, 10th, 11th) for my son, who has Dyslexia. I owe the parents and Ashley VanCleef a great deal of thanks, because their work led to me filing for due process and also receiving a decision from the hearing officer, which stated “Just Words” not to be appropriate for students with Dyslexia. Too often, parents aren’t fully prepared for due process hearings, even though these hearings are supposed to be a course of action we can take in our advocacy for our children. The parents in this case provided permission for this transcript to be shared. In doing this, they’ve provided other parents an opportunity to access a real due process hearing and to learn more about what to expect. Since John Cafferky is involved in so many due process hearings in Virginia, this transcript offers parents, advocates, and lawyers and opportunity to learn more about how he goes through a due process himself. More transcripts will be forthcoming, in an effort to continue to help parents with their advocacy. If you have one you’d like to share, please let me know. For now, please join me in thanking the parents in this case and Ashley VanCleef for their work.