U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights FOIA Responses
Accommodation Breakdown: Testing to Completion
Seems like a straightforward accommodation, right?
Student is given the test.
Student is given as much time as is needed to complete the test.
How could it possibly be interpreted any other way?
What could possibly go wrong?
It’s the Law: Confidentiality and Access of Student Records
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) there are additional confidentiality and access protections.
This article includes a few examples of noncompliance, with which you might not be familiar, as well as your go-to regulations should you need them.
The Language of IEPs & 504s: Just When You Thought You Knew the Definition of “Assessment”, Wrong Again
In IEP and 504 Plan worlds, assessments are interpreted as differently as a person might interpret a piece of poetry. Whereas one person might interpret Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” to be about being an individual choosing a different path, marching to a different drummer, and so on, there are others who point to this understanding as nonsense, as the incorrect interpretation.
Who knew assessments could be the same way?
Fairfax County Public Schools Withheld Records from Office of Civil Rights; FCPS Didn’t Provide Full Response to OCR’s Investigation Data Request
January 12, 2021, OCR launched an investigation into FCPS, for civil rights violations related to the COVID pandemic.
May 4, 2021, OCR submitted an “Initial Data Request Letter” to Superintendent Scott Brabrand, which has a focus on “what the Division has done to address any denial of free appropriate public education (FAPE) that has occurred for students with disabilities while the Division has offered remote learning in response to the pandemic.
FCPS failed to provide a full response.
UPDATE: Fairfax County Public Schools FOIA’d Parents’ Communications with Office of Civil Rights
Accommodation Breakdown: Flash Pass
What is a Flash Pass?
A Flash Pass allows a student to leave class without having to 1) ask permission or 2) provide an explanation.
Fairfax County Public Schools Provided Recovery Services to Less Than 1% of Students
FOIA Response: More Internal Emails Provided, More Proof FCPS is Aware of Problems with Independent Educational Evaluation Rates and Other Issues
For the limited time covered, the FOIA response includes significant information related to the hot-button issue of FCPS’s below-market Independent Educational Evaluation rates.
Although numerous parents through the years have complained to FCPS and/or have filed state complaints about the rates, FCPS has refused to change the rates.
Yet . . . It looks like FCPS has known for years that the rates are a problem.
FOIA Response: Records FCPS Provided to Office of Civil Rights for OCR’s COVID Investigation
A FOIA request was made for all of the records FCPS provided to OCR for the investigation. In response to the request, FCPS refused to provide the records within the mandated timeline, filed a lawsuit related to the request, and to date has refused to respond to subsequent requests for records and to questions about records responsive to the request.
Over a period of about a month, FCPS provided the records published here.
Sample State Complaint: Noncompliance of Evaluation Timeline and FAPE
VDOE found Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in noncompliance.
VDOE’s Letter of Findings, in which it stated FCPS’s noncompliance is included, following the complaint.
It’s the Law: Assistive Technology Devices and Services
This includes assistive technology devices and services. Examples include:
* A laptop that 1) scans worksheets, which the student can then type on (because typing might be easier than writing), and 2) can be used to take pictures of the front board, notes, or any other information the child needs.
* A computer with a screen reader, to help with literacy
* Access to Learning Ally and other sources for audiobooks
* Noise-cancelling head-phones
*Voice-recognition software
If your child needs assistive technology devices or services, under both IDEA and Section 504, your child has the right to be provided them.
(7.22.22 Update) Fairfax County Employee Accused of Stealing Students’ Medications; Criminal Investigation Ensues
July 22, 2022: Article updated to include information about Jennifer Carpenter’s indictment, the police investigation, and the tip line set up in an attempt to gain more information related to the case.
June 10, 2022: Article updated to include FOIA response from Fairfax County Police Department and other cited documents.
June 8, 2022: Article first published.
Fairfax County Police Department and Fair Oaks Police Department are investigating Jennifer Carpenter regarding a “discrepancy in medication” that should have been administered to Fairfax County Public Schools students. Carpenter, a health department employee at Greenbriar East Elementary School, is accused of stealing medication such as Adderall and Ritalin, and instead administering an antihistamine to students.