U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights FOIA Responses - Special Education Action

FCPS Had a Pandemic Plan in 2007; Internal Records Provide Toxic Portrait of FCPS’s “Best and Brightest”

David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest comes to mind when reviewing Fairfax County Public Schools’ internal records.

A FOIA request FCPS is still heading to court over, and records collecting digital dust in Fairfax County School Board’s collection of online documents, comprise the bulk of the records.

In 2006, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) warned school districts that pandemics were on the horizon and advised them to prepare pandemic plans.

FCPS took heed and had a plan in development by 2007.

Between 2007 and now, a portrait emerged of leaders who were dazzled by themselves and their colleagues, “how extraordinary they were, each brighter than the next . . .”

FOIA: Fairfax County Public Schools Independent Educational Evaluations

Update: This article was published July 2020. It is being updated to include an email indicating Fairfax County Public Schools has long known that its price cap for Independent Educational Evaluations is below market price. FCPS’s low rate limits parents to 1) using private providers who accept FCPS’s low IEE rate or 2) paying the difference out of pocket for providers who don’t accept FCPS’s low rate. The email was obtained via a FOIA request for documents FCPS provided the Office of Civil Rights.

This FOIA request was done in 2018 and was submitted to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia.

The response includes 528 pages, including how FCPS set its “rates” and letters to providers asking if they’ll accept FCPS rates.

How to Submit a FERPA Request

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects confidentiality of students’ education records and their rights to full access to those records, to include the right to review and respect the records.

What Is An Education Record?

To fully access your student’s education records, you must have a full understanding of the definition of “education records”. The same holds true if you are trying to monitor whether the confidentiality of the student’s records is being maintained.

An education record simply isn’t a file consisting of report cards and progress reports. It includes such records as emails and legal invoices, too.

(7.8.22 Update) Fairfax County School Board Heads to Court Over FOIA Request; Delays Publishing of Office of Civil Rights Investigation Records

July 8, 2022: Article updated to include FCSB’s Demurrer and Motion to Dismiss, additional information about the court case, correspondence, and responsive records provided by FCPS.

June 10, 2022, article updated to include new information, to include information about retaliation and the scheduled hearing date.

June 2, 2022: Article first published.

Fairfax County School Board is headed to court over a Freedom of Information Act request.

This is the second time in nine months that FCSB’s FOIA-response-related actions (and inactions) have resulted in SpecialEducationAction.com being prevented from publishing internal Fairfax County Public Schools documents. In addition, FOIA’d documents related to the first case apply to the case at hand.

In the case at hand, the FOIA’d records relate to the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights’ investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools, which it announced January 12, 2021, along with its intention to investigate Los Angeles Unified School District and Seattle Public Schools.

Fairfax County Pay-to-Play Education Continues to Generate Revenue for County; Fails to Address Discrimination

January 2021, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) practices of refusing to provide in-person instruction to students with disabilities, while at the same time opening “its schools to in-person child-care for general education students.”

A year and a half after OCR announced the investigation, FCPS’s current actions paint a portrait of a school district aggressive in its efforts to collect education-access fees from general education students, but lackadaisical in its efforts to address the needs of students whose IEPs weren’t implemented in full during its 2019-20 COVID closures.

(June 13, 2022, Update) Due Process Case 22-84, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Virginia: Subpoenas, Motions, Transcripts, and More

June 13, 2022, Update: Transcripts for due process days March 25th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, 2022, were added.

Thank you to two Chesterfield County, Virginia, parents for sharing their due process experiences and associated documents.

You’ll find the hearing transcripts at the end of this article. In the coming weeks, subpoenas, motions, and other documents will be added, providing readers an example of how due process hearings play out record by record.

(6.9.22 Update) Fairfax County Public Schools Levies Service Fee for Service it Doesn’t Provide, Fails to Follow and Update Its Own Pricing Guidelines

(This article was first published May 6, 2022. It was updated May 9, 2022, to include new information provided by School Board Member Megan McLaughlin. Scroll to the bottom of the article to see the update.)

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is at fault for the following issues:

1) levying a service fee for a service it doesn’t provide;

2) failing to follow its own pricing guidelines;

3) failing to update its pricing guidelines and failing to have a system in place to identify needed updates;

4) failing to have a system in place to catch fee charging and collection issues;

5) failing to train staff to understand fee charging and collection issues, and to think creatively and critically to identify and/or suggest solutions for such issues; and

6) making the already expensive post-high school graduation planning process more expensive for families and students.

How to Submit a Freedom of Information Act Request

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides the public access to records held by public bodies.

As FOIA.gov stated, the freedom of information act “is a vital part of our democracy.”

Learn how to write and submit a FOIA request, and learn about some of the issues that may arise in response to your request submission.

The Things Hearing Officers Say & Do: Virginia HO Frank Aschmann

This page is devoted to what Virginia Hearing Officer Frank Aschmann has said and done. It will be updated to include due process decisions, due process transcripts, due process subpoenas and motions, emails, and other documents.

Fairfax County Public Schools Refused to Update Transition Plan; VDOE Found FCPS in Compliance, Faulted Parent for Not Requesting Updated Transition Plan

Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, refused to update the transition plan in a student’s Individualized Education Plan. After the student’s parent filed a state complaint with the Virginia Department of Education, VDOE issued a Letter of Findings that found FCPS in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and faulted the parent for not requesting an updated transition plan.
Among other things, the LOF states:

“In reaching our finding on this Subissue, we find the following compelling:

“There is no indication in the record that Parent requested revision to Student’s transition plan . . .”

U.S. Department of Education Announces Intent to Amend Regulations Implementing Section 504, Requests Public Input

May 6, 2022, the United States Department of Education (USDOE) announced its intent to amend Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and to “gather public input on possible amendments to those regulations in order to strengthen and protect the rights of students with disabilities.”

USDOE’s announcement comes 45 years after Joseph Califano, President Jimmy Carter’s Health, Education, and Welfare Secretary, finally signed the Section 504 regulations April 28, 1977.