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

Due Process Transcript, Fauquier County Public Schools, Virginia, Hearing Officer Frank Aschmann

Here you’ll find the hearing officer’s decision and the transcripts for a two-day due process hearing, which Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) filed against the parents of a student who was clinically diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, emotional disability, ADHD, and anxiety, and who at the time of the hearing had an Individualized Education Program (IEP). FCPS filed the due process with the purpose of 1) proving the student isn’t eligible for an IEP and 2) terminating the student’s IEP.

Office of Civil Rights Finds Los Angeles Unified School District in Noncompliance, LAUSD Must Provide Compensatory Education to Students

April 28, 2022, the Office of Civil Rights announced Los Angeles Unified School District is at fault for civil rights violations and OCR released the resolution reached following its investigation of LAUSD.

This follows OCR’s January 12, 2021, announcement that it would investigate LAUSD, Fairfax County Public Schools (Virginia), and Seattle Public Schools.

Are Schools Required To Conduct Their Own Evaluations After Independent Educational Evaluations Are Conducted?

Are schools required to conduct their own evaluations after an independent educational evaluation (IEE) is conducted?

“No,” is the answer from Rory Duffield and Lourrie Duddridge, two senior specialists with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), one of the largest school districts in the United States.

Fairfax County Public Schools Leadership Team Annual Employment Contracts

Employment contracts for Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) leadership team were released today. FCPS released them in response to a FOIA request submitted by parent Debra Tisler — and then turned around and attempted to recall the response.

The contracts provided to her today include information that should be publicly available as it details the terms of contracts for FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand and numerous other “leadership team” members who are responsible for the education of Fairfax County’s students and the running of its school system.

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Announces Initiative to Stop Practice of Paying Less than Minimum Wage to Individuals who have Disabilities

March 18, 2022, the United States Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration announced an initiative that is “aimed at increasing access for people with disabilities to jobs that pay good wages.”

According to a press release distributed by USDOE, the initiative “is the largest discretionary grant administered by RSA, with $167 million available to State Vocational Rehabilitation agencies and their partners . . .”

U.S. Dept. of Education Finds Virginia at Fault for Continued Noncompliance

The United States Department of Education determined the Virginia Department of Education “has not demonstrated correction of all the noncompliance identified in USDOE’s June 23, 2020, Differentiated Monitoring and Support monitoring letter and that it remains “concerned about the volume and nature of the concerns raised by .”

February 8, 2022, USDOE sent VDOE its response to VDOE’s corrective action information.

Special Education Action obtained the February 8, 2022, letter yesterday in response to a FOIA request submitted to VDOE.

Former VDOE Superintendent James Lane Heads to Washington; How Will U.S. Dept. of Education Defend Hiring the Official Who Reigned Over Years of VDOE Failures?

James Lane, the former superintendent of public instruction at the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is making a move from Richmond to Washington, D.C.

How will USDOE defend hiring the senior official who reigned over so many years of failure?

Office of Civil Rights Opens Investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools; Retaliation

Fairfax County Public Schools is again the focus of an investigation by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

January 27, 2022, OCR issued a letter announcing the opening of the investigation.

Retaliatory actions are the focus of the complaint.

Fairfax County School Board’s Legal Fees for Prior Restraint Lawsuit Against Parents Now Expected to Exceed $300,000

“What we’re doing here is — what the defendants are doing is enforcing their rights under the First Amendment, and those rights, enforcing their rights under the First Amendment, is about as high in the public interest scale as you can get.”

~Judge Richard E. Gardiner

November 16, 2021, Judge Richard E. Gardiner ruled that a Fairfax County School Board’s (FCSB) lawsuit against two parents was “about as much a prior restraint as there ever could be” and he characterized one of the Board’s arguments as “almost frivolous.”

As legal fees continue to roll in, the total spent by FCSB now is expected to exceed $300,000.

The irony of the FCSB wasting $200,000+ of taxpayer funds to sue two taxpayers who dared to expose wasteful spending is impossible to ignore.

1.28.22 VDOE systemic letter of findings on Loudon County Public Schools

Loudon County Public Schools at Fault for Systemic Violations Related to Independent Educational Evaluations; Must Reimburse Parents for Out-of-Pocket Costs

January 28, 2022, the Virginia Department of Education issued a Letter of Findings in which it ruled Loudon County Public Schools “to be in noncompliance with regard to cost containment criteria, submission or reports, and pre-evaluation discussions,” related to Independent Educational Evaluations.

In a surprising move from a state agency averse to investigating complaints at a systemic level, VDOE ordered LCPS to “reimburse parents who have paid out of pocket for IEEs due to the unreasonable cost containment criteria,” which means the Corrective Action Plan encompasses parents who were not included in the initial complaint.

FCPS at Fault for Two More Privacy Breaches; Released Mental Health Information About Almost 60 Thomas Jefferson High School Students

October 8th and 28th of 2021, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) again breached the privacy of its students, to include sharing mental health-related information for about 60 Thomas Jefferson High School students.

Fairfax County School Board Spent over $115,000 on a lawsuit it tried to make disappear

Fairfax County School Board Spent Over $115,000 on Lawsuit it Tried to Make Disappear; More Legal Invoices to Come

In a period of just two weeks, between September 16 and September 30, 2021, Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) racked up legal fees of $116,001.42 with law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, in relation to one lawsuit that later it tried to make disappear. Matters related to the lawsuit continued into December, to include two hearings and a nonsuit, so the final bill is expected to be in excess of $200,000.

The lawsuit was filed against me and another FCPS (Fairfax County Public Schools) parent after this site published some of FCPS’s legal invoices. The published invoices were obtained legally after FCPS released 1,316 pages as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response. FCPS later tried to claw back the documents after being made aware it released documents damaging to its reputation. When that didn’t work, FCSB filed a lawsuit.