U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights FOIA Responses
U.S. Dept. of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office Rules FCPS at Fault for Privacy Breach
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.
South County High School Breaches Student Confidentiality Again
5.21.21: Just four days after FCPS spoke with USDOE SPPO, SCHS staff member Tina Wrubluski violated the privacy of numerous students when she shared her computer screen during an IEP meeting. Although numerous people kept trying to obtain her attention, Tina continued working away, making document folders about specific students available for viewing.
$122 Billion Available; How Will Your School Division Use Its Funds?
The United States’ money tree still has $122 billion in funding available to all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Yesterday, April 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released a template for the application states must submit before USDOE will release remaining American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) fund dollars. States are required to submit their plans to USDOE for approval.
According to the template’s instructions, each state education agency (SEA) must address all requirements listed in the template. This includes, but is not limited to identifying needs of underserved students, and “how the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements, including but not limited to the interventions under section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost instructional time, will respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students.”
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.
Office of Civil Rights Opens Investigation of Fairfax County Public Schools
April 13, 2021, FCPS staff exchanged an internal e-mail in which FCPS admitted fault and an intention to discuss entering into a rapid resolution with OCR.
Call for Nominations, State Board of Education Advisory Committees
How are members nominated and elected to serve?
When will the next round of individuals be nominated?
If you don’t already know the answers to these questions, please visit your state education agency’s (SEA) site (or call) to find out who is representing you and your children — and to perhaps seek a nomination to the committee yourself.
FOIA Release: Fairfax County Public Schools’ 4.1.20 Special Education Department Chair and 504 Meeting
The video, video chat, and video transcript in this article are from Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) 4.1.20 Special Education Chair and 504 Meeting.
Fairfax County Public Schools Is Offering In-Person, In-School Instruction Four Days A Week; Neglects To Include Students Who Need It
The Problem: Parents of students who need such an option have not had it offered to them—and many don’t even know the option exists.
Contact Your State Education Agency; It Is Required To Request Input On Its Waiver Requests
Contact your state education agency (SEA).
If it is seeking a waiver from the United Stated Department of Education (USDOE), it is required to give the public notice and a reasonable time for it to comment.
February 22, 2021, USDOE issued a letter inviting states to request waivers for the 2020-21 school year “of the accountability and school identification requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).”
From “Just Words” to Lexia, FCPS Continued Its One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Addressing Dyslexia
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) did it again.
It used a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing the needs of students who struggle with reading.
In 2020, Lexia gave FCPS 999,999 licenses for its programs.
FCPS’ response?
The FCPS Office of Special Education Instruction (OSEI) recommended Lexia for all students who were using “Just Words” prior to Governor Ralph Northam’s March 23, 2020 executive order calling for the cessation of in-person instruction.
FOIA Release: Fairfax County Public Schools’ 9.21.20 Special Education Chair Meetings
The documents and videos in this article relate to the morning and afternoon sessions of Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) 9.21.20 Special Education Chair Meeting.
Both meetings cover the following topics:
FCPS Online Campus
Data Collection
Sharing Successes
Career and Transition Services
Recovery Services
Due Process & Eligibility and SEA-STARS
OSEI Updates
Related Services