U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights FOIA Responses
FCPS Knows Its IEPs Are Noncompliant, Leads Hearing Officer, Virginia Dept. of Ed., Staff, and Parents to Believe Otherwise
September 14, 2022, Michelle and Dawn admitted FCPS’s IEPs are in noncompliance with IDEA and state regulations, that FCPS was changing the PLOP page in the IEP to a Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) page, and moving meeting notes to a different section. This contradicts Dawn’s 2020 testimony to Due Process Hearing Officer Rhonda Mitchell.
U.S. Department of Education Releases Update on Arkansas Monitoring; Noncompliance Continues in 8 out of 9 Areas Identified
Although OSEP characterizes such letters as “close-out” letters, they are more status reports than close-out letters, since the latter infers close-out of all monitoring, rather than one of nine issues being closed out in this case, with eight of nine remaining in noncompliance.
Office for Civil Rights Opens Investigation Into Virginia Department of Education; Did VDOE’s COVID-19 Guidance Lead School Divisions to Deny FAPE to Students Who Have Disabilities?
June 7, 2003, Case No. 11-23-4044:
“Complainant alleged that VDOE discriminated against students with disabilities by failing to provide an audio the accommodation for a Standard of Learning (SOL) reading and writing field test assessment for the 2022-2023 school year.”
June 9, 2003, Case No. 11-23-4004:
“Whether the VDOE’s guidance regarding the provision of special education and related services during the COVID-19 pandemic led school divisions to deny FAPE to students with disabilities.”
What Are U.S. Dept. of Education Determinations and Why Do You Need To Know About Them?
Look to U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Program’s annual “determinations” for answers.
Every year, states and “entities” are required to evaluate their implementation of IDEA and submit their State Performance Plan and Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) to USDOE, which subsequently releases determination letters based on SPP/APR in response. There’s a two year lag, so the 2023 determination letters, as an example, reflect the 2021 SPPs/APRs submitted by the states and entities, and provide the determination and basis for determination based on the 2021 period.
U.S. Dept. of Education Releases 2023 Determination Letters; Virginia Failed to Meet Requirements, While States Like Alabama Climbed Out of Years of “Needs Assistance” Determinations
While a few states improved their performance, others continued to fail.
In 2023, 23 states or entities met requirements, as compared to 22 in 2022; six states need assistance (one year) in 2023, compared to 3 in 2022; 29 need assistance (two or more consecutive years) in 2023, compared to 35 in 2022; and two states need intervention in 2023, compared to zero in 2022.
Fairfax County Public Schools Provided False Information to Office for Civil Rights
Dawn Schaefer, director of FCPS’s office of special education procedural support admitted FCPS’s action this past month in a letter to Virginia Department of Education.
Accommodation Breakdown: Reduced Load
“Reduced Load” is an accommodation that is wordsmithed like a politician’s speech. It doesn’t matter if your gut reaction to it is good or bad. Either way, you’re left wondering what it really means.
A reduced load is exactly what it sounds like: it is a reduction of the load the student must address.
What’s confusing about that?
Systemic Noncompliance: VA Dept. of Education finds Fairfax County at Fault for Refusing to Provide Related Service of Vision Therapy
Fairfax County Public Schools is in hot water again for another count of refusing to provide services to students. About six months after Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found FCPS at fault for systemic noncompliance between April 2020 and June 2022, and required FCPS to meet with the families of 28,000+ current and graduated students to determine compensatory services for students enrolled during the time period investigated by OCR, Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) found FCPS at fault for more systemic noncompliance. Like OCR, VDOE is requiring FCPS to meet with the families of students impacted and address compensatory education owed to the students.
U.S. Dept. of Education Releases Monitoring Close-Out Letters for Bureau of Indian Affairs, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas
The letters were issued between 2021 and May 2023, however OSEP waited until the past two months to publicly release them on USDOE’s website.
They detail years of monitoring, corrective actions required by OSEP, continued noncompliance, and the states eventually satisfying the action required by OSEP. However, in states like North Carolina and Texas there are a few caveats. caveats.
Seven Years and Millions of Children Later, U.S. Dept. of Education Announces Continued Monitoring of Texas
U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs announced it will continue its years-long monitoring of Texas Education Agency.
May 4, 2023, OSEP Director Valerie Williams issued a letter to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, stating OSEP discovered TEA has been investigating Austin Independent School District for more than a year, “due to the district’s years-long backlog of special education evaluations, as required by the child find and evaluations requirements (34 C.F.R. §§ 300.301-306).”
The content of OSEP’s May 4, 2023, letter isn’t a surprise, although the letter being listed as a “DMS Close-out Letter” is an eyebrow raiser. TEA has a long history of failing to address the unique needs of children and providing them a free appropriate public education.
“Science of Reading” Is Important, But Can We Please Talk About Occupational Therapy’s Role in Reading Interventions?
However, being taught the necessary skills to read and write involves more than teaching children encoding and decoding. It involves learning how to hold a book and a pencil, tracking words on a page or screen, learning what strategies to use when fatigue or frustration overcome them, learning how to best advocate when they are struggling, identifying assistive technology to help them and teaching them how to use the assistive technology, and identifying and providing the specially-designed instruction needed to teach students this other side of reading and writing, and how to practice and perfect it.
Failing Grades Are Not A Prerequisite For Special Education Evaluations
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states that child find must include “Children who are suspected of being a child with a disability under §300.8 and in need of special education, even though they are advancing from grade to grade”. (Emphasis added. See 34 CFR 300.111(c)(1).)