U.S. Dept. of Ed. Differentiated Monitoring and Support Letters, Reports, and Findings - Special Education Action

Virginia’s Noncompliance Continues; U.S. Dept. of Education States More Concerns Exist

June 23, 2020, United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs determined Virginia Department of Education is in noncompliance with federal regulations and issued a DMS report.

For each issue cited, OSEP required an action to address the issue—and these actions had 90-day timelines associated with them.

Almost two-and-a-half years later, issues remain, the DMS report has yet to be closed out, and more concerns continue to rise.

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.

Texas and Virginia: Too Big to Fail

Texas and Virginia vary in physical size and population, but one thing they have in common is they are both too big to fail children — especially those who need special education supports.

Texas is toward the top of the list of U.S. states when it comes to federal, state, and local revenue, but Virginia has Fairfax County, a school district with one of the largest budgets and per pupil spending in the United States.

And yet . . . They’ve both failed.

In the case of Texas, the United States Department of Education’s (USDOE) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) just announced that USDOE will be reducing funds provided to Texas and putting specific conditions in place.

Will OSEP follow with Virginia?

U.S. Dept. of Ed Investigates Virginia Dept. of Ed

June 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) released its report on an on-site monitoring visit conducted by OSEP on May 28 and 29 of 2019.

Problems identified by OSEP relate to complaints and due process, mediation, independent education evaluations, and overall monitoring failures.

It is curious that just two days later, OSEP released its “2020 Determination Letters on State Implementation of IDEA”, which lists Virginia as “Meets Requirements”.

How is it possible for VDOE to receive this rating?