Special Education Action is a 501(c)3 nonprofit publisher covering special education.
Its mission is to ensure parents, educators, and students have the information and tools necessary to fully understand, address, and safeguard the unique needs of all students who require special education.
Recent Articles
Sample State Complaint: Noncompliance of Evaluation Timeline and FAPE
VDOE found Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in noncompliance.
VDOE’s Letter of Findings, in which it stated FCPS’s noncompliance is included, following the complaint.
It’s the Law: Assistive Technology Devices and Services
This includes assistive technology devices and services. Examples include:
* A laptop that 1) scans worksheets, which the student can then type on (because typing might be easier than writing), and 2) can be used to take pictures of the front board, notes, or any other information the child needs.
* A computer with a screen reader, to help with literacy
* Access to Learning Ally and other sources for audiobooks
* Noise-cancelling head-phones
*Voice-recognition software
If your child needs assistive technology devices or services, under both IDEA and Section 504, your child has the right to be provided them.
(7.22.22 Update) Fairfax County Employee Accused of Stealing Students’ Medications; Criminal Investigation Ensues
July 22, 2022: Article updated to include information about Jennifer Carpenter’s indictment, the police investigation, and the tip line set up in an attempt to gain more information related to the case.
June 10, 2022: Article updated to include FOIA response from Fairfax County Police Department and other cited documents.
June 8, 2022: Article first published.
Fairfax County Police Department and Fair Oaks Police Department are investigating Jennifer Carpenter regarding a “discrepancy in medication” that should have been administered to Fairfax County Public Schools students. Carpenter, a health department employee at Greenbriar East Elementary School, is accused of stealing medication such as Adderall and Ritalin, and instead administering an antihistamine to students.
FCPS Had a Pandemic Plan in 2007; Internal Records Provide Toxic Portrait of FCPS’s “Best and Brightest”
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
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.
