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
(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.
How to Submit a FERPA Request
What Is An Education Record?
An education record simply isn’t a file consisting of report cards and progress reports. It includes such records as emails and legal invoices, too.
(7.8.22 Update) Fairfax County School Board Heads to Court Over FOIA Request; Delays Publishing of Office of Civil Rights Investigation Records
June 10, 2022, article updated to include new information, to include information about retaliation and the scheduled hearing date.
June 2, 2022: Article first published.
Fairfax County School Board is headed to court over a Freedom of Information Act request.
This is the second time in nine months that FCSB’s FOIA-response-related actions (and inactions) have resulted in SpecialEducationAction.com being prevented from publishing internal Fairfax County Public Schools documents. In addition, FOIA’d documents related to the first case apply to the case at hand.
In the case at hand, the FOIA’d records relate to the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights’ investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools, which it announced January 12, 2021, along with its intention to investigate Los Angeles Unified School District and Seattle Public Schools.