VDOE Finds Prince William County Public Schools in Noncompliance with IDEA

January 16, 2025, Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) found Prince William County Public Schools (PWCPS) at fault for noncompliance with IDEA.

The complainant alleged PWCPS' noncompliance related to IEP content and implementation, parent request for an IEP meeting, transportation, and denial of FAPE.

Although VDOE found PWCPS in compliance on the majority of the issues investigated, it found PWCPS in noncompliance regarding the parent request for an IEP meeting.

VDOE cites the following facts regarding the request for an IEP meeting:

  • "The LEA asserts that the Parent’s allegations are unclear, noting that lack of response from the LEA regarding the meeting request is distinctly different from “rejection” of parent request for meeting.
  • "Nevertheless, the LEA admits that the Parent sent a “single e-mail request on August 12, 2024 for an IEP team meeting” and that “it appears to have been inadvertently missed by relevant school staff, which is supported by the fact that there are no emails responding to the Parent’s communication.” The LEA notes that they receive a “large volume of communication” from the Parent, including “at least 10 other communications from the Parent that day The record includes the email from the Parent dated August 12, 2024, to Ms. Mallory, the AD, that states: “Please confirm whether you are refusing to convene an IEP meeting for [Student] to discuss Dr. Lucker’s findings prior to the beginning of the school year.” The Parent also states that she had not yet received the evaluation consent forms discussed at the July 2024 meeting or a response to her IEE request.
  • "The LEA submitted to ODRAS, as additional information, a letter from the Assistant Director Mallory to the Parent on December 23, 2024, stating, in part: “PWCS is now requesting your availability to participate in an IEP meeting to discuss [Student’s] educational programming for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year and your intentions as to any future enrollment in PWCS. At the proposed meeting, PWCS will also consider the results of the Independent Educational Evaluation provided by Dr. Jay Lucker and its potential impact on [Student’s] educational programming. PWCS remains ready, willing, and able to meet [Student’s] needs should you decide to re-enroll him in PWCS.”
  • "While we accept the LEA’s explanation that this error was an unintentional oversight, the regulations are clear that the Parent’s email on August 12, 2024, should have triggered a response from the LEA, either to schedule a meeting at a mutually agreeable time or to reject the Parent’s request and issue PWN. While the LEA had met its obligation to develop an IEP in advance of the school year, having convened three times during the summer 2024, they still remain obligated to respond to the Parent’s request to ask for revisions to the Student’s IEP at any point in time, as required by 8VAC 20-81-110. B.7.
  • "By the LEA’s admission, a response to the request was not provided nor a PWN issued rejecting the request.
  • "Based on the foregoing, we find the LEA out of compliance on Subissue IE, IEP-Parent Request for IEP Meeting."

Corrective Action Plan Doesn't Address Noncompliance

VDOE issued the following corrective action plan (CAP) to PWCPS:

"We note that LEA corresponded with the Parent on December 23, 2024, regarding scheduling of an IEP meeting following due process proceedings in mid-January, 2025. Therefore, to remedy the noncompliance in this case, PWCS is asked to take the following corrective actions no later than February 18, 2025.

  • "Provide an update in writing to the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) Specialist regarding the status of scheduling an IEP meeting to discuss Dr. Lucker’s IEE, including, if applicable, the meeting notice issued to the Parent.
  • "If the meeting has occurred, provide the proposed IEP, associated PWN, and any other pertinent documents to the CAP Specialist."

The CAP fails to require steps to correct the noncompliance and prevent its recurrence.

VDOE did not address the delay in discussing the independent educational evaluation (IEE) prior to the start of the school year, and/or whether that delay negatively impacted the complainant's student.

In addition, VDOE did not address PWCPS' failure to have a system in place to ensure parent emails are read, and IEP meeting requests are responded to, in a timely manner. PWCPS attempted to blame what it alleged was a large number of emails from the parent, hence its inadvertent noncompliance. Whether it was inadvertent or intentional doesn't matter. Noncompliance happened. Human error doesn't excuse noncompliance. Human errors happens all the time. Its existence is one reason why it is important to have human-error proof systems in place.

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