WASHINGTON — One local school system has been facing several open federal civil rights complaints in the past few years.
Since the 2015-2016 school year, 30 federal civil rights investigations have been opened against the Loudoun County Public Schools, the Loudoun Times-Mirror reports.
Sixteen of those cases have been closed, and more than half of the closed cases have been dismissed.
But the 14 active investigations that remain open with the Office of Civil Rights allege discrimination or retaliation against either a student or an advocate for a student with a disability.
A Loudoun County Public Schools spokesperson told the Times-Mirror that LCPS quickly fixes any violations identified by the Office of Civil Rights.
The grievances reported to the OCR include the system declining to offer benefits or failing to provide students with a Free and Appropriate Public Education [FAPE] as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act [IDEA]
Attorney Joan Proper, who specializes in special education law, says she has noticed an increase in possible retaliation against parents who advocate for improved educational services for their children with disabilities.
“I have had several parents…they’ve come in to see me for other issues, maybe they’ve come in and we’re meeting because they’re trying to advocate for better services or different services through the school system,” Proper said. “And then almost as an afterthought, the parent will say ‘Oh yeah, and they also called CPS on me.’”
Proper says there may be situations where calling Child Protective Services on a parent is warranted since, as mandatory reporters, school systems have to report if they suspect neglect and abuse.
“But I’ve heard several cases in the last year where parents were advocating,” Proper said. “I wasn’t hearing any signs of abuse or neglect even through the paperwork, and the report to CPS just didn’t make any sense.”
Proper says parents come to her for help navigating the Individualized Education Plan [IEP] process, among other guidance.
Proper is working a case now where the school system was essentially saying they didn’t have information—“that the parent wasn’t advocating for their child and getting their child the help that they needed, when the school was on notice that the parent was absolutely advocating for what the child needed, and was getting the child the appropriate services,” Proper said.
“So it’s an alarming issue, it’s very concerning,” Proper said. “I think parents don’t realize that there is a remedy for that. If they’re concerned CPS was called on them as almost a punishment or as a way to kind of scare them off that they may have a retaliation claim they could file with OCR.”
An LCPS spokesperson declined comment.
