Va. judge dismisses special education case; plaintiffs file complaint

The lawsuit also alleged that state hearing officers nearly always ruled against parents who challenged decisions about a student’s education. The Fairfax School Board and the state education department both filed motions to dismiss the case on procedural grounds in February. Last week, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in their favor.

The plaintiff’s lawyers said in an interview that they plan to appeal the case. In the meantime, they have filed a civil rights complaint with the office of the attorney general to continue the fight.

“We believe Virginia, and in particular Fairfax County, have repeatedly violated the rights of the disabled under the Virginia Human Rights Act,” said Trevor Chaplick, a parent and lead plaintiff in the case. “We are asking the Virginia Attorney General to investigate these violations, as disabled students are a protected class under the Virginia Human Rights Act.”

Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R), declined to comment on the complaint.

Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons said in an interview that, while the education department was excited about the dismissal of the lawsuit, it would continue efforts to improve special education services in the state.

“We are really digging into our special education to make sure that we have a focus on supporting our fragile students across Virginia and making sure that we are delivering and supporting educators to have great education for all of our students with special needs,” Coons said.

Previous coverage: Disabled kids fighting school placements ‘almost always lose,’ Va. suit says

A Fairfax County spokesperson said in a statement that the school division appreciated the court’s consideration and agreed with the decision to dismiss the case, but FCPS would remain “committed to working with parents to provide students with disabilities an education that meets their needs.”

There have long been concerns over the services that students with disabilities receive, but the scrutiny has become more intense in Virginia. The U.S. Department of Education has launched multiple investigations into how schools in the commonwealth adhere to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that guarantees children with disabilities receive a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE).

In late June, for the first time in more than a decade, the state’s IDEA compliance level fell from “Meets Requirements,” the highest ranking from the federal education department, to “Needs Assistance.” Coons told members of the state education board last week that the lower ranking was due to an accidental error in data filing. Spending more than one year in the “Needs Assistance” classification will lead to more intervention from the federal education department.

There are more than 178,000 students in Virginia with disabilities. The department receives complaints regarding Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings to address students’ needs and services that extend beyond the typical school year. Coons said that complaints have recently been more complex and systemic than in previous years. Complaints about discipline of students and compliance with IDEA are frequent.

The superintendent said she could not comment on specific ongoing investigations but outlined upcoming changes to provide better services to students with disabilities including restructuring the office, tracking complaints from parents to better assess where efforts should be focused and hiring two analysts to evaluate the state’s programs.

“We have 1.3 million children in Virginia, and I think our students with special needs deserve exemplary care and exemplary opportunities for education. And I am prioritizing that work and want to make that a specific area of focus for our office,” Coons said in an interview.

In the complaint filed last week with the office of the attorney general, plaintiffs allege that the Fairfax School Board and state education department discriminated against students with disabilities by overseeing a “systemically defective educational system” that “ultimately prevent families with disabled children from receiving and vindicating their educational rights.” It requests that Miyares open an investigation into both jurisdictions.

Previously: U.S. says Fairfax schools failed students with disabilities amid pandemic

The complaint references the allegations in the dismissed lawsuit about the state’s due process hearings, the procedure in place to settle a disagreement between a school division and a parent on what is appropriate for a student.

The lawsuit discusses Chaplick’s son, referred to only as “D.C.” in the suit, who has autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and Tourette’s syndrome, among other disorders. Chaplick and his wife Vivian asked the school system move their son from his public school to a private residential program, which they said could better accommodate his needs. Their request was denied. The Chaplicks lost their due process hearing to appeal that decision. During a second appeal in 2021, they filed Freedom of Information Act requests to determine how often parents like them won when challenging decisions about their disabled children’s care.

The Chaplicks found that between 2010 and July 2021, just three petitions out of 395 in Northern Virginia prevailed, according to the lawsuit. The data shows across Virginia, just 13 parents in 847 cases, or about 1.5 percent, successfully challenged school district decisions. By comparison, the suit said almost 35 percent of California parents — the state with the most special needs students in the country — won such cases, as did around 15 percent of Maryland parents.

The suit alleged that Virginia’s education department “carefully curated” a slate of hearing officers who almost always sided with the state. According to the suit, two-thirds of the state’s 22 officers examined in the suit have never ruled for parents statewide. The plaintiffs asked in the lawsuit for the court to declare that the state’s review process violated the IDEA and force the state to implement changes that would bring Virginia into compliance.

Chaplick said that the decision to keep fighting despite the dismissal was an attempt to bring systemic changes for parents.

“This isn’t about money. This is about reform and changing the law and ensuring that the state complies with its federal obligations under the IDEA,” he said.

Justin Moyer contributed to this report.