Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Update – December 2022

Update 12/21/2022

We know that our community is anxious to learn more about what the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) findings will mean in practice moving forward. If you have not yet had a chance to read the findings, you can read the OCR letter and resolution agreement at these links:

OCR Letter to FCPS

OCR/FCPS Resolution Agreement

In addition to the links above, Dawn Schaefer – Director of the Office of Procedural Support for FCPS – gave a presentation to the Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities (ACSD), FCPS’ state-mandated special education advisory committee (SEAC) on 12/14/2022. We encourage FCPS families to watch this appx. 25 min presentation to learn more about the finding and steps FCPS is planning moving forward. The embedded video below is cued up to the timestamp of the OCR presentation (2:01:00).

OCR has also provided additional guidance to all schools addressing the provision of FAPE during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for compensatory services under Section 504. You can find that OCR fact sheet at this link:

OCR Fact Sheet: Providing Students with Disabilities Free and Appropriate Public Education during the Covid-19 pandemic and Addressing the Need for Compensatory Services Under Section 504 (issued February 2022).

FCPS will be having 3 community town halls related to this in early 2023. We will share information regarding those events when it is available. Please continue to check back as we will post updates when applicable over the coming months.