Anyone been reimbursed yet from FCPS?

[Anonymous]

I didn't get the email about the delay.

Did everyone else get emails? I wonder if our stuff was not submitted.

[Anonymous]

I used to work for FCPS MAS. Pre-covid and pre-seclusion lawsuit, there were nowhere near enough seats in the day schools for the number of FCPS students who had day school placement as their LRE. It was always a game of musical chairs and many times we would have 50-60 kids completely out of school for months waiting for seats.

The day schools get all their funds from local school systems, but are technically private so they are free to accept or reject or cap their enrollment however they choose.

I have seen kids get rejected from every possible day school within a two hour radius. FCPS is legally required to educate them in the placement designated on the IEP, but there is literally no school that will accept them. (And even the kids who had seats--many had terrible situations-we had a kid going from Lorton to Baltimore every day because it was the only school that would take him.)

It is a huge issue that is not discussed. Everyone wants kids with severe challenges out of gen ed classes but no one realizes there is nowhere to send them.

FCPS needs to run more special ed only schools. Relying on the private sector has failed. These day schools charge 100k/year and when you go to them, the classrooms are basically empty, there are no extras, nothing fun, no playground, and the education is garbage. Horrible. (Of course, they also need to fix the schools they do run, like Burke school, which is severely under-resourced.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many kids don't attend school every year because there aren't any open seats or schools for them to attend? That's insane.

+1. Wow. I never thought about this and had no idea this happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm baffled by this whole process. My child missed three years of school b/c FCPS could not find a seat at a special ed center. He literally did not attend school or receive any special ed services at all for 3 years.

As part of the OCR paperwork, they agreed to pay for private speech therapy from August 2022 through August 2024 . Should I be concerned that they are going to run out of funds?

Could you elaborate on this part and why there were no other options? Thanks

His mental health needs were too severe for CSS program, so he was designated for a special ed school, but his packet was rejected from the few schools that were deemed appropriate. So for about a year, he was completely out of school while MAS sent his packet around and waited to hear back. Then he spent time inpatient for mental health. Then the IEP team designated him for a residential school placement. Almost another year passed before it was determined that there were no residential schools that would accept him (they assured me that pre-covid, they would have been able to find a spot for him). Then he was moved back to local private placement and put on temporary virtual home instruction for one hour per day for a high school grade, which everyone on the IEP team agreed was not appropriate, but there were no other options. (I should note that at some point during this time, FCPS stopped placing kids at private special ed schools like phillips that did seclusion, which right or wrong, reduced the number of available seats). 3+ years after he was last enrolled in school, a special ed placement finally agreed to enroll him.

FWIW, during our many, many meetings with FCPS, at one point I was told once there were over 100 FCPS students who were also out of school because they didn't have anywhere that would accept them.

Thank you for that reply. I didn’t know FCPS relies on private schools for these services.

[Anonymous]

They aren't "private schools" the way normal people think about private schools. The school systems are their customers, not the families, and the tuition is paid by the school system to the school. Many have terrible facilities and struggle to staff their programs.

If a kid can't be educated by the FCPS-run special ed programs, FCPS tries to send them to these quasi-private 'day schools'.

[Anonymous]

Here's an example of a "private school" we were sent to look at for 10th grade: Loudoun Phillips. It is located on a giant campground way out in Leesburg (we live in Springfield). The "school" has a few rooms total in the basement of a building. When we toured it, they had 4 students present. They heavily rely on canned instruction from "Edmentum" type computer programs. There is nothing school-like about it.

The picture labeled "classroom" is the only classroom.

I believe they charge FCPS 85k in tuition per student.

https://www.phillipsprograms.org/phillips-schools/phillips-building-futures-loudoun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to work for FCPS MAS. Pre-covid and pre-seclusion lawsuit, there were nowhere near enough seats in the day schools for the number of FCPS students who had day school placement as their LRE. It was always a game of musical chairs and many times we would have 50-60 kids completely out of school for months waiting for seats.

The day schools get all their funds from local school systems, but are technically private so they are free to accept or reject or cap their enrollment however they choose.

I have seen kids get rejected from every possible day school within a two hour radius. FCPS is legally required to educate them in the placement designated on the IEP, but there is literally no school that will accept them. (And even the kids who had seats--many had terrible situations-we had a kid going from Lorton to Baltimore every day because it was the only school that would take him.)

It is a huge issue that is not discussed. Everyone wants kids with severe challenges out of gen ed classes but no one realizes there is nowhere to send them.

FCPS needs to run more special ed only schools. Relying on the private sector has failed. These day schools charge 100k/year and when you go to them, the classrooms are basically empty, there are no extras, nothing fun, no playground, and the education is garbage. Horrible. (Of course, they also need to fix the schools they do run, like Burke school, which is severely under-resourced.)

Agree 100%.
-Another FCPS Special Ed teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't get the email about the delay.

Did everyone else get emails? I wonder if our stuff was not submitted.

I got an email and submitted for tutoring reimbursement. I assume I might get reimbursed in a year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got my check a week or two ago. Filled out the W4 during the last week of school, so basically took all summer break to cut the check.

we have to pay taxes on this? Wtf

… all income is taxed, even settlements from lawsuits (a few types withstanding).

In addition to being a legal necessity, the W-4 also adds an added layer of protection from fraud. Lots of folks started producing some pretty interesting receipts and financial restitution requests once they heard compensation was in play. Asking people to fill in IRS documentation does tend to make the grifters think twice/get cold feet.

Interesting, thanks

[Anonymous]

We had to give fcps a w-4 before they would cut us a reimbursement check for another educational issue. I didn't declare it as income on our taxes as it was reimbursement for an expense they were required to pay.

[Anonymous]

Our IEP team approved a pretty minor reimbursement request and it was sent in in May. I have heard nothing and did not receive an email.

Is there a contact number or email address?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got my check a week or two ago. Filled out the W4 during the last week of school, so basically took all summer break to cut the check.

we have to pay taxes on this? Wtf

… all income is taxed, even settlements from lawsuits (a few types withstanding).

In addition to being a legal necessity, the W-4 also adds an added layer of protection from fraud. Lots of folks started producing some pretty interesting receipts and financial restitution requests once they heard compensation was in play. Asking people to fill in IRS documentation does tend to make the grifters think twice/get cold feet.

Interesting, thanks

the reason they need the W-4 has nothing to do with taxes- and if you can actually talk to someone at FCPS they will tell you this. The W-4 is the only way they can set up a parent as an "account to be paid,' and then they shred the form. It is just another point in the incompetent chart for FCPS.

[Anonymous]

if you would like to email Terri Edmunds- her email is tledmundshea at fcps dot edu. She won't respond but I am certain she is getting the emails from parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's an example of a "private school" we were sent to look at for 10th grade: Loudoun Phillips. It is located on a giant campground way out in Leesburg (we live in Springfield). The "school" has a few rooms total in the basement of a building. When we toured it, they had 4 students present. They heavily rely on canned instruction from "Edmentum" type computer programs. There is nothing school-like about it.

The picture labeled "classroom" is the only classroom.

I believe they charge FCPS 85k in tuition per student.

https://www.phillipsprograms.org/phillips-schools/phillips-building-futures-loudoun

We pay $85K/year for one student?! That’s ridiculous. There should be a limit on what FCPS has to pay per student.

[Anonymous]

The reason fcps outsources those kids is because they have run the numbers
and it would cost them more to educate them in an FCPS building than paying the contract school.

Some kids have very complicated medical/health needs and are expensive to educate.