FCPS is in big trouble

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having all those meetings is a colossal waste
of time.
"Compensatory time" can't happen with no staff.
Can they use ESSR money and just cut families checks to pay for private services?

No one is getting “checks.”

That's what DC did.

There's not enough staff to provide even 5% of the owed compensatory learning. What's your proposal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Office of Civil Right’s investigation “found that the School Division inappropriately reduced and limited services provided to students with disabilities, based on considerations other than the students’ individual educational needs, and failed to adequately remedy these denials of FAPE.” OCR said it also “identified concerns with staffing shortages and other administrative obstacles that may have limited the School Division’s provision of FAPE, as well as its ability to sufficiently track its FAPE services."

So FCPS was unable to provide FAPE because of staffing shortages and other obstacles - because there was a pandemic.

The crushing scheduling and paperwork burden of having to do an extra IEP meeting for every single current student and a bunch of former students is going to cause even more burnout among the remaining staff and probably feed the spiral.

I don't know what the answer is. Special ed students were failed during the pandemic. They're being failed now. But there are serious, serious structural problems with IDEA, funding, staffing, all of it, and it's coming apart at the seams. OCR's "remedy" is not a solution to any of it and will probably just make things worse. It'll end up with more empty promises and garbage on paper because they can't hire anybody to fill them.

This was my first thought. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a special education teacher even before this. My other thought was that many other districts are probably in the same boat.

I’m concerned this will make things worse.

It's going to fuel resentment when kids are placed in front of computers so that teachers can have time to comply with this agreement. Too bad the concept of FAPE doesn't exist outside of special education

Do you even know what FAPE stands for? Why would it need to exist outside of special education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Office of Civil Right’s investigation “found that the School Division inappropriately reduced and limited services provided to students with disabilities, based on considerations other than the students’ individual educational needs, and failed to adequately remedy these denials of FAPE.” OCR said it also “identified concerns with staffing shortages and other administrative obstacles that may have limited the School Division’s provision of FAPE, as well as its ability to sufficiently track its FAPE services."

So FCPS was unable to provide FAPE because of staffing shortages and other obstacles - because there was a pandemic.

I have saved an email from the school reading specialist who was working 1-on-1 with my daughter per her IEP that basically said she couldn’t do the 1-on-1 virtually because she was watching her own children.

It still makes me laugh that she put it in writing and thought that was a valid reason to not do her job.

Yup. I’m a lawyer. I can’t imagine telling my clients I can’t write the brief because I’m watching my kids.

Pay teachers like attorneys and they'll be more inclined to make that stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Office of Civil Right’s investigation “found that the School Division inappropriately reduced and limited services provided to students with disabilities, based on considerations other than the students’ individual educational needs, and failed to adequately remedy these denials of FAPE.” OCR said it also “identified concerns with staffing shortages and other administrative obstacles that may have limited the School Division’s provision of FAPE, as well as its ability to sufficiently track its FAPE services."

So FCPS was unable to provide FAPE because of staffing shortages and other obstacles - because there was a pandemic.

The crushing scheduling and paperwork burden of having to do an extra IEP meeting for every single current student and a bunch of former students is going to cause even more burnout among the remaining staff and probably feed the spiral.

I don't know what the answer is. Special ed students were failed during the pandemic. They're being failed now. But there are serious, serious structural problems with IDEA, funding, staffing, all of it, and it's coming apart at the seams. OCR's "remedy" is not a solution to any of it and will probably just make things worse. It'll end up with more empty promises and garbage on paper because they can't hire anybody to fill them.

This was my first thought. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a special education teacher even before this. My other thought was that many other districts are probably in the same boat.

I’m concerned this will make things worse.

It's going to fuel resentment when kids are placed in front of computers so that teachers can have time to comply with this agreement. Too bad the concept of FAPE doesn't exist outside of special education

Do you even know what FAPE stands for? Why would it need to exist outside of special education?

Do you understand that there are a finite number of hours in a day and when teachers have one group of students where everything has to be documented and another where no feedback or documentation is required, that one group will get no attention?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is way too large and horribly (and corruptly) managed. At some point maybe it will collapse of its own weight and be broken into smaller, more manageable districts but until then the disasters will just continue to pile up.

You think smaller districts don't have corruption and major problems too?

I’m in New Jersey which has notoriously small school districts - and excellent public schools and services.

Having been around both FCPS and this system, I can undoubtedly say the smaller districts have more advantageous and fewer issues.

PP is there a disparity in schools and services between richer and poorer districts?

[Anonymous]

When you focus on the most needy students the middle gets left behind. The middle is what needs the most focus ti make anything work well, including schools and the economy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is way too large and horribly (and corruptly) managed. At some point maybe it will collapse of its own weight and be broken into smaller, more manageable districts but until then the disasters will just continue to pile up.

You think smaller districts don't have corruption and major problems too?

I’m in New Jersey which has notoriously small school districts - and excellent public schools and services.

Having been around both FCPS and this system, I can undoubtedly say the smaller districts have more advantageous and fewer issues.

PP is there a disparity in schools and services between richer and poorer districts?

What do you think happens when schools are funded by local property tax and districts are carefully drawn to include and exclude? Add in the effect of being in a good or bad district on property values over decades and you get massive disparities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Office of Civil Right’s investigation “found that the School Division inappropriately reduced and limited services provided to students with disabilities, based on considerations other than the students’ individual educational needs, and failed to adequately remedy these denials of FAPE.” OCR said it also “identified concerns with staffing shortages and other administrative obstacles that may have limited the School Division’s provision of FAPE, as well as its ability to sufficiently track its FAPE services."

So FCPS was unable to provide FAPE because of staffing shortages and other obstacles - because there was a pandemic.

The crushing scheduling and paperwork burden of having to do an extra IEP meeting for every single current student and a bunch of former students is going to cause even more burnout among the remaining staff and probably feed the spiral.

I don't know what the answer is. Special ed students were failed during the pandemic. They're being failed now. But there are serious, serious structural problems with IDEA, funding, staffing, all of it, and it's coming apart at the seams. OCR's "remedy" is not a solution to any of it and will probably just make things worse. It'll end up with more empty promises and garbage on paper because they can't hire anybody to fill them.

This was my first thought. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a special education teacher even before this. My other thought was that many other districts are probably in the same boat.

I’m concerned this will make things worse.

I don't think anyone is blaming the special ed teachers- they don't get support from FCPS leadership and it is the leadership that is making policy and curriculum decisions. I am glad OCR is trying to hold them accountable because it has been years of complaints to VA DOE and USDOE. Special Ed is not optional and FCPS has treated it that way.

It's going to fuel resentment when kids are placed in front of computers so that teachers can have time to comply with this agreement. Too bad the concept of FAPE doesn't exist outside of special education

Do you even know what FAPE stands for? Why would it need to exist outside of special education?

Do you understand that there are a finite number of hours in a day and when teachers have one group of students where everything has to be documented and another where no feedback or documentation is required, that one group will get no attention?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Office of Civil Right’s investigation “found that the School Division inappropriately reduced and limited services provided to students with disabilities, based on considerations other than the students’ individual educational needs, and failed to adequately remedy these denials of FAPE.” OCR said it also “identified concerns with staffing shortages and other administrative obstacles that may have limited the School Division’s provision of FAPE, as well as its ability to sufficiently track its FAPE services."

So FCPS was unable to provide FAPE because of staffing shortages and other obstacles - because there was a pandemic.

I have saved an email from the school reading specialist who was working 1-on-1 with my daughter per her IEP that basically said she couldn’t do the 1-on-1 virtually because she was watching her own children.

It still makes me laugh that she put it in writing and thought that was a valid reason to not do her job.

Yup. I’m a lawyer. I can’t imagine telling my clients I can’t write the brief because I’m watching my kids.

Seriously? As a lawyer, you make the kind of salary where you can find a good sitter during a pandemic. No wonder teachers are leaving in droves. I am a mom of a child with autism and even she understands finances play a role here.

Do you realize that not all lawyers are well-paid? Many lawyers doing government work, especially at the state level (public defenders, prosecutors, other government attorneys), make comparable salaries to teachers in the DMV and are granted few accommodations when it comes to getting the job done. They don't get to use low wages as an excuse not to do their jobs.

[Anonymous]

DD was days into getting evaluated by FCPS when the pandemic started. We paid for an OG tutor out of pocket because it was clear to us her schooling would suffer during quarantine. Obviously she only learned from the tutor and us. We've since moved. FCPS (at least our elementary school) doesn't work well for 2E kids (especially with dyslexia) and the privates in the DC area are a tad pricey.

FCPS also employs are LARGE army of lawyers. I don't recall but I think you can find the budget line item for their legal representation. It's not a small number.

I hope they fix a lot of things for the students on IEP's and 504's (and not make it so difficult to get what students need).

[Anonymous]

Fcps owes each student private school tuition for the last 3 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is way too large and horribly (and corruptly) managed. At some point maybe it will collapse of its own weight and be broken into smaller, more manageable districts but until then the disasters will just continue to pile up.

You think smaller districts don't have corruption and major problems too?

I’m in New Jersey which has notoriously small school districts - and excellent public schools and services.

Having been around both FCPS and this system, I can undoubtedly say the smaller districts have more advantageous and fewer issues.

Virginia law would have to be changed.

No doubt. But having experienced both, I absolutely am a fan of the hyper localized school system in NJ. The schools and public services are excellent and the administrations highly responsive to the local communities whose taxes finance them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like all FCPS focuses on now is special Ed. They just spent hours this week on special Ed, they had multiple long work sessions this fall on the special Ed audit and paid who knows home much for that study. Now they’re gearing up for more special Ed planning based on the results of that study. I guess this will just be another special Ed issue that the system focuses on. Forget about everyone else.

GMAFB. You need to check yourself when you have no idea what is happening to our children in this system. Pathetic to come onto the SN Forum to make this comment when you have no clue. Maybe the reason they need to focus on special education now is because they have failed tremendously and are being called to the carpet. My kid cannot write one darn word never mind a sentence. Not one. He is an otherwise bright and charming kid. We spend a ton of money on outside services to try to help him partly because FCPS has allotted him 15 minutes of OT a MONTH. They might as well have given him nothing. So, probably you need to march right back over to the FCPS Forum and start another thread complaining about the SN kids in your precious child's class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is way too large and horribly (and corruptly) managed. At some point maybe it will collapse of its own weight and be broken into smaller, more manageable districts but until then the disasters will just continue to pile up.

You think smaller districts don't have corruption and major problems too?

I’m in New Jersey which has notoriously small school districts - and excellent public schools and services.

Having been around both FCPS and this system, I can undoubtedly say the smaller districts have more advantageous and fewer issues.

PP is there a disparity in schools and services between richer and poorer districts?

Yes, but it’s a bit more complicated financially - for example, separate funding streams exist as per the state’s Supreme Court ruling for 31 urban so-called Abbott districts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is way too large and horribly (and corruptly) managed. At some point maybe it will collapse of its own weight and be broken into smaller, more manageable districts but until then the disasters will just continue to pile up.

You think smaller districts don't have corruption and major problems too?

I’m in New Jersey which has notoriously small school districts - and excellent public schools and services.

Having been around both FCPS and this system, I can undoubtedly say the smaller districts have more advantageous and fewer issues.

Virginia law would have to be changed.

No doubt. But having experienced both, I absolutely am a fan of the hyper localized school system in NJ. The schools and public services are excellent and the administrations highly responsive to the local communities whose taxes finance them.

You just described the downside, right there.