The press release highlights three major categories of discriminatory practices:

• DCPS’s “policies discriminate against students with disabilities, leaving many without timely evaluations and the individualized services they need. Some students wait four months or longer for evaluations, delaying the support essential to their learning and development.”

• DCPS “allows untrained staff members to make decisions about the educational needs of students with disabilities and permits education services to be removed from a students’ plan if the school social worker runs out of time or if a student seems unmotivated to participate.”

• DCPS “has no way to ensure students with disabilities have adequate transportation to and from school, presenting serious safety concerns for these students.”

OCR also described a proposed resolution agreement that would require major structural changes, including:

• “The District will establish a Disability Services Division to oversee the District’s provision of services to students with disabilities;

• “The District will revise its policies related to students with disabilities, including those related to the identification, evaluation, and placement of students with disabilities;

• “The Disability Services Division will provide annual training to District level staff, school transportation staff, Special Education Coordinators, and other school level administrators on the District’s revised procedures for serving students with disabilities; and,

• “The Disability Services Division will develop a process to properly manage transportation requests, bus delays and cancellations, and safety incidents for students with disabilities.”

However, DCPS has not yet accepted OCR’s proposed resolution agreement. According to the press release, if OCR’s proposed resolution agreement is not accepted, OCR may initiate enforcement action.

No Surprise

OCR’s findings didn’t appear in a vacuum.

December 2024, the District of Columbia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reported that DCPS has had one of the highest rates of IDEA due process complaints when measured per 10,000 children served, and concluded DCPS’s “high rate of due process complaints warrants serious attention to explore why families are suing for services they are entitled to.”

Transportation—one of the key focuses of OCR’s investigation—has also escalated into major federal court fights. A federal class action complaint filed in March 2024 alleges systemic failures in DCPS’s special education transportation system.

In its press release, USDOE cites a December 2024 report, District of Columbia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which found DCPS had “more complaints per 10,000 students in the special education area than any other state or territory in the U.S.” In addition, the report highlighted serious transportation issues, including long delays, unreliable schedules, and lax oversight—concerns that mirror those in the class-action lawsuit Robertson et al v. District of Columbia.

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