District of Columbia Public Schools Finally Signs Office for Civil Rights Resolution Agreement After Findings of Extensive Discrimination and Denial of FAPE
March 18, 2026, OCR warned enforcement could follow if DCPS didn’t agree to OCR's resolution agreement. Almost three months later, DCPS signed.
March 18, 2026, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the results of its directed investigation into District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). OCR concluded that DCPS violated Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act and Title II of Americans with Disabilities Act by denying students who have disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
This wasn’t a complaint about one student. OCR opened the directed investigation March 5, 2025, to examine whether DCPS was failing to evaluate or reevaluate students in an individualized manner, whether that failure forced parents and guardians to rely on due process complaints, and whether DCPS’s transportation system resulted in the denial of FAPE to students who have disabilities.
OCR’s March 18 press release said OCR had issued a proposed resolution agreement to DCPS and warned:
“OCR issued a proposed Resolution Agreement to the District that specifies actions to remedy the violation of Section 504 and Title II. If an agreement is reached, OCR will monitor the Agreement to ensure the District fulfills all terms and obligations. As a part of that monitoring, if necessary, OCR may conduct additional interviews, obtain data, or take necessary steps to ensure the noncompliance is remedied. If an agreement is not reached, the U.S. Department of Education may initiate enforcement action.”
June 11, 2026—almost three months later—DCPS signed a resolution agreement with OCR. (Additional Reading: “Office for Civil Rights Finds District of Columbia Public Schools at Fault for Extensive Discrimination Against Students Who Have Disabilities”)
Those almost three months came on top of a class-action lawsuit involving transportation for students who have disabilities in D.C. That lawsuit, Robertson et al. v. District of Columbia, was filed in federal court and concerns claims that the district failed to provide safe, reliable, and appropriate transportation to students who have disabilities. According to OSSE’s April 2026 notice, the class includes:
“All students with disabilities aged 3–22 who, from March 7, 2022, until judgment is issued in this case, require transportation from the District to attend school and have experienced and will continue to experience unsafe, unreliable, or inappropriate transportation services from the District.”
(Additional Reading: Class-Action Lawsuit Continues Forward; Related Service of Transportation at Core of Suit Against District of Columbia’s OSSE)
