U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is displaying fewer 2026 case resolutions than it did months ago.
Special Education Action’s latest check of OCR’s “Recent Resolution Search” found 76 cases listed for 2026, 38 of which involve disability discrimination. Yet . . .
Almost two months prior the same search found 130 cases, of which 75 involved disability discrimination.
The decline isn’t just a delay in posting new resolutions. The current numbers are lower than those recorded during several earlier checks, including one in June 2026.
What the Earlier Counts Show
Special Education Action recorded the following totals while tracking OCR’s 2026 resolution listings:
June 30, 2026: 83 total, 45 disability discrimination
July 21, 2026: 92 total, 52 disability discrimination
Aug. 27, 2026: 130 total, 75 disability discrimination
Aug.-Oct. 2026: subsequent searches found the same 130/75 results obtained Aug. 27th.
Oct. 16, 2026: 76 total, 38 disability discrimination
A screenshot of Wayback Machine’s Sept. 1, 2026, capture shows 130 cases for 2026, preserving evidence of the earlier total, separate from Special Education Action’s notes and reporting.
An attempt to access a Sept. 1, 2026, version of the disability discrimination results through Wayback Machine was unsuccessful, as were attempts to access captures from later dates.
Important: The decline doesn’t establish that exactly 54 distinct cases were deleted. New entries, removed entries and changes in how cases are classified could affect the totals.
Beyond June
Special Education Action’s review suggests that resolutions dated after early June are missing from the current results.
Special attention needs to be given to the dates. A letter’s date, an agreement’s signing date, and the date OCR posts those records aren’t necessarily the same. For example, OCR’s Aug. 14, 2026, resolution letter for Jenks Public Schools (JPS) accompanied an agreement signed earlier this summer, for the compliance review started 17 years earlier. Special Education Action reported on the JPS resolution letter and agreement when it was still coming up in OCR’s current search results.
Later Resolutions Are Documented
Copies retained by Special Education Action establish that OCR issued resolution letters after early June. These records address students’ access to instruction, services and school activities.
Special Education Action was working its way through writing about each case, finding, and/or resolution. It saved the following names and dates but didn’t save every full name, state, or case number. It couldn’t find matching entries in OCR’s current search results.
June 15, 2026: Maine Community College
June 15, 2026: Eastern Maine Community College
July 1, 2026: Pace University
July 13, 2026: Sapulpa
July 20, 2026: Duluth Public Schools
July 21, 2026: Seminole County
July 22, 2026: Blanchester Local
July 24, 2026: University of Oklahoma
July 24, 2026: Clayton
July 28, 2026: Huntsville
July 29, 2026: Detroit
Aug. 3, 2023: Montgomery
Aug. 3, 2023: Coventry
Aug. 3, 2023: Walled Lake
Aug. 10, 2026: Gahanna Jefferson
August 11, 2026: Coalinga Huron
Aug. 11, 2026: Twin Falls
8.14.26: Louisiana State University, three separate complaints
The following cases were covered by Special Education Action before it could no longer find them in OCR’s search results. The dates below are the resolution letter dates.
July 8, 2026: Sandhills Public Schools
July 9, 2026: Paramount Charter School
July 13, 2026: Council Rock School District
July 16, 2026: Tarkington Independent School District
July 17, 2026: Kerman Unified School District
July 20, 2026: Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs
August 7, 2026: Prince George’s County Public Schools
Aug. 17, 2026: Jenks Public Schools
Special Education Action also downloaded records for the following cases but hasn’t written about them yet. It couldn’t find these cases in OCR’s current search results either.
July 17, 2026: Baltimore City Public Schools (OCR Case No. 03-25-1396)
Aug. 19, 2026: Montgomery County Public Schools (OCR Case No. 04-17-1163)
Aug. 20, 2026: Advantage Charter (OCR Case No. 06-21-1277)
Another Public Report Puts the Earlier Total Higher
A separate account suggests that the database’s 2026 total may have climbed beyond 130 before the decline.
In a recent LinkedIn post, Beth Gellman-Beer, former regional director and chief attorney in OCR’s Philadelphia office, reported that OCR had uploaded 72 new resolutions, including 37 addressing disability discrimination. She reported a 2026 total of 202.
Missing Listings Don’t Establish What Happened to the Cases
The lower totals don’t, by themselves, prove that OCR destroyed records, withdrew findings, or ended its monitoring of agreements.
A document might remain online while no longer appearing in search results. A technical problem could prevent entries from displaying. (OCR’s site has been wonky for months, making searches difficult.) Records also might have been removed or reclassified. The cause remains unknown.
Final Words
OCR should identify which entries stopped appearing, when the changes occurred, and why.
If the problem is technical, OCR should say so and explain when access will be restored. If records were withdrawn or reclassified, it should identify them and explain the changes.
Accessing findings and agreements shouldn’t feel like a scavenger’s hunt. Parents and educators need access.