July 17, 2026, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a resolution letter to Kerman Unified School District (KUSD) in California. The case involved claims of disability discrimination related to a student’s extracurricular activity.
OCR investigated whether KUSD denied the student an equal opportunity to participate, whether KUSD denied her a free appropriate public education (FAPE) by failing to follow her plan, and whether KUSD properly handled discrimination complaints filed on her behalf. The case number is 09-23-1715.
KUSD signed a resolution agreement July 14, 2026, before OCR finished its investigation. OCR raised concerns but didn’t make a final finding that KUSD violated the law.
Heavily Redacted Resolution Letter
KUSD’s resolution letter is heavily redacted. This limits what readers can learn about the student’s plan, her supports, KUSD’s duties and its response to the complaint.
A few examples:
Readers can’t tell whether the student had an individualized education program (IEP) or a 504 plan.
OCR redacted statements made by KUSD employees, including the superintendent. Readers can’t review those explanations or see how they relate to OCR’s concerns.
The types of some meetings are redacted, making it hard to follow what happened.
Yet OCR shared these details in the School District of Phillips (SDP) field trip case in Wisconsin. Its SDP resolution letter identifies the student’s IEP and describes required check-ins, executive-functioning instruction, and occupational therapy consultations. It also gives the superintendent’s explanations about services, work completion, grades and the field trip exclusion. Other resolution letters and agreement offer a similar level of access.
OCR’s resolution letter for KUSD includes a general privacy statement but doesn’t explain why these specific details were redacted.
