What Venmo Accounts Taught Me About My Local School District
Parents often learn about changes in their child’s school division through official announcements, but sometimes the most revealing information is hiding in plain sight.
Parents often learn about changes in their child’s school division through official announcements, but sometimes the most revealing information is hiding in plain sight.
January 11, 2021, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a directed investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) over pandemic‑era special‑education noncompliance. FCPS was noticeably silent after OCR announced the opening of the investigation. Meanwhile, parents were desperate for answers as they watched their children lose services and struggle with an online platform that had repeatedly crashed.
Months later, while waiting in an emergency room with a sick child, I watched Jimmy Kimmel poking fun at Congressman Matt Gaetz over what a public Venmo account revealed. It made me wonder whether similar breadcrumbs existed in my neck of the woods. They did (and continue to).