Review the latest special education information related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It includes an update from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and what we have seen published by the various school systems here in the Northern Virginia region. Read a brief overview of what we have heard from various sources within the school districts.

U.S. Department of Education

Urging States to Continue Educating Students with Disabilities, Secretary DeVos Publishes New Resource on Accessibility and Distance Learning Options
In a March 21 press release, the DOE made it clear that schools shouldn’t be failing to teach students because they do not know how to make it accessible to all. They should be providing education for all in creative ways.

Addressing the Risk of COVID-19 in Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Schools While Serving Children with Disabilities: Supplemental Fact Sheet
In an accompanying fact sheet, the DOE clarified that compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should not prevent schools from providing distance learning. Although there will need to be some flexibility and creativity in delivering special education during COVID-19, schools are still accountable for providing free appropriate public education (FAPE). When schools resume, Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams should consider the closures and delays—including those when they were trying to figure out how to provide services—in order to determine whether compensatory services are necessary. This fact sheet also includes relevant IDEA timelines, the most important of which is, “in making changes to a child’s IEP after the annual IEP Team meeting, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parent of a child with a disability and the public agency may agree to not convene an IEP Team meeting for the purposes of making those changes, and instead develop a written document to amend or modify the child’s current IEP. 34 C.F.R. §300.324(a)(4)(i).”

Virginia Department of Education

Superintendent’s Memo #077 (Graduation Requirements, Awarding of Credits, and Continuity of Learning
The VDOE has essentially conveyed the same thing as DOE. Although, they noted (as they did initially) that if school is paused for everyone due to COVID-19, then special education services are also paused. Once instruction is offered again, then the schools will need to deliver FAPE to all children with disabilities. At this point, along with the announcement on Monday that schools will be closed for the rest of the year, school systems are deciding what to do and how to deliver instruction to all students, including those with disabilities. They seem unsure of what this will look like, but have implied that it could include providing instruction during the closure, during the summer for those who couldn’t receive instruction during the closure, or by adjusting the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school years.

Alexandria City Public Schools

An outline of their continuity of learning plan for beyond April 13, 2020 will be shared on April 3.

Arlington Public Schools

  • Distance learning continues through April 3 based on plans that were already put in place.
  • Spring break will still occur April 6–10, 2020.
  • Distance learning will resume on April 14 with some adjustments to the instructional model, which will be announced before then.
  • Special education teachers are connecting with families via virtual video check-ins.
  • Related service providers are collaborating with special education teachers to design accessible instructional activities.

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

FCPS released their Distance Learning Plan. It includes access to lessons through cable TV as well as live web streaming services. FCPS plans to mail or have available online weekly learning packets to accompany the other supports. Generally, the weekly learning plan will be a review of old material, and starting the week of April 13, will also blend in new material.

Regarding learning support for special education students during COVID 19, there will be a mix of activities online and without a computer (similar to the plan for all students), although some students will need caregiver support to complete activities. Special education students accessing an adapted curriculum will receive instructional activities, including math, reading, movement, science, and social studies, and other important work and home skills. All of these activities will have communication skills embedded. Special education students accessing the general education curriculum will receive strategies to support learning (e.g., tips for reinforcement, routines, and social skills) and instructional strategies to support reading, writing, and math activities. They will receive a packet on the topics just mentioned, as well as a packet containing general education activities. FCPS has not released any more specific information regarding what packets will exactly look like at this time.

Falls Church City Public Schools

  • Continue with the plan they had, with Spring Break still scheduled.
  • Online instruction returns April 14, 2020 with a slightly refined model and new learning.
  • Clarified that the online model will not mimic a school day. There will be a lot of self-directed and collaborative work and reflection rather than just screen time all day.
  • Special education teachers and related staff are currently supporting students and have been since school was closed.

Frederick County Public Schools:

  • Materials provided to students through April 9 are only focusing on reinforcing previously taught skills and the work will be ungraded.
  • Once returning from Spring Break on April 15, they will offer new instruction through June 5, 2020 (end of school year).
  • More details to follow in the coming weeks on how new instruction will be provided.

Loudoun County Public Schools

Prince William County Schools

  • Currently reviewing previously taught information.
  • Seems to be a multi-phase plan in place, more of which will be shared soon.

Spotsylvania County Public Schools

  • Currently working on review and reinforcement activities (ungraded and not required).
  • Expect more updates at the end of this week to include information on additional learning opportunities in accessing new and review content.

Stafford County Public Schools (SCPS)

  • Currently, teachers are organizing collaborative communities to develop learning activities to reinforce previous content.
  • Beginning March 30: teachers will reach out to families through various formats with optional at-home learning activities (ungraded).
  • Last day of school: May 29, 2020.
  • Elementary School-specific: Beginning the week of April 6, teachers will begin sharing more personalized learning for students.
  • The first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year will incorporate any essential skills and content missed due to the closing.
  • Middle School-specific: By April 6, students should receive virtual learning activities from their teachers.
  • Focus is to provide content for sequential classes like math and world language during the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year. These modules will focus on essential content missed during the closure.
    • Example: Where Spanish I ended in spring 2020, Spanish II will start in fall 2020.
  • High School-specific: This plan has multiple phases which will be available online on March 31.
  • March 27 – April 3:
    • Students will continue to hear from teachers and confirm their preferred mode for receiving activities.
    • Activities are available online on the SCPS website.
  • More learning activities will be introduced April 14.

Unofficial Information and Our Brief Analysis

We have had multiple discussions with various school sources regarding their plans and what they hope to be able to achieve.

Falls Church City Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Stafford County Public Schools seem to be outliers. Relatively speaking, they are ahead of the larger public school systems in responding to the COVID-19 situation. All plans to institute direct online instruction of one sort or another begin by offering specialized instruction for children with disabilities, including related services, to the extent they are possible to be delivered remotely. These school systems are also set to begin holding remote IEP meetings and managing amendments to IEPs without meetings, all of which have the endorsement and encouragement of both the state and federal departments of education. Following the governor’s stay-at-home order today, which is primarily pointed at prohibiting public gatherings, their plans are unlikely to change.

Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools), and Prince William County Public Schools are much larger and have greater difficulty in responding to this situation. Their concerns are rooted in having to offer education equally or, if unable to do so, not at all. This creates issues when you have a population that is extremely diverse in terms of income, access to the internet, and even to television in some instances. Additionally, language and cultural barriers must be factored into the equation. Although these school systems have much greater resources, they currently seem to be paralyzed out of concern that they cannot offer everyone the same thing.

We Want to Hear from You

If you know of anything going on in your school district, please share it with us. The more information we can share with each other, the better we can develop our knowledge base, plans, and strategies. We appreciate your input. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions, concerns, or updates.

One of our families shared that their child’s teachers did a “parade,” where they drove by the children’s homes in their cars, honking their horns and waving. We think that kind of extra effort is worthy of praise!