A similar Ed Department Office for Civil Rights investigation of the Indiana Department of Education was dismissed in June 2021 because of insufficient information to suggest Indiana had discriminated against students with disabilities. OCR investigations into Fairfax Public Schools and Seattle Public Schools seem to be ongoing, according to an OCR database of pending cases.
OCR investigations into the four school systems were announced in January 2021, when the pandemic meant less than half of K-12 students were learning in person. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Education Department sent guidance that schools were to continue meeting obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide individualized special education services — even if those services were online.
