Belkowitz Law, PLLC

10/19/2026

Whether it is your child’s initial eligibility meeting or the triennial review, it is important to have the documents and information you need to be prepared.

The school division should have conducted testing prior to this meeting. Testing is not done simply to determine whether the child is eligible for special education. Testing is also necessary to determine the child’s current unique needs. It is the rare child whose needs do not change over three years.

Make sure that you receive the testing reports, classroom observation, teacher narratives, and other documents the school may rely upon before the eligibility meeting. In Virginia, the school must make evaluation reports available to parent “no later than two business days before” the eligibility meeting.

Learn what other resources may be available to help you prepare for the meeting. Testing reports can be confusing. You can, in advance, request an interpretive meeting with the school's evaluator so that the report can be explained in laymen’s terms before the eligibility meeting. Also, some assessment publishers utilize interpretative reports that can be quite helpful to parents. For example, did the school ask you to complete the BASC-3 Parent Rating Scales? If so, ask the school for the BASC-3’s “Interpretive Summary Report with Intervention Recommendations.” Did the school use the BRIEF2? Ask for the BRIEF2 Interpretive Reports (parent and teacher).

Another resource is the Virginia Department of Education - VDOE's website, which offers a variety of resources to assist parents in preparing for eligibility and other meetings.

Please visit Belkowitz Law, PLLC to read previous Did You Know? posts.

10/12/2026

Let’s get the record straight about parent success in Virginia due process cases. We often see social media posts that parents only win 1-2% of the time. That statistic is incorrect. Ongoing confusion about actual due process success intimidates Virginia parents and deters them from exercising their IDEA procedural rights. This, in turn, emboldens schools to deny parents’ requests for appropriate supports and services.

According to VDOE public records, parents filed more than 750 due process hearing requests between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2026. Of those, only 80 had a due process hearing. That means parents and school amicably resolved the vast majority of the other 670 cases (a few cases would have been dismissed on insufficiency grounds). Of the 80 actual hearings, parents prevailed in 29% (9 split decisions, 14 fully prevailed). Looking back to July 1, 2015, VDOE held 140 actual hearings through June 30, 2026. Of those, parents prevailed (either in a split decision or entirely) 27% of the time. This is based on VDOE public records available as of mid-July 2026.

So where did the 1-2% figure come from? It likely arose from a data interpretation comparing parent victories to the total number of cases filed. Parents filed 1,181 due process cases between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2026. Of those, parents: a) had a full due process hearing and b) fully prevailed in 20 cases (1.7%) (3.2% if you include split decisions). Reliance on this percentage as a Virginia due process “success” rate is misleading. It ignores that the vast majority of all due process cases settle. Indeed, 88% of all the due process cases filed during those eleven years resolved without a due process. Almost all of those cases were settlements because Hearing Officers have extremely limited power to dismiss a case prior a hearing unless both parties agree.

There is no question that Virginia’s due process system requires meaningful improvement to level the playing field. That is why the Attorney General of Virginia, on April 29, 2005, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to place the burden of proof in a due process case on the school division. At the same time, Virginia parents need to know that due process is a meaningful, viable, and productive IDEA procedural safeguard available to them.

Visit www.belkowitzlaw.com to read previous Did You Know? and other FAQs.

10/06/2026

Please share! Join us next week at Oak Knoll Middle School on October 14, 2026, from 6:00-7:00pm for our Fall Community Resource and Safety Fair! Families who pre-register will receive a free pumpkin to decorate. Our Hanover first responders, both the Fire Department and the Sheriff's Department (School Resource Officer) will be there in person with emergency vehicles and safety information. Register at the link in the comments.

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

Join us Wednesday, October 14th at 6:00 pm for a panel discussion with community service providers related to the ACSD annual charge.
ACSD's regular meeting will begin at 7:30 pm that evening.

Current Community Partners Attending:

Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board: LaVurne Williams, Division Director of Youth and Family Outpatient & Intensive Services

Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services: Susan Sigler, Division Director, Inclusive Support Services & Chris Scales, Division Director, Culture, Recreation and Community Connections

Our Minds Matter: Morgan Meadows, Director of Program Partnerships

Northern Virginia Family Services: Kate Reen, Youth Initiatives Director

10/05/2026

We explore a cell phone IEP accommodation in this week’s Did You Know?

Virginia’s IDEA regulations state that “no single model for the delivery of services to any specific population or category of children with disabilities is acceptable.” Each child’s IEP must be individualized. It cannot be a predetermined offering based on a student’s disability category. An IEP only provides a free appropriate public education (FAPE) if it “is based on the child’s unique needs and not on the child’s disability.”

So, back to cell phones. State Complaint C25-160 addressed a parent’s request to include in the IEP access to a cell phone app the student accessed daily to treat a documented medical condition. Hampton City Schools denied the parent’s request, claiming that school division policy addresses “medical needs that are not disability-based or directly tied to [specially designed instruction]” outside of the student’s IEP (either a health plan or a 504 Plan).

Virginia Department of Education - VDOE rejected the school division’s position and found it in noncompliance for its “refusal to consider the Student’s need for the use of the app as a part of the IEP.” The school division acted improperly because it refused to address all the child’s identified needs and did not develop an IEP based on the child’s unique needs – which in this case required daily access to a cell phone app.

Did you miss a previous Did You Know? Visit https://belkowitzlaw.com/frequently-asked-questions/ to read previous posts and FAQs.

10/03/2026

Look for Belkowitz Law, PLLC today at The 7Q Foundation’s event in Annandale.

10/01/2026

FYI to parents and graduates of Carroll County VA Public Schools.

10/01/2026

09/28/2026

Did You Know?

Did the school send an email announcing the date and time of your child’s IEP meeting? Or, perhaps the school unexpectedly announced an IEP meeting for tomorrow – leaving you scrambling to get coverage for your other children or time off at work?

School divisions must take steps to ensure at least one parent is present at each IEP meeting. Parents are essential, required members of the IEP team. To ensure parent participation, school divisions must 1) notify the parent(s) far enough in advance to ensure they are able to attend, and 2) schedule the meeting at a “mutually agreed on time and place.” 34 CFR 300.322(a) and 8 VAC 20-81-110 (E).

The school cannot unilaterally choose a date that works for the school team without consideration of the parent/guardian's schedule. Nor can school divisions simply hold an IEP meeting without the parent/guardian present. While a school team must have a record of at least three attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, they must make a good faith effort to ensure parents are present.

So, the next time the school blindsides you and unilaterally schedules an IEP meeting for a time you are unavailable, remain calm, respond that you are not available, and remind school staff that they must schedule the meeting at a “mutually agreed on time and place” because you are a required IEP team member and the person who knows your child best.

Did you miss a previous Did You Know? Visit https://belkowitzlaw.com/frequently-asked-questions/ to read previous posts and FAQs.