The US Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District agreed to compensatory efforts to rectify the local education agency’s failure to provide appropriate services mandated for students with disabilities who were shortchanged during COVID times. According to the agreement, LAUSD must begin implementing a plan 29 April 2022.

Paloma Esquivel and Melissa Gomez reported the story for the Los Angeles Times. Here is their lede:

The investigation, conducted by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, confirms what many parents have alleged since schools were first closed — that they basically had to fend for themselves during distance learning as their children were left with little if any education and specialized assistance. The district has entered into a voluntary agreement with the federal department to fix its failings.

Disability Scoop covered the story, too. Here is reporter Michelle Diament’s lede

Federal officials have reached an agreement with one of the nation’s largest school districts after students with disabilities were shortchanged during the COVID-19 pandemic and advocates say the deal should prompt other districts to re-examine their actions too.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said this week that it found that the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to provide students with disabilities the services promised in their individualized education programs, or IEPs, and Section 504 plans while classes were offered remotely.

Read Ms. Diament’s article and Ms. Esquivel’s and Ms. Gomez’s article.