CHRONOLOGY OF KEY EVENTS
2012-13 OSSE’s DC residency audit signs off on 100% of Ellington students
2013-14 OSSE’s DC residency audit signs off on 100% of Ellington students
2014-15 OSSE’s DC residency audit signs off on 100% of Ellington students
2015-16 OSSE’s DC residency audit signs off on 100% of Ellington students
2016-17 OSSE’s DC residency audit signs off on 100% of Ellington students
October 2017 OSSE begins 2017-18 DC residency audit; later seizes all Ellington files
January 2018 OSSE's audit results: “74 identified non-residents at Duke Ellington”
Ellington cleared all but 19 of these, eventually reducing number to 2-3
February 2018 Ellington holds auditions, accounts for possible loss of up to 74 students; OSSE issues Final DCPS Schools Audit report
March 2018 Ellington extends offers to new students
April 2018 DC Inspector General Report is issued – highly critical of OSSE
May 9, 2018 OSSE mails Notice letters to 40% of Ellington families without warning to school
164 told = non-DC residents; 56 told = under investigation
No basis provided for OSSE’s decisions
No mention of need to file any appeal within 10 business days
For questions, refers parents only to OAG (not OSSE) employee
A number of letters sent to old addresses, and none notified by email
May 11, 2018 OSSE issues Special Report focused on Ellington only; Issues Press Release; Wash Post article
Ellington officials are first shown Report only 30 minutes beforehand
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s scheduled appearance on Kojo Nnamdi show
May 14-21 OSSE continues to refuse to give school the List of 164 or List of 56
Parents try to help notify families and let them know their rights, some appeals for May 9th letter are turned away by OSSE
May 21 Parents seek Temporary Restraining Order (" TRO") to prevent OSSE actions to declare students as non-residents becoming “final” after May 23
May 23 At TRO hearing, OSSE agrees to withdraw all of its May 9 Notice letters
May 24 2nd letter issued introducing information for appeals, still lacking any basis for non-residency findings offered, containing an incomplete description of consequences and inaccurate deadlines for filing appeals, some letters are received for the first time, no letters were sent by email, only by mail.
June 1 Despite requests, and against past practice, School still has not received a list of the affected families to help insure that students and families are aware of the investigations and understand that they need to respond.
June 4 Parents seek 2nd Temporary Restraining Order requesting due process rights that were still missing from 2nd non-residency letters sent by OSSE May 24th.
June 6 At 2nd Temporary Restraining Order hearing, OAG withdraws all of its May 24th letters following instructions from DC Superior Court Judge Zeldon to reissue them. As reported by WTOP, Zeldon offered the following instructions:
“You have to give the basis for each student — what’s so difficult about that?” said Zeldon.
Zeldon warned lawyers for the District that she would dismiss the second letter if D.C. didn’t withdraw it, and added that the implied threat to parents and students “makes this an emergency.”
“They’re scared to death about what you’re going to do,” Zeldon said. “They do not have to live in fear.”
July 6 *APPEAL PROCESS FINALLY OPENS*
OSSE issues Regulation compliant letters, including sending email notifications.
- Letters DO contain: Basis for Findings; Explanation of Right to Appeal; Appeal Deadlines. - Many letters are NOT sent to current addresses on file with the school and families do not receive them in a timely manner,if at all.
- Email notices of letters contain complex log-in instructions to access documents with access expiration dates; not all families can access them; some emails go to SPAM folders.
- July 20: Deadline to officially make a Request To Appeal.
- August 3rd: Deadline to Submit an Appeal with Additional Documentation and to Request a Pre-Mediation Phone Call.
August 20 First Day of DCPS School 2018-2019 school year
August 22 Students who missed appeal deadlines because non-resident letters were sent to incorrect addresses and were not received, or who did not correctly submit their
proof-of-residency appeal responses, are removed from the school and denied the ability to attend school!
August 24 Friday 1st week of school: New Non-Resident Letters still being sent to families.
October 15 So far: 184 families have reached out to IAmEllington for support.
- After families submitted appeals allowed by the July 6th letters, at least
96 students have been cleared
- 88 cases are still in process. Many families have not yet heard anything from OSSE following either submission of their Appeal Documentation, or after scheduled phone calls.