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Parents, advocates urge independent audit of PGCPS special-education after repeated complaints
Summary
Multiple public commenters told the board that special-education services in Prince George's County show repeated noncompliance, data discrepancies and operational failures; speakers called for an independent external audit and stronger ombudsman capacity to investigate and track special-education concerns.
Several parents, advocates and a former board member urged Prince George's County Public Schools on Dec. 1 to commission an independent external audit of the district’s special-education system, alleging repeated compliance failures and data discrepancies that have harmed students.
At the public-comment portion of the meeting, Teresa Smith identified a numerical discrepancy in a prior special-education presentation (one slide showed a total population of 17,125 while a follow-up slide sum by disability code came to 15,472 — a gap of 1,653). Smith said the grouping of infants and toddlers (IFSPs) with older IEP counts may explain part of the gap but argued that reporting that leaves families guessing requires clearer data and stronger staff training.
“Because the data group birth to…
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