Education Law & Advocacy

Oak Hill Law Group specializes in providing experienced and attentive consultation, advocacy, and representation throughout Virginia for families seeking equal opportunity and access to special education and related school services for their children.

Through a fully collaborative undertaking we work tirelessly, with and for our family-clients, as an educational advocate to:

• best present a family's concerns for their child, whether new or ongoing, to school officials;

• assist with determining a child's eligibility for various education accommodations;

• negotiate Individualized Educational Plans, 504 Plans, and the delivery of special services;

• help monitor student progress and assess the services being provided;

• proactively anticipate and solve problems before they might negatively affect educational outcomes for a student;

• document and track conversations and key events during the process; and

• resolve disagreements with school officials through consistent and detailed communications; and if needed, through mediation, due process hearings or eventual legal representation.

Integral to our work, we maintain a deep understanding of the equal and equitable rights and protections provided to Virginia's schoolchildren by law. Some of the laws which guide our educational advocacy work, include:

• Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974

• Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act

• the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

• the Virginia Human Rights Act and

• Article VIII of the Constitution of Virginia.

Collaborating with Oak Hill's Educational Law and Advocacy experts provides our clients with dignified and compassionate guidance and the increased ability to meet and exceed the complex and time consuming demands often needed to advocate for the special educational of our children.

Additional Resources

• Virginia Department of Education - Special Education

• Fairfax County Public Schools - Special Education Instruction

• Fairfax County Special Education PTA

• Loudoun County Public Schools - Office of Special Education

• Arlington Public Schools - Special Education

• Alexandria City Public Schools - Office of Specialized Instruction

• Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy

• Therapist Neurodiversity Collective

“Our own personal experiences, navigating the waters faced by families whose members have special needs, and our belief in supporting our neighbors and local communities is what drives the passion in our work.

As a veteran school administrator and former colleague of ours once said, ‘We should want for every child what we want for our own child.’”

- David L. Whiting, Esq.

In addition to advocating for special education services afforded to Virginia's public schoolchildren under the law, we may also be able to help effectuate related procedures for families whose children are not enrolled in public school, whereas applicable statutes and regulations provide, that

“Each local school division shall maintain an active and continuing child find program designed to identify, locate and evaluate those children residing in the jurisdiction who are birth to age 21, inclusive, who are in need of special education and related services, including children who: (34 CFR 300.102 and 34 CFR 300.111) are highly mobile, such as migrant and homeless children; are wards of the state; attend private schools, including children who are home-instructed or home-tutored; are suspected of being children with disabilities under this chapter and in need of special education, even though they are advancing from grade to grade; and are under age 18, who are suspected of having a disability who need special education and related services, and who are incarcerated in a regional or local jail in its jurisdiction for 10 or more days.” (8 Va. Admin. Code § 20-81-50)