Per the NFB’s settlement agreement with the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, individuals whose OCR complaints were dismissed for insufficient evidence between March 5, 2018, and November 19, 2018, may appeal the dismissal but have only until April 4, 2020, to do so.

An appeal can be filed electronically, by mail, or by fax. You must either submit a completed online appeal form or mail a written statement of no more than ten pages (double spaced, if typed): if submitted by mail, send to the Office for Civil Rights, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20202; if submitted via e-mail, send to [email protected]; if submitted via fax, send to 202-453-6012. The filing date of an appeal is the date the appeal is postmarked, submitted electronically, or submitted via fax.

In the appeal, you must explain why you believe the factual information was incomplete or incorrect, the legal analysis was incorrect or the appropriate legal standard was not applied, and how correction of any error(s) would change the outcome of the case; failure to do so may result in dismissal of the appeal.

For more information about the NFB’s settlement agreement with the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights or your right to appeal an OCR complaint dismissal, contact Valerie Yingling, legal program coordinator, at [email protected] or 410-659-9314, extension 2440.