Federal Prosecutors Launch Rare Grand Jury Probe of 50,000-Student DC Schools
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 30
Federal Prosecutors Launch Rare Grand Jury Probe of 50,000-Student DC Schools
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 30
Summary
Federal prosecutors have opened a rare special grand jury investigation into D.C. public schools, examining truancy, graduation practices and how attendance records are documented.
Teachers and staff at several campuses have been contacted in recent days, at least one witness has testified, and more are expected as Jeanine Pirro’s office pursues what officials call a youth-safeguarding inquiry.
The probe follows Pirro’s repeated claims that chronic absenteeism fuels youth crime and curfew violations; she said in May her office wanted records on students accused of repeated truancy, which the city did not voluntarily provide.
The scrutiny revives fallout from D.C.’s 2018 graduation scandal, when about one-third of 2017 graduates were found not to have met diploma requirements, while nearly 16,000 students—roughly one-third of enrollment—were truant in 2023-24.