OMA Advisory Opinion (#OOG-2025-0055) – Community Review Panel

On April 1, 2026, Director Allen issued an Advisory Opinion #OOG-2025-0055, in this matter. The Director received a request to advise the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (“OSSE”) on whether its Community Review Panel (“CRP,” the “Panel”) is subject to the OMA. Director Allen issued the opinion sua sponte, since the request did not come from a public body and was not an OMA Complaint. In sum, the advice is that based on the statute establishing the Panel and how the OMA defines a covered “public body,” the Panel is a time-limited advisory review mechanism to OSSE, not an independent deliberative public body, and therefore is not subject to the OMA.

Director Allen explains that D.C. Official Code § 38-2572.02 establishes the statutory framework for special-education due-process hearing independence. The operative provisions require OSSE to: (1) submit potential hearing-officer candidates to a 7-member community review panel for evaluation; (2) ensure the panel is composed of specified stakeholder categories (attorneys, educators, LEA/DCPS representatives, and parents); (3) prohibit members from being OSSE employees; and (4) have the panel forward recommendations to the State Superintendent of Education after reviewing candidates. Director Allen finds that the statute does not require OSSE to grant the Panel delegated decision-making authority. The Panel does not function as an advisory body to the OSSE; and the CRP does not take official action by the votes of its members convened to recommend candidates (or submit scored candidates) for hearing officer positions to OSSE. For the reasons stated in the opinion, Director Allen advised OSSE that the Community Review Panel is not subject to the OMA.