Jeanine Pirro’s Office Convenes Rare Special Grand Jury to Investigate Truancy, Attendance and Graduation Records in Democrat-Run DC Schools

Federal prosecutors have convened a rarely used special grand jury to investigate attendance, truancy and graduation practices inside Washington, D.C.’s scandal-plagued public school system.

The sprawling investigation reportedly centers on how the Democrat-run District supervises and protects young people, and whether its schools are accurately documenting student attendance and awarding diplomas.

Teachers and other employees from several D.C. Public Schools campuses have been contacted by federal prosecutors and questioned about student absences, graduation practices and how attendance records are maintained, according to 7News.

Some of those called before the panel are connected to Ballou High School, which was at the center of a massive graduation scandal less than a decade ago.

At least one school employee has already testified before the special grand jury, while others are reportedly scheduled to appear.

A law enforcement official told Fox News the investigation is about “safeguarding youth in the District.”

Preliminary data reviewed by 7News shows that 50.4% of D.C. students in grades nine through 12 were chronically truant during the 2025–2026 school year, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year without an accepted excuse.

Meanwhile, 57% of D.C. high school students were chronically absent for either excused or unexcused reasons.

The numbers at several individual high schools are even more staggering:

• Ballou High School: 84.4% chronically truant
• Anacostia High School: 84.1%
• Dunbar High School: 79.6%
• Eastern High School: 78.5%
• H.D. Woodson High School: 77.6%
• Roosevelt High School: 72.7%

At Ballou, more than eight out of every ten students were classified as chronically truant.

Yet Ballou reported that 136 of the 153 students in its 2025 graduating cohort received diplomas, a graduation rate of 88.9%. That was a jump of more than ten percentage points from the previous year.

The graduation and truancy figures cover different student populations, and the publicly available data does not establish that chronically truant students were among those who graduated. But the apparent disconnect is certain to raise questions—particularly given Ballou’s ugly history.

In 2018, a city investigation found that Ballou had graduated students who had missed too many classes or improperly completed makeup courses.

The scandal quickly spread beyond Ballou. Investigators ultimately found that approximately one-third of D.C.’s entire 2017 graduating class had failed to meet the required standards for graduation.

The FBI opened an investigation at the time, but the probe apparently went nowhere. City officials claimed they subsequently tightened enforcement of attendance and graduation rules.

Eight years later, the truancy crisis is still raging.

During the 2023–2024 school year, nearly 16,000 DCPS students, roughly one-third of the school system’s K–12 enrollment, were classified as truant.

Pirro has repeatedly connected widespread truancy with juvenile crime, curfew violations and the violent “teen takeovers” that have terrorized residents and businesses across the capital.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Pirro announced in May that her office would aggressively prosecute parents who enable minors to violate the District’s curfew laws.

“We’re coming for you, and we’re coming for your parents,” Pirro warned.

Pirro also sought school records for students suspected of repeatedly skipping school and violating curfew. According to The Washington Post, District officials did not voluntarily provide the requested records.

Now a federal special grand jury is asking the questions.

Far-left D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office responded by saying city officials were focused on welcoming students back for the new school year and insisted that the District makes its school data public.

But publishing horrifying numbers is not the same as fixing the problem.

For years, D.C.’s Democrat establishment has thrown money at failing institutions while students disappear from classrooms, academic standards are questioned and juvenile crime spills into the streets.