Federal prosecutors have opened a rare special grand jury investigation into Washington D.C.'s public school system, examining truancy, attendance record-keeping and graduation practices. The probe, first reported by The Washington Post, comes as US Attorney Jeanine Pirro has repeatedly linked school truancy to youth crime and disruptive teenage gatherings in the capital, and follows her earlier warnings that authorities would pursue chronically truant students and their parents.

Teachers and staff at several D.C. Public Schools campuses have reportedly been contacted about student absences and how attendance is documented, with at least one witness already having testified and more expected in the coming days. Senior prosecutor Steven Vandervelden is said to be overseeing the inquiry, which uses an unusual legal mechanism allowing a detailed report even without criminal charges. It follows a 2018 scandal in which about a third of D.C.'s 2017 graduating class was found not to have met diploma requirements, and comes after nearly 16,000 students, roughly one-third of enrolment, were classed as truant in 2023-24; the mayor's office says its focus remains on the new school year.