In a chilling escalation of judicial overreach, Westchester County Family Court Judge Michelle I. Schauer has issued a temporary order explicitly stripping a disabled father, Marc Fishman, of his legal right to access his children’s school records—violating federal law, civil rights statutes, and the very concept of judicial integrity.

This is not just a bureaucratic error or a bad day in court. This is an outright abuse of power by a judge who had already been recused from Fishman’s case back in 2018—yet has now reinserted herself into the proceedings like a bad sequel nobody asked for.

Schauer’s May 20, 2025 “Temporary Order on Petition for Modification of Custody” brazenly decrees that Fishman “shall have no access to school records, school staff, online portals and any other providers associated with” his twin sons, Aidan and Skye Fishman—both 16 years old.

This is not only unjust. It’s illegal.

A Judge Defying Federal Law

Let’s be clear: federal law doesn’t take a coffee break when a Family Court judge decides to play tyrant. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all parents—regardless of custody or disability status—are entitled to access their children’s school records unless a specific, legally binding court order revokes that right.

There is no such lawful order here. What exists instead is a discriminatory ruling from a previously recused judge—likely influenced by a taxpayer-funded attorney (Virginia Foulkrod of Hudson Valley Justice Center) who herself is legally prohibited from advocating for discriminatory action under the federal grants that fund her organization.

The Smoking Gun: Federal Letters and Public Funds

Fishman enclosed documentation from the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO), which reinforces this exact point: States, schools, and courts may not deny a parent access to their child’s education records—especially not based on disability.

“All information… that is directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution… is part of the student’s ‘education records’ to which parents have a right to inspect and review.”
—U.S. Dept. of Education, SPPO Letter to State Superintendents, March 2025

Worse, Fishman has already had to sue Schauer in federal court once before to obtain the basic ADA communication accommodations the judge denied him—like a notetaker and transcription. The Second Circuit ruled in his favor in 2021, ordering the Office of Court Administration to comply. Schauer is now in direct defiance of the very federal standards that court established.

This is not a custody dispute. This is a civil rights crisis.

Federal Grants, Local Tyranny

Let’s not ignore the role of Hudson Valley Justice Center, either. According to funding records, the organization receives over $1.3 million annually in public funds. That money comes with conditions—namely, that it not be used to support discrimination against disabled individuals or to advocate for violations of federal law.

Yet attorney Virginia Foulkrod—a public-interest lawyer—submitted the proposed order that led Judge Schauer to commit this federal violation. That makes both Foulkrod and her organization complicit in this discriminatory action.

Under Vanita Gupta’s 2022 DOJ memo, this is grounds for a funding review and potential disqualification from future federal awards.

A Pattern of Parental Alienation

This is not the first time Marc Fishman has faced state-sponsored alienation. His ex-wife, Jennifer Solomon, has reportedly engaged in years of efforts to block his access to his children. But now—with Schauer reinstated and Foulkrod carrying water—these private violations have become publicly sanctioned acts of injustice.

The illegal restriction of school records access is just the latest weapon in a campaign of parental erasure.

Dear Judge Schauer…

You had one job: uphold the law.

Instead, you’ve chosen to trample it—using your robe as a shield for unconstitutional behavior and your bench as a bully pulpit for discrimination.

You don’t get to overrule the Constitution. You don’t get to nullify the Department of Education. You don’t get to use your courtroom to inflict further harm on a disabled father fighting to stay in his children’s lives.

You were recused in 2018. Stay recused.

Call to Action

This case demands more than outrage. It demands federal intervention. The Department of Education, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and oversight bodies for federal funding must immediately:

• Investigate the misuse of public funds by Hudson Valley Justice Center
• Sanction Judge Michelle Schauer for violating FERPA, Section 504, and ADA law
• Restore Marc Fishman’s access to his children’s education records
• Launch a formal civil rights inquiry into Westchester County Family Court

If justice matters, this cannot be ignored.

Because no parent—disabled or not—should have to file a federal lawsuit just to read their own child’s report card.

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REBUILT Media is committed to exposing injustice hiding behind closed courtroom doors. Because what happens in family court should never stay there.