Can an Iep Meeting Be Held Without a Parent
What does IDEA say almost parents attention IEP meetings?
Whew, can we please put this effect to bed, once and for all? Because I have had information technology up to here (I'm pointing to my forehead, lol) with schools telling parents that "we only have IEP meetings at seven or 2." Or something like that. No, no. A yard times no.
Thankfully, this upshot is pretty easy to rebuke.
Parent Participation in Idea
Parent participation in IEP meetings is clearly defined in Idea department 300.322. The snippet below is from the 300 folio give-and-take companion of Idea. (read that link for all details)
Hither is the exact wording from IDEA.
Sec. 300.322 (a)
Statute/Regs Main » Regulations » Office B » Subpart D » Department 300.322 » a
(a) Public agency responsibility—full general. Each public bureau must accept steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP Team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including—
(i) Notifying parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and
(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and identify.
Mutually Agreed on IEP Meeting.
Ok, so information technology'due south pretty cutting and dry out. That existence said, everyone has to be reasonable. So the schoolhouse saying "We can only meet at vii:30 am" is not reasonable. But, neither is a parent saying "I can but meet at 7:30 at dark." The parent gets the benefit of the doubt, but you accept to give a little too.
I get information technology. We are taking fourth dimension off piece of work to go to these meetings. Parents are the only people at the table not beingness paid to be in that location. And that's non fair. But information technology'due south besides not going to change, so focus on what nosotros tin control.
Predict alee. Should you lot notice yourself in a Due Process hearing or filing some kind of complaint, are you being reasonable?
How much find should y'all get for an IEP meeting?
If you read the last judgement in the snippet above, it talks nigh "leaving information technology upwards to the states." Thought does not say how much notice a school has to give you lot for an IEP meeting. Bank check your state'south regs for this. Almost have determined it to be between 5-10 days.
What about Doug C 5. Hawaii?
In 2013, there was a Federal courts decision in the ninth circuit that further defined this issue. Wrightslaw has a full give-and-take of the decision. However, the main takeaway from that case is this:
Question –If at that place are logistical scheduling conflicts for an IEP meeting, is priority given to the schedules of the school staff or the parent?
Answer –Priority is given to the parent. "The attendance of [the]. . . parent, must have priority over other members' attendance . . . an agency cannot exclude a parent from an IEP meeting in order to prioritize its representatives' schedules." (Page 13)
Inviting Parents to IEP Meetings
The school must keep records. And those records must be complete. They accept to be able to testify multiple attempts to contact the parents.
I know it's hard (and sad!) to imagine, simply in that location are actually parents who ignore or decline to get to IEP meetings. But a school must make several attempts to appoint the parent and document those attempts.
Teacher Contracts and IEP Meetings
One obstacle that often comes up when scheduling IEP meetings is teacher contracts. Teacher unions (who for the most part, I support) get contracts that are very specific nearly days and times that the teachers work.
And, Thought is very specific about who attends an IEP meeting. Those two things don't always get along so well. A school district may not be able to require a instructor to stay past a sure time in the day. Or come in on weekends.
To that, I say, "Not my trouble."
Because here's the thing. The national average of kids with IEPs is well-nigh 15%. That is, about 15% of all school children have IEPs.
If you, as a school board and administration team, neglected to retrieve near the xv% of your students who will crave annual IEP meetings when you were negotiating with the spousal relationship…that's your problem. Plan better during adjacent negotiation time.
Getting an Amenable Meeting Time.
The to a higher place being said…as a parent, you're going to have to fight similar hell to get an IEP meeting time that is exterior of teacher contract hours. Upwards to you if you want to fight that fight.
IEP Meeting Times as Bullying Tactics.
An inconvenient IEP meeting fourth dimension is used as a bullying tactic. Particularly with lower-income families. Schools know that for many jobs, it'southward difficult for the parent to take off piece of work. Or, that the parent really cannot afford to take off unpaid time.
Then, they force an inconvenient time to potent-arm the parent and discourage them from attending.
How to Handle IEP Meeting Schedule Conflicts.
Remember, stay calm and professional in your communication. Respond promptly. Offering solutions, and alternate dates and times.
There is no "well we only agree meetings at these times and these times." That might exist what is best for them equally far equally authoritative convenience, only it's not in the spirit of Thought.
Proceed advocating, stay engaged in all parts of the IEP process. I hope it doesn't come to where you're sending them a screen shot of IDEA, but it might. Y'all tin too file a compliance complaint. Keep your paper trail and save all email.
IEP Meetings aren't that important anyway.
No, actually, stick with me here. First, yes, by all means, push for your rights and participate in the IEP coming together.
Merely, in the end, if y'all are actively engaged and participating in all the essential portions of the IEP procedure, the IEP coming together isn't that important. It should merely exist a meeting to finalize some details. When you do the legwork during evals and parent concerns, the IEP meeting is cipher but a formality.
My son'southward IEP meetings are less than an hour. And that's not because I exercise the Jiffy Lube version. It's because I participate in the process all year long. Right now? It'south Oct and I accept a phone conference next week to discuss his FBA. Which isn't due until January.
Stay engaged all the fourth dimension, and your relationships are better and the IEP meeting is no big deal.
Source: https://adayinourshoes.com/iep-meeting-must-be-held-at-a-time-convenient-for-parents/
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