NC: Open Letter to NC's Department of Public Instruction

NOTE:  A parent contacted us to let us know that a district intended to hold an IEP meeting without her or her husband. The parents had already sent in a written request to reschedule the meeting, but the request was tersely denied. By federal and state laws, an IEP meeting cannot be held without the parents, unless the district cannot convince the parents to attend. In this case, the parents are definitely willing to attend, and signaled that fact by asking for the meeting to be rescheduled so that they could attend.

We wanted to bring this situation to the attention of North Carolina's Deparment of Public Instruction, the states' education agency to ask if legally the district could hold the meeting without the parents under the given circumstances and to see if they'd be willing to share what recourse the parents might have should the meeting be held without the parents. 

Below is a copy of the letter we sent to them. We'll keep you informed if they respond. 

March 28, 2009

Dear Ms. Neale, Smith, and Pruitt:

 

We are writing to you today to seek your advice and clarification about whether a school district may hold an IEP meeting without a parent under the following circumstances:

 

Staff from a N.C. school district emailed and mailed an invitation to attend an IEP meeting to an eligible child’s parents. The parents have participated in the child’s prior IEP meetings. The parents have also previously notified the district that they want to participate in future IEP meetings, but they are unable to attend the above-referenced IEP meeting on the scheduled meeting date. The parents notified the district in advance in writing via email and fax that they would not be able to attend the meeting on the scheduled date and requested (in writing) that the meeting be rescheduled for another date/time. In response, the Director of Special Education for the district sent the parents an email to inform them that the IEP meeting would proceed as scheduled.

 

We are very concerned about the information that has been disseminated to the parents by district staff, and of the district’s notification of intent to hold an IEP meeting without the parents as:

Under 34 CFR 300.345 Parent Participation of the federal IDEA regulations:

(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each public agency shall take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including--

(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place.

 

(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend, the public agency shall use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls.

(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. In this case the public agency must have a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as--
(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;
(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; and
(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent's home or place of employment and the results of those visits.

34 CFR 300.501 Opportunity to examine records; parent participation in meetings.

(a) General. The parents of a child with a disability must be afforded, in accordance with the procedures of §§ 300.562-300.569, an opportunity to—

 

(2) Participate in meetings with respect to--

(i) The identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; and
(ii)The provision of FAPE to the child.

(b) Parent participation in meetings. (1) Each public agency shall provide notice consistent with § 300.345(a)(1) and (b)(1) to ensure that parents of children with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in meetings described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

 

 Under North Carolina Statutes:

NC 1503-4.2 IEP team (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 90 of pdf)

(a) General. The LEA must ensure that the IEP Team for each child with a disability includes--

(1) The parent(s) of the child; 

NC 1503-4.3 Parent participation (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 91 of pdf)

(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each LEA must take 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--

(1) Notifying the parent(s) 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 place.

(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend an IEP Team meeting, the public agency must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with NC 1503-5.4 (related to alternative means of meeting participation).

(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parent(s) that they should attend. In this case, the LEA must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as-

(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;

(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parent(s) and any responses received; and

(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment, if appropriate,

and the results of those visits.

 

According to the Department of Education’s website at http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html#team (See 7. IEP Team Members), “[b]y law, certain individuals must be involved in writing a child's Individualized Education Program” and that “Parents are key members of the IEP team. They know their child very well and can talk about their child's strengths and needs as well as their ideas for enhancing their child's education. They can offer insight into how their child learns, what his or her interests are, and other aspects of the child that only a parent can know. They can listen to what the other team members think their child needs to work on at school and share their suggestions. They can also report on whether the skills the child is learning at school are being used at home.”

 

To summarize the salient points:

 

1.      The district sent a written request to the parents requesting parental participation at an IEP meeting.

2.      The parents notified the district in advance in writing that the date/time of said IEP meeting was not convenient, and therefore, not mutually agreed upon.

3.      The parents asked the district in advance and in writing to reschedule the meeting for a date/time that is mutually agreed upon so that the parents can participate in the IEP process.

4.      The district denied the parents’ written request to reschedule the IEP meeting, did not offer or explain what alternative means of participation may be available to the parents, and have indicated in writing that the IEP meeting will occur as scheduled, with our without the child’s parents.

5. The above-referenced federal and state laws seem to indicate that the district may not hold an IEP meeting without the parents, unless the district has not been able to convince the parents they need to participate in the IEP process, and that those attempts by the district to encourage parental participation must documented.

6. The parents have provided written documentation to the district to indicate their willingness to attend IEP meetings, but cannot attend a specific IEP meeting at the scheduled date/time (but could participate in an IEP meeting if the district would be willing to reschedule the next meeting.) Therefore, parents have provided sufficient written notice to the district that the district has convinced the parents of their need to participate in their child's IEP. 

7. The district should not be able to hold the IEP meeting without the parents and should reschedule the meeting for an agreed-upon date/time.

 

Despite the importance the Department of Education places on parental participation and the fact that parents have indicated they do want to participate in the IEP process for their child, district staff is refusing parents’ request to reschedule an IEP meeting.

 

In light of this information, can the district legally hold the child’s IEP meeting on a date/time that is not mutually agreed-upon, without the parents? If the district cannot legally hold the IEP meeting, but chooses to do so anyway, what recourse do the parents have?

 

We’d appreciate any recommendations, opinions, and/or advice you could share and look forward to your response. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us at tcfpbis@gmail.com.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Jennifer Searcy

Founder/Director of Public Policy & Affairs

The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports