Notification of Meeting

To address the requirement to strengthen the role of parents in the special education process, Congress mandated that districts afford parents the opportunity to be members of any decision-making team for their child, including eligibility, initial evaluation and reevaluation, and development of an IEP for the provision of a FAPE. Districts are to ensure that parents have the opportunity to be members of the IEP team that makes decisions on the educational placement of their child. Although logistically this increased involvement of parents may present challenges in arranging convenient meeting times, it should result in decisions that are individualized to meet the unique needs of students and in the development of a closer, more collaborative relationship with parents. Additionally, parents have a responsibility to participate and provide their input into their child’s education (34 CFR § 300.501(b) and (c)).

The district must take steps to ensure that one or both parents are present at each IEP meeting or are otherwise afforded the opportunity to participate in the IEP meeting. The meeting is to be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time and place. The district must provide notice of an IEP meeting to the parents for the initial IEP meeting and any subsequent IEP meetings. Best practice calls for the Notification of Meeting to be sent home a minimum of 5 days prior to the meeting date. Case managers must make at least two contact attempts with two different methods of notification. One of these methods of notification must take the form of the written Notification of Meeting document created Enrich IEP. All parent contacts related to Notification of Meeting must be documented in the Contact Log associated with the Notice of Meeting in Enrich IEP.

For Age of Majority students, the district MUST provide any notice to BOTH the adult student and the parents. The parents are only notified of the meeting. To attend the meeting, they must be invited by their child or the district. The parent has no right to attend the meeting unless invited by the student or the district as a person with knowledge or expertise about the student.

Users will create a Notification of Meeting by selecting a student, accessing the “Programs” tab, selecting “Add IEP”, and then selecting “Create new meeting”.

To create a Notice of Meeting, users will complete the following fields:

• Meeting Date, Time and Location: Best practice is that the Notice of Meeting is sent home a minimum of five days prior to the specified meeting date. The location of the meeting will typically be the home school of the student or, if the student is currently attending a school that is not their home school, at the school of attendance.





• Participants: The title or positions of those individuals attending on behalf of the district must be indicated on the Notice of Meeting document. The district has no obligation to identify the participants by name. If an individual is in attendance on behalf of the district at the IEP meeting who was not listed on the Notice of Meeting document, the district must gain parent consent prior to beginning the IEP meeting for this additional individual to participate.
  
  • Parent(s)/Guardian(s): The Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are included in the Participants section. Users should verify that the Parent(s)/Guardian(s) are listed correctly in this section. This invitation should be sent to the custodial parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student. When parents share have joint custody of a student, both parents must receive written notification of the meeting. In addition, for students who have been appointed a surrogate parent appointed, the surrogate parent must receive written notification of the IEP meeting.
  
  
  • Student Invitation: Selecting “Yes” to “Should the student be invited to the meeting?” will generate an invitation to be sent home to the student.
  
  
  
  
  


• Age of Majority: The user must indicate Indicate whether the student has reached age of majority, and educational rights have not been legally assigned to another.

Once all fields within the Notice of Meeting are addressed, users can view and print the document immediately by selecting “Notice of Meeting” from the “Documents” section of the left-hand navigation pane, or the notification of meeting can be accessed at a later time by returning to the draft process or action.

The district may conduct an IEP meeting without the parents if the district has made repeated attempts but has been unable to secure the parents participation.

If a parent has received notice of the IEP team meeting which includes the meeting date, time and location, and agrees to participate, but does not come to the meeting, the district may conduct the meeting without the parent. If necessary, other means of parent participation may be used, such as conference calls or video conferencing. Detailed records are to be maintained of attempts to contact the parents in the Contact Log in Enrich IEP.

Parent/Guardian/Age of Majority Student Requiring Accommodations at the Meeting

The Local Education Agency (LEA) must make reasonable efforts to ensure parents understand and have the opportunity to participate in meetings pertaining to the child's evaluation/reevaluation, eligibility for special education, IEP, or educational placement. This may include, but is not limited to, the provision of accommodations for parents with deafness, or for parents whose native language is other than English. The parent and the LEA may agree to use alternative means of meeting participation, such as conference calls or videoconferences (34 CFR § 300.322(e)).

If the Parent/Guardian/Age of Majority Student is deaf or has a limited proficiency in English he/she may need an interpreter to meaningfully participate in the IEP meeting. In this case, the school must make reasonable efforts to arrange for an interpreter during meetings. The school must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure parents understand the information communicated in the meeting, including arranging for an interpreter to be present at the meeting. This provision should help to ensure that a parent's language or communication barriers do not limit the parent's ability to participate in his/her child's education and decisions made regarding their education.

Limited English Proficiency

For parents, guardians, or age of majority students with limited English proficiency, Case Managers should reference the IDEA & Students with Limited English Proficiency page for information and support.

Accommodations

For support with obtaining an interpreter or other accommodations for an IEP meeting for parents, guardians, or age of majority students who are deaf or have other impairment, please use the Request for Accommodations form located on Greenville County Schools Home Page under Students and Parents Resources.

If the Case Manager is aware of the Parent’s/Guardian’s/Age of Majority Student’s need for additional accommodations in advance of the meeting, the Case Manager is responsible for contacting the appropriate district staff and/or school administrator to make arrangements. The Parent/Student Response form for the Notification of Meeting provides a space for parents to request accommodations.

Sources:
The Office of Exceptional Children. Special Education Process Guide for South Carolina. March 20, 2013.
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html#team