OAR 581-015-2195: Additional Parent Participation Requirements for IEP and Placement Meetings

(1) Parent Participation: School districts must take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP or placement meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including: (a) Notifying parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and (b) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. (2) Other Methods to Ensure Parent Participation: If neither parent can attend, the school district must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including, but not limited to, individual or conference phone calls or home visits. (3) Conducting an IEP/Placement Meeting without a Parent in Attendance: An IEP or placement meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the school district is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. (a) If the school district proceeds with an IEP meeting without a parent, the district must have a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place such as: (A) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls; (B) Copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; and (C) Detailed records of visits made to the parent's home or place of employment and the results of those visits. (b) The Department considers school district attempts to convince parents to attend sufficient if the school district: (A) Communicates directly with the parent and arranges a mutually agreeable time and place, and sends written notice required under OAR 581-015-2190(2) to confirm this arrangement; or (B) Sends written notice required under OAR 581-015-2190(2) proposing a time and place for the meeting and states in the notice that the parent may request a different time and place, and confirms that the parent received the notice. (c) "Sufficient attempts" may all occur before the scheduled IEP or placement meeting, and do not require the scheduling of multiple agreed-upon meetings unless the team believes this would be in the best interest of the child. (4) Considering Transition: If a purpose of the meeting is to consider postsecondary goals and transition services for a student, the written notice required by OAR 581-015-2190(2) must also: (a) Indicate this purpose; (b) Indicate that the school district will invite the student; and (c) Identify any other agency that will be invited to send a representative in accordance with OAR 581-015-2210(2)(b). (5) The school district must give the parent a copy of the IEP at no cost to the parent. If the parent does not attend the IEP meeting, the school district must ensure that a copy is provided to the parent. (6) When conducting IEP team meetings and placement meetings, the parent of a child with a disability and a school district may agree to use alternative means of meeting participation, such as video conferences and conference calls.