POLICY LETTER: June 3, 2008 to Indiana Attorney Joseph Daniel Thomas

e calls or videoconferencing,You also question whether an LEA, may, by contractual arrangement or collective bargaining agreement, limit the times when public agencies can schedule IEP Team meetings. We assume that these contracts address when public agencies can make their staff members available for attendance at IEP Team meetings, consistent with their other responsibilities. We do not believe that the parent participation provisions for IEP Team meetings restrict public agencies from entering into such contractual arrangements or agreements, specifying that public agency employees will attend meetings of the IEP Team only during regular working hours. Although the terms of such agreements will necessarily vary across agencies and States, public agencies still must ensure that they take other steps to ensure parent participation if the parents are unable to attend during school hours or business hours.In the situation prompting your inquiry, we recognize that the difficulty arises because the parent's expert is unable to attend an IEP Team meeting during regular school hours or regular business hours, and the parent believes that their expert possesses important information which must be shared at the meeting. Nonetheless, we do not believe that Part B requires the public agency to schedule the IEP Team meeting outside of regular school hours or regular business hours to accommodate participation of the parents' expert. In this situation, the parent and public agency could consider using alternative means to ensure that the information of the parents' expert is communicated to the IEP Team if the public agency is unable, for administrative or contractual reasons, to schedule the IEP Team meeting outside of regular school hours or regular business hours. Even though it may be the practice of this public agency to routinely conduct parent-teacher conferences in the evening, we do not believe that this practice alone would compel the public agency to schedule IEP Team meetings in the evening.Based on section 607(e) of the IDEA, we are informing you that our response is provided as informal guidance and is not legally binding, hut represents an interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education of the IDEA in the context of the specific facts presented.If you have further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Lynne Fairfax, of my staff, at 202-245-7337.Sincerely,/s/William W. KnudsenActing DirectorOffice of Special Education Programscc: Dr. Robert Marrae calls or videoconferencing,You also question whether an LEA, may, by contractual arrangement or collective bargaining agreement, limit the times when public agencies can schedule IEP Team meetings. We assume that these contracts address when public agencies can make their staff members available for attendance at IEP Team meetings, consistent with their other responsibilities. We do not believe that the parent participation provisions for IEP Team meetings restrict public agencies from entering into such contractual arrangements or agreements, specifying that public agency employees will attend meetings of the IEP Team only during regular working hours. Although the terms of such agreements will necessarily vary across agencies and States, public agencies still must ensure that they take other steps to ensure parent participation if the parents are unable to attend during school hours or business hours.In the situation prompting your inquiry, we recognize that the difficulty arises because the parent's expert is unable to attend an IEP Team meeting during regular school hours or regular business hours, and the parent believes that their expert possesses important information which must be shared at the meeting. Nonetheless, we do not believe that Part B requires the public agency to schedule the IEP Team meeting outside of regular school hours or regular business hours to accommodate participation of the parents' expert. In this situation, the parent and public agency could consider using alternative means to ensure that the information of the parents' expert is communicated to the IEP Team if the public agency is unable, for administrative or contractual reasons, to schedule the IEP Team meeting outside of regular school hours or regular business hours. Even though it may be the practice of this public agency to routinely conduct parent-teacher conferences in the evening, we do not believe that this practice alone would compel the public agency to schedule IEP Team meetings in the evening.Based on section 607(e) of the IDEA, we are informing you that our response is provided as informal guidance and is not legally binding, hut represents an interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education of the IDEA in the context of the specific facts presented.If you have further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Lynne Fairfax, of my staff, at 202-245-7337.Sincerely,/s/William W. KnudsenActing DirectorOffice of Special Education Programscc: Dr. Robert Marra