"The IEP meeting is Tuesday at 9am." If that sentence has ever arrived in your child's backpack as a done deal, here's the rule the district skipped: schools must schedule IEP meetings at a mutually agreed on time and place (34 CFR § 300.322(a)(2)). Parent participation isn't a courtesy — the regulations require schools to take steps to ensure parents are present at each meeting or afforded the opportunity to participate.
You don't need to argue; you need to counter-offer in writing: "That time doesn't work for me, and I want to participate. I'm available Wednesday after 2pm or any day Friday — please confirm which works for the team." Two options, in an email, with a request to confirm. You've just been more compliant with the regulation than the original notice was.
If you can't attend in person, the school must consider other ways to participate — video or conference calls are explicitly contemplated by the regulations (§ 300.322(c)). Districts also can't hold the meeting without you unless they can document repeated attempts to arrange a mutually agreed time that you declined or didn't answer. And you never attend alone if you don't want to: you may bring anyone with knowledge or special expertise about your child (§ 300.321(a)(6)).
Only if it can document repeated, genuine attempts to arrange a mutually agreed time and place that failed. A single take-it-or-leave-it offer doesn’t meet that bar.
Yes — if you can’t attend in person, the school must consider alternative means of participation such as video or conference calls (34 CFR § 300.322(c)).
Yes. Reply in writing that the time doesn’t work, offer two or three alternatives, and ask the team to confirm. Meetings are required to be mutually agreed.
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