What's Required 300.322 Parent Participation. (a) The LEA responsibility—general. The LEA must take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each ARD Committee meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including-- (1) Notifying parents 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. (b) Information provided to parents. (1) The notice required under paragraph (a)(1) of this section must-- (i) Indicate the purpose, time, and location of the meeting and who will be in attendance; and (ii) Inform the parents of the provisions in §300.321(a)(6) and (c) (relating to the participation of other individuals on the ARD Committee who have knowledge or special expertise about the child), and §300.321(f) (relating to the participation of the Part C service coordinator or other representatives of the Part C system at the initial ARD Committee meeting for a child previously served under Part C of the Act). (2) For a child with a disability beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the ARD Committee, the notice also must-- (i) Indicate-- (A) That a purpose of the meeting will be the consideration of the postsecondary goals and transition services for the child, in accordance with §300.320(b); and (B) That the agency will invite the student; and (ii) Identifies any other agency that will be invited to send a representative. (c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend an ARD/IEP Committee meeting, the LEA must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with §300.328 (related to alternative means of meeting participation). (d) Conducting an ARD meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the LEA is unable to convince the parents 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 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. (e) Use of interpreters or other action, as appropriate. The LEA must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the ARD Committee meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English. (f) Parent copy of child's IEP. The LEA must give the parent a copy of the child's ARD at no cost to the parent. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(1)(B)(i)) §300.501 Parent Participation in Meetings.
§300.327 Educational placements.
§300.328 Alternative means of meeting participation.
TEC §29.005.
TAC §89.1045. Notice to Parents for Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee Meetings.
What We Do Sending Prior Written Notice of the ARD 1. In order to ensure parents have an opportunity to attend the ARD/IEP meeting, the diag/SLP clerk should contact the parents to schedule the ARD at least 4 weeks ahead of time, to agree upon the date and time of the meeting. 2. The clerk is then responsible for sending the completed notice home-notice should be mailed home at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the ARD/IEP meeting. For elementary students, the notice can go home in the backpack or it can be mailed home. For secondary students, the notice needs to be mailed home to ensure it is received. 3. The day before the ARD, the clerk will call the parent and remind them of the ARD meeting the next day. Note: If after the first contact attempt and the clerk has mailed the notice home, the school has not received confirmation that the parent is able or not able to attend; additional phones call need to be made. All attempts to make contact with parent need to be documented within eSped under Notices-Screen ARD Meeting Invitation-3. Every attempt should be made to convince the parents that they should attend. If the parents are unable to attend, the campus must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place such as: a record of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls; copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received (including mail correspondence tracking information if mailed); and detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment and the results of those visits. If the parent is unable to attend within the required time, an alternative means of meeting participation, such as conference calls may be used. Document all efforts to ensure parent participation in the deliberations section of the ARD/IEP meeting when a parent is not in attendance. Flowchart  Forms Additional Resources |
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