Denied access to IEP mtg

[Kris L]

A parent was refused access to their students IEP meeting because he did not have his ID. He was with his wife and the teachers vouched for him, but he was still denied. For that reason he sat in the vehicle and listened via cell phone.  Is that legally allowed by the staff or allowed at all?

[Carolyn Rowlett]

My guess would be that the refusal was based on safety protocols, so yes.  I would ask for the policy in writing just to make sure it wasn't a way to keep him out of the meeting.  (It's unclear from your facts if it was the front desk or someone else, but I would assume it was the front desk and they were just following protocol and it had nothing to do with preventing him from joining the meeting.)  Also, parents in this day and age should know an ID is required before entering a school building.

[Lisa Lightner]

This is not something specifically defined by IDEA.

However, IDEA does give parents the right to "meaningful parent participation." 

 

Does a school policy supersede meaningful parent participation? Not usually.  

 

However, it will take a formal complaint of some kind to undo this. That might be an OCR complaint, compliance complaint.

[JSD24]

Following how their rules are spelled out, they can deny a parent access to a school building.  It is assumed that the parents know that an ID is required - my district swipes your drivers licence but they can also type in a name - so they should be prepared by bringing an ID.  On the other hand, common sense says they know him and he'll be supervised while in the building so he's a low risk for abusing children or causing a disruption in the building.

These rules all started after Jerry Sandusky abused children in a camp situation.  From what I understand, other people were aware of this and didn't say anything.

From what I'm aware of, Mr. Sandusky would have been able to get the needed clearances so he would have been able to work, unsupervised, in the same situation giving him access to children if this situation happened today.  I guess the hope is that if you see something, you say something - this is what will prevent this from happening again.

Maybe the school policy should state that in the case of a person known to the school and that person not having ID and being supervised while in the building, that person can be admitted to the building at the discretion of staff.  (Add common sense to the policy.)