Who MUST attend an IEP meeting?

Simply put, all IEP team members are supposed to be at the meeting. If someone is not there, it is not an IEP meeting. If you show up, and there are people missing, you should ask for the meeting to be halted until all members either show up or the meeting is rescheduled when everyone can be there.

Changes to IDEA that happened in 2004 do allow members to be excused from the meeting if the area of expertise is not going to be discussed or modified if the parent and the school system have both agreed in writing that the member's attendance is not necessary.

The provision only applies to certain members of the team—the ones who are required IEP team members:

• the child’s regular education teacher (if the child is, or may be participating in the regular education environment);
• the child’s special education teacher, or where appropriate, the child’s special education provider;
• a representative of the public agency, who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction; and
• an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results.

Please note that related service providers are not required to be at the IEP meeting.

For those required to be there, they can only be legally excused from the meeting if the parents consent to them being absent, and if they provide input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting. This input must be in writing and is submitted to the parent and the IEP team [§300.321(e)(2)].

Additionally:

• Parents who want to confer with an excused team member may ask to do so before agreeing or consenting to excuse the member from attending the meeting. (71 Fed. Reg. at 46674)
• School systems may not routinely or unilaterally excuse IEP team members from meetings as parent agreement or consent is required in each instance.
• Schools systems need to to carefully consider whether it makes sense to offer to hold the IEP team meeting when a particular member isn't attending or whether it would be better to reschedule the meeting so that person could attend and participate in the discussion. (Id.)
• A school district that routinely excuses team members from attending IEP meetings would not be in compliance with the requirements of the Act, and, therefore, would be subject to the state’s monitoring and enforcement provisions. (Id.)
• It is up to each district to determine the individual in the district with the authority to make the agreement (or provide consent) with the parent to excuse a team member for the meeting. The designated individual must have the authority to bind the district to the agreement with the parent or provide consent on behalf of the district. (71 Fed. Reg. at 46676)

Address 71 Fed. Reg. at 46676

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