Illinois Administrative Code › Title 23 - EDUCATION AND CULTURAL RESOURCES › Part 226 - SPECIAL EDUCATION › Subpart F - PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS › Section 226.530 - Parents' Participation

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) With
				respect to parents' participation in meetings, school districts shall conform
				to the requirements of 34
				CFR 300.322 and
				300.501. For purposes of
				34 CFR
				300.322(a)(1), "notifying
				parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an
				opportunity to attend" means the district shall provide written notification no
				later than ten days prior to the proposed date of the meeting.
No later
				than 3 school days prior to a meeting to determine a child's eligibility for
				special education and related services or to review a child's IEP, or as soon
				as possible if an IEP meeting is scheduled within 3 school days with written
				consent of the child's parent or guardian, the local education agency must
				provide the child's parent or guardian with copies of all written material that
				will be considered by the IEP team at the meeting so that the parent or
				guardian may participate in the meeting as a fully-informed member. The parent
				or guardian shall have the option of choosing from the available methods of
				delivery, which must include regular mail and picking up the materials at
				school. For a meeting to determine the child's eligibility for special
				education, the written material must include all evaluations and collected data
				that will be considered at the meeting. For a child who is already eligible for
				special education and related services, the written material must include a
				copy of all IEP components that will be discussed by the IEP team, other than
				the components related to the educational and related service minutes proposed
				for the child and the child's placement. Parents shall also be informed of
				their right to review and copy their child's school student records prior to
				any special education eligibility or IEP review meeting, subject to the
				requirements of applicable federal and State law.
(Section 14-8.02f(c)
				of the Code)
1) In addition, the district
				shall take whatever action is necessary to facilitate the parent's
				understanding of and participation in the proceedings at a meeting, including
				arranging for and covering the expense of a qualified interpreter, as described
				in Section 226.800(k), for
				parents whose native language is other than English or for an interpreter
				licensed pursuant to the Interpreter for the Deaf Licensure Act of 2007
				[225 ILCS
				443 ] for parents who are deaf. All interpreters for
				the common languages and American Sign Language shall be qualified
				interpreters. If a qualified interpreter is not available, a school district
				may use outside vendors, including telephonic interpreters, that are
				commercially recognized as providing competent interpretation
				services.
2) For the less common
				languages, the school district will make all reasonable efforts to provide an
				interpreter.
A) The interpreter must be:
i) demonstrably qualified and competent to
				interpret into and out of the less common language;
ii) trained in providing the interpretations
				requested and is sufficiently knowledgeable in both languages and of any
				specialized terminology needed; and
iii) trained in the ethics of
				interpretation.
B) In
				fulfilling this request, a school district may use outside vendors, including
				telephonic interpreters, that are commercially recognized as providing
				competent interpretation services.