Question:
Do educators who aren’t my child’s teachers have to read his IEP?
Answer:
Educators who aren’t your child’s classroom teachers may have duties under his individualized education program (IEP). The school must give access to the staff members responsible for implementing the plan. It must also tell them their duties and the accommodations, modifications, and supports the child must receive.
Federal law doesn’t impose a blanket requirement that every teacher in a school read every page of every student’s IEP. The key is what staff must do for the student, not just whether they teach the student’s classes. Being outside the classroom doesn’t end duties that apply there.
Supporting Documents and/or Regulations
IDEA
Staff Duties Extend Beyond the Classroom
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), at 34 C.F.R. § 300.323(d), requires both IEP access and notice of staff members’ specific duties. Putting the plan in an online system accessible to staff isn’t enough. The school must also inform teachers and providers of their responsibilities.
IDEA also covers settings outside class. 34 C.F.R. § 300.117 specifically names meals and recess:
“In providing or arranging for the provision of nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities, including meals, recess periods, and the services and activities set forth in § 300.107, each public agency must ensure that each child with a disability participates with nondisabled children in the extracurricular services and activities to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of that child. The public agency must ensure that each child with a disability has the supplementary aids and services determined by the child's IEP Team to be appropriate and necessary for the child to participate in nonacademic settings.”
34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4) also addresses services and supports for school personnel. Subsection (ii) names extracurricular and nonacademic activities. Subsection (iii) addresses participation with other children.
“(a) General. As used in this part, the term individualized education program or IEP means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in accordance with §§ 300.320 through 300.324, and that must include— . . . (4) A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child— . . . (iii) To be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children in the activities described in this section;”
