“Anyone Home?” Tackling Parents’ Educational Rights and Residency

To paraphrase poet Robert Frost, “parents” are probably best defined as the folks, when you have to go to them, they have to take you in. The law’s more particular, but not always helpful. This presentation explores who may exercise a parent’s educational rights, including decision making, when requesting pupil records, signing IEPs, etc. Along the way, the presenter will discuss the types of educational decisions parents must and may make for their children, the need for discretion on the part of school officials to ensure the efficient operation of business, and the tensions between both. And, for good measure, the presentation will tackle the most common residency questions: how to determine a student’s residency, which rules apply based on the residency of a “parent” or a “guardian” or, perhaps, neither?