CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Department of Labor has declared parents are covered under the law to take leave and attend their child's Individualized Education Program meeting.
The IEP meetings are usually held for special needs students to ensure they have all the resources necessary.
An IEP meeting usually takes place during the day, which makes it difficult for some working parents to get time off to attend.
Parents to reach out to the Department of Labor and expressed their concern about leaving work to attend these school meetings are equally as crucial as a doctor's appointment.
The Department of Labor listened to parents and agreed. They declared under the Family and Medical Leave Act, parents have the right to take leave for IEP meetings.
3News sat down with Jennifer Arismendi, who is the Senior Director for Special Education at Corpus Christi Independent School District.
According to Arismendi, IEP meetings can be held with different faculty and specialist to talk about the student, and having parents involved only improves what they can accomplish.
"Parents' participation is critical. Students are in school for a part of the day, but so much of their life occurs outside of school, and we need the input from parents to be able to help us, be able to partner with us, and developing a plan for our children," Arismendi said.
Arismendi says they are federally required to have meetings annual, but they can occur more frequently depending on the need of the child.
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