14. Surrogate Parents Procedure

Procedure for Special Education Surrogate Parents

IDEA requires that a public agency must assign a Surrogate Parent for: CHILDREN WHO HAVE OR WHO ARE SUSPECTED OF HAVING A DISABILITY AND MEET ONE OF THE CONDITIONS BELOW.

• • A “Surrogate Parent” is a person who stands in for the parent and makes decisions about the child’s education. A “parent” is the child’s natural or adoptive parent, legal guardian other than a state agency, or a person acting as a parent (e.g., child living with relatives).

Banks School District Staff Determines the Need for a Surrogate Parent 

A parent may give consent for a surrogate to be appointed when:

• A parent does not wish to participate, or circumstances clearly make it not feasible for the parent to participate in protecting the special education rights of the child; or

  • The parent lives at such a distance from the child’s educational placement that it is not practical to participate in protecting the special education rights of the child.

The public educational agency must appoint a surrogate parent when:

• • The parent cannot be identified or located (after reasonable efforts to document efforts to locate a parent or guardian); or

  • The child is a ward of the state (to determine this, contact the person/agency who enrolled the child).

Maintain written consent (either your dated notes of a conversation with the parent, or the parents written notice to you) copy to be placed in the student’s file 

Banks School District Staff Note:

• • When a parent requests that a surrogate be appointed, the parent retains all parental rights to receive prior written notices and the information provided to the surrogate parent.