District ofColumbiaPublicSchools |January 2017 Page 5 of 15
SchoolVisitor’sPolicy
alsobegivenareasonableopportunitytovisittheschoolandtoobserveproposedclassesuponrequest.
However,aparentorguardian’spresenceintheschoolmustnevercauseadisruptiontothefunctionof
theschoolortheinstructionalprogramofanystudentorinanyway
compromisethesafetyorsecurity
oftheschool,students,orstaff.
Relativesorcaretakerswhoarenotthechild’sguardianwillbeallowedtovisittheschooliftheyare
accompaniedbyaparentorguardianoriftheyhavereceivedpermissioninadvancefromthechild’s
parentorguardian
andtheschoolprincipal.Ifarelativeorcaretakerappearsontheemergencycontact
listforastudent,therelativeorcaretakershouldbeallowedaccesstotheschooltodropthestudentoff
orpickthestudentup.
Intheeventthatacourtorder,decree,oragreementdescribesthe
rightsofparents,guardiansand/or
otherrelativeswithrespecttoachild,theaccessthattheschoolmayprovidetothechildmustbe
consistentwiththatorder,decree,oragreement.Thatcourtorder,decree,oragreementshouldbe
providedbytheparenttotheschoolassoonasreasonably
possible.Applicablecourtorders,decrees,
oragreementssupersedeallotherprovisionsofthisdirective.SchoolstaffshouldcontacttheDCPS
OfficeoftheGeneralCounsel(OGC)forguidanceoninterpretingthetermsofacourtorder,decree,or
agreement.
C.VisitorsParticipatinginIEP/504Meetings/ObservationsofStudentswith
Disabilities
Non‐schoolstaffmayvisitDCPStoparticipateinIEPmeetingsortoobservestudentswithdisabilitiesin
classroomsettings.Thesevisitsmustcomplywiththefollowingp rocedures:
IEP/504Meetings
Visitorsmaybeallowedentrytotheschoolforthepurposeofmeetingwithschoolstaffregardinga
studentwhois
receivingspecialeducationservicespursuanttotheIndividualsWithDisabilities
ImprovementinEducationActof2004(IDEA).Suchvisitorsmayinclude:educationaladvocates,
attorneys,guardianadlitemattorneys,evaluators,andparentdesignees.However,thesevisitorsshould
onlyremaininthebuildingforthepurposeanddurationoftheirscheduledIEP
meetingandshouldnot
beallowedtowalkunaccompaniedthroughtheschoolortoobservestudentsinclassunlessthe
circumstancesdescribedbelowinSectionC.2,ClassroomObservationsforStudentswithSpecialNeeds,
apply.Thefollowingguidelinesshallapplytovisitorsintheschoolforspecialeducationmatters:
a. All
SecurityproceduresinSection A,above,mustbeadheredto;
b. Uponarrivaltotheschool,theevaluator,educationaladvocate,outsideobserver,orsimilar
visitormustreporttotheprincipaloraprincipal’sdesignee;and
c. Individualswhohavebeenbarredfromaschoolthroughabarringnoticeorcourtorder
but
whoneedtoparticipateinanIEPmeetingmayparticipatebyphone.
ClassroomObservationsforStudentswithDisabilities
1
ObservationscanbeconductedbyparentsasstatedinSectionBabove.Parent’sdesigneesand
professionalscompletingevaluationsofastudentattheschoolwillalsobeallowedtoobservethechild
intheclassroom.Professionalevaluatorsconductinganassessmentmustpresentanauthorizationletter
fromtheparent.Theauthorization
lettershouldindicatewhatassessmenttheevaluatorisconducting,
1
D.C.Act20‐486