Tool #9 in our firm’s Toolbox is Leadership at the ARD Meeting. When I talk about this one, I often make the point that an ARD meeting is sorta like a marriage. This is a comparison you don’t want to take too far. There are more differences than similarities. For starters, marriages last longer than ARD meetings. Usually.
But one major similarity is that you have multiple people but only two parties. You don’t think there are multiple people in your marriage? Take a moment to think about that. I hold it that I am like Walt Whitman—I contain multitudes. As for my wife, like most women, she contains multiples of multitudes. We each bring a lot to the table, but ultimately it’s just the two of us who have to make decisions. When there are two, and they are supposed to come to consensus, you have the possibility of a tie vote. What do you do then?
At the ARD meeting, you have the parent (or adult student) and the school. Those are the two parties. Each must, eventually, speak with a united voice. So you have two parties, who might end up in non-consensus. A tie vote, so to speak.
Fortunately, the Texas Administrative Code tells us what to do. It tells us that when you reach the end of the road, the school is supposed to do what it believes to be the right thing to do, while giving the parent the opportunity to challenge that decision. That’s a paraphrase. The Code section is 19 T.A.C. 89.1050(f)(3).
So the school needs a leader who can bring the non-consensus meeting to closure without rancor or belligerence, but just a clear, calm explanation of what we are going to do and what options the parent has. There is one major exception to that general rule: a student cannot be initially placed in your special education program without parent consent.
Just imagine if you had a similar how-to-break-the-tie rule in your marriage! How much easier things would be! If some of you want to try drafting such a rule, I’d love to see it. Meanwhile, enjoy your ARD meetings and your marriage!
DAWG BONE: MARRIAGE. ARD MEETING. MORE SIMILAR THAN YOU MIGHT THINK!
Tomorrow: Texas district prevails at the 5th Circuit