Texas requires schools to give parents notice of an ARD meeting five school days prior to the meeting. That sounds simple.  Just count to five.  But you can stub your toe on this requirement if you don’t count the days the way TEA says you should count the days.  Consider this one:

The school delivered notice of the ARD meeting to the parent on Friday, August 20, 2021.  What is the earliest date the ARD can be held?  If you said one week later, Friday, August 27^th, you are wrong, according to TEA. In a ruling in a complaint investigation the Agency stated that you don’t count “the day of the event that triggers the [five-day] period.”  In this case, the “event that triggers” the period was the notice of ARD.  The day that was delivered to the parent was August 20^th. 

YOU DON’T COUNT THAT DAY!  Instead, the first day you count is the next school day, which in this case was Monday, August 23^rd.  That means that the fifth day is Friday, August 27^th.  The ARD cannot be held until all five days have elapsed. So the soonest you can have this ARD is Monday, August 30^th.  

Let’s look at the calendar today. Supposed you give notice of ARD today—November 30^th.  Remember, you don’t count that day.  You start counting to five tomorrow. So your count is:

Day One: December 1.

Day Two: December 2.

Day Three: December 3—a Friday.

Day Four: December 6.

Day Five: December 7.

You can’t hold your ARD until December 8^th.

DAWG BONE: NITPICKY, BUT IMPORTANT.

Got a question or comment for the Dawg?  Let me hear from you at jwalsh@wabsa.com. 

Tomorrow: got any kids in jail?