Summary
HB 1051 permits parents and guardians to record meetings related to their child’s individualized education program (IEP) team meetings.
Our position: PRO
Sponsors: Representatives Walsh, Penner, Jacobsen, Couture
We need your advocacy for this bill. Keep reading about the simple steps you can take.
What are the key reasons for the HB 1051 passage?
Supports Effective Parent Advocacy
- Accurate records help parents understand and engage in educational decisions.
- Notes are subjective and often omit crucial details.
- Recordings provide an objective record to verify what was said and agreed upon.
Supports Inclusion and Accessibility
- Parents with disabilities and those who don’t speak English or have ESL need accurate, accessible records for their children.
- Students participating in their meetings also need reliable meeting records.
Reduces Misunderstandings and Disputes
- Misunderstandings from incomplete notes often lead to unnecessary conflict.
- Recordings help maintain trust and clarity between families and school teams.
Upholds Student Rights
- In these confidential meetings, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects student privacy.
- Conversations about public school students are confidential and protected by FERPA, but they are not private conversations.
- The discomfort of individuals in public service with a recording that supports the student should not outweigh the civil right to meaningful parental participation.
Parent educators and school teams:
- Documentation of decisions.
- Clarity of meeting agreements between the school district and family serves as protection for teachers.
- Improves mutual trust and transparency between educators, families, and their students.
- Recording and meeting transcripts make documentation of decisions and next steps easier without requiring to rely on the meeting notes which are not a full record of what happened.
- Supports teachers working with culturally and linguistically diverse families. Recorded meetings can be used to improve parent involvement and participation.
- Allows educators to review and reflect on meetings and improve communication strategies with families and other team members.
- If a team member can’t attend a meeting, they can review discussions that took place.
- Prevents litigation.
- Systemic improvement.
Consider Reaching Out
1) Email Rep Santos, Chair of the House Committee on Education
Ask Rep Santos to put this very important bill back on the committee schedule for Executive Session before the February 21 cutoff date to support students with disabilities and their parents’ advocacy.
Point out to Chair Santos how crucial recording of meetings is for you and particularly for families whose first language is not English as a second language, non-English speakers, parents with disabilities, and those who lack resources and ability to hold school districts accountable through due process, or reducing the need for litigation altogether.
Share your experience!
Or
Email the entire House Committee on Education:
(You can personalize it.)
Dear Chair Santos and Members of the Committee,
Please pass the HB 1051 out of the committee before the 2/21 cutoff!
The ability to record meetings is a crucial advocacy tool for parents, and it helps educators to keep track of their large caseloads therefore it protects not just the student’s rights but also keeps all team members on the same page. This is particularly important when the district administrators are involved and education teams rely on them to follow through with the agreements made during meetings. Recording of meetings is a strategy to improve mutual trust among IEP teams and ensures transparency.
Thank you for passing HB 1051 out of the House Education Committee and supporting our public school students with disabilities.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
2) Email Representative Rude, Ranking Minority Leader on the Education Committee in the House of Representatives.
Ask Rep. Rude to encourage bipartisan collaboration in support of passing HB 1051 out of the committee and through the legislature.
This bill must be voted out of the Education Committee by Friday 2/21/2025!
3) Email Representative Walsh, the primary sponsor of HB 1051.
Ask Rep Walsh to reach out to all legislators, no matter what side of the political aisle they are on to ensure that HB 1051 passes the legislature this year!
Public testimony videos
Videos of public testimonies in the House Education from Feb 3, 2025, 1:30 PM
Bill intro: 01:14
Testimonies start at 27:43 and 50:37
