Our president, Michelle Ribaudo, would like to share this message on Recording Policy KKB:
I absolutely believe that a parent of a child with a disability should be able to record their IEP/504 meetings. This document is at the heart of their child’s education, and parents need to be well informed and prepared to meaningfully participate.
Columbia Public Schools is trying to determine whether to change policy KKB, and has done surveys with teachers. Unfortunately, no information is being given to the teachers about what isactually happening and what is being requested by the parents. It is obvious from the answers received that there is a lack of the facts being passed along to our educators. (See analysis below.) The survey question is asking about opinions on recording; however, the educators should be informed that under Missouri law (one party consent) that it is not illegal for a parent to record an IEP/504 meeting without the educator’s knowledge. If the question were worded more appropriately, such as below, then I believe the answers would be much different:
Parents and the superintendent or school designee can secretly record IEP/504 meetings. Would you prefer open recording policy or for the recording to be done in secret?
Now for the breakdown of responses received from the previous survey. It is my understanding that a new survey has been sent which still does not provide explanation. I have not seen those results; I anticipate it will be much the same as below.
In going through the educator comments, I was saddened to see that the majority that responded did not feel confident in their ability to run a compliant IEP/504 meeting, which makes them fearful of being recorded. Of the 52 comments, 45 were marked as “opposed,” but I disagree with this classification of 7 of them, which should more properly be classified as “on the fence”. Of the remaining 38, the reasons are easily broken down to misunderstanding and training issues.
| Reason | % | Response |
| Chilling Effect | 66% | Training issue – should be confident in ability to have a compliant IEP meeting |
| FERPA | 21% | Irrelevant, parents consent to recording and are not subject to FERPA |
| Splicing/Releasing | 18% | lack of information provided prior to survey – school will also record |
| Stress | 11% | recording should relieve stress as it protects the teachers from false accusations |
| Cost | 8% | We all need accurate cost information, but shouldn’t be much more than what is required for current ADA requirements. What does the school have in place currently for ADA? |
| Legality | 3% | Education on state laws |
| Staff Comments | 3% | Training issue – should be confident in ability to have a compliant IEP meeting |
| Why Change? | 3% | compliance, meaningful participation, discrimination, update with the times |
I hope that CPS will consider training to assist their employees to feel confident in their abilities, not be worried about doing something wrong, and protect them from parents exercising their ability to record in a one-party consent state. It was also apparent based on comments such as splicing, FERPA, and legality, that accurate information was not provided to the teachers to be able to make an informed comment.
I believe we need to protect our educators and families with a recording option.
–Michelle Ribaudo