Absent a court order to the contrary, noncustodial parents have certain rights to participate in their child’s activities and be on their child’s contact list. See Virginia Code section 5534-4.3 and School Board Policy KP (see below). It is the responsibility of the custodial parent to provide a copy of any relevant court order to the school.
22.1-4.3. Participation by and notification of noncustodial parent
Unless a court order has been issued to the contrary, the noncustodial parent of a student enrolled in a public school or day care center (i) shall not be denied the opportunity to participate in any of the student’s school or day care activities in which such participation is supported or encouraged by the policies of the school or day care center solely on the basis of such noncustodial status and (ii) shall be included, upon the request of such noncustodial parent, as an emergency contact for the student’s school or day care activities.
For the purposes of this section, “school or day care activities” shall include, but shall not be limited to, lunch breaks, special in-school programs, parent-teacher conferences and meetings, and extracurricular activities. It is the responsibility of the custodial parent to provide the court order to the school or day care center.
KP. Parent Involvement in Education
The custodial parent has the responsibility to:
The noncustodial parent has the responsibility to keep the school office apprized of changes in his or her current phone number and address. Further, the noncustodial parent may make timely requests to participate in parent-teacher conferences.