I'm a new teacher so I'm not familiar with all the rules just yet. But I was curious about something. One of our veteran teachers was complaining about a long-distance non-custodial father insisting that she call him long distance. Our school would have to pay for the long distance phone call as Dad wouldn't. In a custody situation, do schools have to make long-distance phone calls? I've never encountered this situation before and am not sure. I am more than willing to do two parent conferences and send home 2 of everything for the divorced parents. But I'm curious what you do if one of the parents doesn't live in the state.

[breezey]

had this situation and gladly made those phone calls as needed. However, communication does go both ways, and I did let this parent know (as I do all of my parents) that if there were ever any questions or concerns to notify me.

[SteelerFan]

Many years ago, a colleague of mine used e-mail to do this. It actually turned out to be a very good support for the student who rarely saw her Dad due to the distance.
There are many reasons for students living far from parents. In our area, work opportunities are the top reason for intact and divorced families. Hopefully this is one of those parents who really wants to be informed & involved the best they can at a distance. Sometimes it works that way.

[Quatro]

We can only do long distance from the office. I don't know why parent couldn't arrange to call teacher.

[senior42]

only the custodial parent needs to be notified about anything the rest is a courtesy. We have a flat charge which inclues envelopes,postage and phone calls. No one has every said anything about it.

[sonshine]

I've never run into this situation--but I like the e-mail idea. If the dad wants to talk long distance, he should probably call so it's on "his nickel". (Although I have so many roll-over minutes on my cell, I wouldn't think twice about calling.)

Another thing I've done with absent parents is to have them provide me with SASE and then I mail class information. (They can also get it on my website.)

Kids are always the winners anytime a parent is involved!

[purplecrazy21]

only the custodial parent needs to be notified about anything the rest is a courtesy. We have a flat charge which inclues envelopes,postage and phone calls. No one has every said anything about it.

I don't know what state this is, but I can say that in CO, this is definitely not true. In a divorce situation, BOTH parents are required to receive information from the school about their child if they have joint decision making. This is regardless of whether one parent is a non-custodial parent. If they both make decisions about the child, then they both are entitled to receive educational information about their child without being charged for it.
All you have to do to find that out, is to request a copy of the parenting plan that was filed with the courts from the parent.
My husband just went through this with his daughter. He was not the primary custodial parent, and the school special ed team completely neglected to invite him to an IEP meeting for his daughter. They went with the mother telling them he was not interested in his daughter's education and didn't want to attend.
When we discovered that she was placed on an IEP (which we did agree with) without his knowledge or participation in the meeting, we contacted the school's legal department.
The special ed team that neglected to follow special education laws regarding contacting divorced parents, did face repercussions because of their actions.
As a teacher, I handle divorced parents very carefully. Unless the court order states no contact, I send information to both parents. I am also willing to call both parents even if they live out of state. They are both entitled to information about their child's education.
It is not our right to decide whether they deserve to receive that information or not.