(1)(a) Within fifteen days of receiving notice that a parent has served a due process hearing request on the district and filed a copy of the due process request with the office of administrative hearings, and prior to the initiation of a due process hearing under WAC 392-172A-05100, the school district must convene a meeting with the parent and the relevant member or members of the IEP team who have specific knowledge of the facts identified in the due process hearing request and that:

(i) Includes a representative of the school district who has decision-making authority on behalf of that district; and

(ii) May not include an attorney of the school district unless the parent is accompanied by an attorney.

(b) The purpose of the meeting is for the parent of the child to discuss the due process hearing request, and the facts that form the basis of the request, so that the school district has the opportunity to resolve the dispute that is the basis for the due process hearing request.

(c) The meeting described in (a) of this subsection need not be held if:

(i) The parent and the school district agree in writing to waive the meeting; or

(ii) The parent and the school district agree to use the mediation process described in WAC 392-172A-05060.

(d) The parent and the school district determine the relevant members of the IEP team to attend the meeting.

(2)(a) If the school district has not resolved the due process hearing request to the satisfaction of the parent within thirty days of the parent's filing of the due process hearing request under WAC 392-172A-05085, the due process hearing may occur.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the timeline for issuing a final decision under WAC 392-172A-05105 begins at the expiration of this thirty-day period.

(c) Unless the parties have jointly agreed to waive the resolution process or to use mediation, notwithstanding (a) and (b) of this subsection, the failure of the parent filing a due process hearing request to participate in the resolution meeting will delay the timelines for the resolution process and due process hearing until the meeting is held.

(d) If the school district is unable to obtain the participation of the parent in the resolution meeting after reasonable efforts have been made and documented using the procedures in WAC 392-172A-03100(6), the school district may, at the conclusion of the thirty-day period, request that an administrative law judge dismiss the parent's due process hearing request.

(e) If the school district fails to hold the resolution meeting within fifteen days as specified in subsection (1) of this section or fails to participate in the resolution meeting, the parent may seek the intervention of an administrative law judge to begin the due process hearing timeline.

(3) The forty-five day timeline for the due process hearing starts the day after one of the following events:

(a) Both parties agree in writing to waive the resolution meeting;

(b) After either the mediation or resolution meeting starts but before the end of the thirty-day period, the parties agree in writing that no agreement is possible;

(c) If both parties agree in writing to continue the mediation at the end of the thirty-day resolution period, but later, the parent or school district withdraws from the mediation process.

(4)(a) If a resolution to the dispute is reached at the meeting described in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section, the parties must execute a legally binding agreement that is:

(i) Signed by both the parent and a representative of the school district who has the authority to bind the district; and

(ii) Enforceable in any state court of competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States.

(b) If the parties execute an agreement pursuant this section, a party may void the agreement within three business days of the agreement's execution.