Does a biological parent have the right to attend all parent teacher conferences?
If the school offers separate conferences to divorced parents, can it exclude one biological parent from one of the conferences? Assume there is no legal reason (e.g. EPO) why the parent cannot be present at both.
Concerns related to having two conferences where one parent might disagree with this process include:
1) Information about the child's education might get missed, parents will have different questions and it is unrealistic to expect the teachers to keep detailed notes and share all that was discussed
2) One parent might say (or find it easier to say) uncomplimentary things about the other (credit to Catija in the comments for suggesting this reason)
3) Having two conferences is a burden for teachers, and even if offered by the school, might not be appreciated esp. if the teacher has to take personal time out to accommodate the parents
4) Having two conferences can confuse the child (e.g. why is this happening now differently to the past) or demonstrate that two parents cannot set aside their differences for the short duration of the conference
5) If the child can only be present at one of the conferences due to scheduling issues, then the excluded parent might prefer to be at the conference where the child is present
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As you made mention of, this depends on the situation. In the vast majority of cases, in the three states I've worked (US), Illinois, Wisconsin, and Oregon, both custodial parents have the right to attend parent-teachers' conferences. The school and teacher are responsible for making arrangements, and the children don't directly attend the conferences. (There are probably some exceptions to child presence, just not that I know of.)
There are lots of exceptions to both biological parents having meetings, which might be a good question for the Law SE site. A few I know of:
The biological parent is not a custodial parent. Adoptions, sperm donors, disappearing parents, et. al.
One or both parents have a mental illness shown to be dangerous to self or others during the conference window.. This is a case-by-case issue. I've never seen something like this go before a family court judge, but I suppose in theory it could.
One parent has been excluded from the school's campus. This could be for a number of reasons; I've heard of teachers sending reports by mail and discussing matters over the phone.
Specifically, biological parents do not have the inherent right to attend parent-teachers' conferences.
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