Does Teaching in a Child's Classroom Count as Parenting Time

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Oregon
Thank you all in advance for your help. I know you don't get paid for this and I appreciate your feedback on my (probably dumb) questions.
Husband has 2 boys. Husband will be teaching a class at their school this fall a couple days per week (alternative school) and will probably have older son in the class. Does this count as parenting time?
I could see it going either way -- he's not there specifically to spend time with sons only, he'd be doing work in a classroom setting, so that could make it a No. On the other hand, it would make sense for him to be the "on-call" parent during those times, because if either kiddo had an emergency at school, he'd be much more available than Mom.
I know that if a kid has a school/sports activity during "parenting time", it's still parenting time. But what if the parent's day job is with the kid?
Thanks again. I'm just the stepmom, but I want to be informed in case Mom brings this up when we all redo the schedule for next year.

No, that doesn't count as parenting time in the real sense.

Has Mom suggested what she might be thinking?

being "on call" in that situation would be no different than if he were at home able to be reached by telephone. Using that logic, the father has parenting time 24/7/365. Your question only sounds more like parenting time because the father is closer and able to respond to an issue quicker.

Quote:

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I know that if a kid has a school/sports activity during "parenting time", it's still parenting time. But what if the parent's day job is with the kid?

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to make the comparison you would have to have a situation where the father is also the coach or some other similar entity. It is parenting time when it is simply an activity engaged in while under the control of the parent but if the parent was the coach, that puts the relationship between the child and parent as not simply a parent but a coach with the parent issue being irrelevant. While just a parenting time issue the father could choose to not allow the child to attend the sports activity and go to Dairy Queen. The coach cannot do that as they are working and have all the players to deal with.

JK, thanks for the analogy. That helps to get some perspective.
Dogmatique, funny you should say "in the real sense". One of my first questions here was about Mom's definition of "parenting time" as "quality time" that only happens when she, her husband, their son, & the boys could all be together (this was stated during mediation). As you can imagine, by that calculation, each parent had exactly equal "quality time" with boys, despite husband spending about 25 hours/week with kiddos and Mom having the rest.
So this will be interesting if she tries to say that teaching time is parenting time, given that it isn't, at least by her own definition.
Long story short, she hasn't brought anything up yet, and husband plans to not raise the issue unless she does.
Boys are excited, though, so that's a plus...

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P.S. Even though she's already defined "quality time", I'm posting this question because consistency is not one of her strengths, and I'm thinking she might have a change of heart and suddenly believe that parenting time is any and all time that a bio parent spends with at least one kid.

Dogmatique, Mom has now suggested that she thinks the boys will be negatively emotionally affected by H being at their school. She wants to take this to mediation. However, H will not be teaching either boy. H thinks Mom, who has sole legal/phys custody, might withdraw boys from alt school, which raises a new question -- does changing a child's school constitute sufficient change in circumstances in a child's life to merit a change in custody? Both boys have been thriving according to their teachers, FWIW.
Again, I'm just the stepmom, and I have no dog in the fight. Thanks in advance.

Good grief - she's really reaching there.

Does she understand that she'd need to show a change in circumstances is present AND that the CoC would be detrimental to their welfare?

So... the boys are thriving, nothing has happened, nothing has changed..she has no proof of anything, does she?

Has she filed anything? I'm getting the distinct impression she makes lots of noise without actually saying anything.

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Afterthought...

If she insists that Dad's job is actually parenting time, that can impact the amount of child support....

Hey, thanks for the quick reply, Dogmatique. It's a relief that others see that Mom is reaching -- not just some crazy stepmom (me) who thinks it might be happening.
Just to clarify, it's Mom who has sole custody, not Dad. The (desired) change would be from Mom to Dad (or, miraculously, to joint).
It would seem if Dad can show that taking the boys out of their current school, where nothing bad is happening (except bad Dad starting to teach!), would sufficiently negatively affect them, then in Oregon that's enough to start a look at changing custody? Help me if I'm not understanding this right.
Also, FWIW, parenting plan is super basic, not detailed. Only says Dad can spend time with boys when he is not at work.
Child support is not paid through CSE offices, but is more than Oregon guidelines. Mom would blow a gasket if decreasing CS were mentioned. Mom has already blown gasket over bringing up looking at parenting plan to determine parenting time.
I guess to sum it up, H is finding that his initial hope that he and Mom could amicably work together (which led to filing vague PP & letting her have sole custody) is totally off, and he's now reaping fallout. Big question for him is whether it's worth finally taking this to court (not a question you can answer, I know, but your concrete info about CoC is super helpful).
Anyway, thank you for your sane perspective.

Oh -- and to answer your question about whether she has proof of anything -- from a rational perspective, nothing outside the spectrum of normal parenting practice. From her perspective, a ton (i.e., most interactions boys have with H are fraught w/ emotional duress, lying, fear, "abusive behavior"). Not sure rationality & proof are going to get H anywhere fast with her.

Mom needs to understand that "more parenting time for Dad" will likely reduce his child support obligation. If given a choice I'd think she'll sharp change her mind about whether or not it's actually parenting time.

Dad might want to get it to court anyway, if only for clarification. Times, holidays, who is responsible for pick up and drop off. I also see no reason why he can't get joint legal instead of Mom being sole.

Mom is going to shoot herself in the foot if she won't stop whining. Why do I say that? Ooooh this one is easy :cool:. Mom is claiming the boys suffer tremendous duress and fear? She's the one who has them the most - we might even suggest that they're emotionally hurt because of what Mom is or isn't doing.

See where I'm coming from?

That's helpful about the CS, Dogmatique -- especially because Husband could frame it as "We want to make sure to pay you more if the kids are with you more". She may want H's teaching time to be parenting time so she looks deprived of time with the boys. This could be a win.
The thing about court, though, is H believes (as do I) that Mom is ready, willing, and able to make boys' lives miserable if H gets, via legal means, more time with them. Don't get me wrong, it's not like she's some monster mom -- I think she really does want what's good for the boys -- but her idea of what's good for them is contingent on her feelings about H, and if she feels H is the source of all the problems, well... of course she wouldn't want the boys around him. Sigh.
But OK, on to Mom shooting herself in the foot. Believe me, I totally see where you're coming from... the question is, though, would a court? I mean, let's say H takes it to court to try for joint legal -- just something to slow Mom down from these unilateral decisions. H presents a few texts from Mom about her making kid decisions with her husband (boys' stepdad) instead of with H. H shows some pix of boys having good time with him, maybe diary entries of "snuggled with boys on couch while watching movie", stuff like that. Mom turns on the charm and presents herself as Mom of the Year, taking boys to all dentist/doctor appts, selflessly sacrificing for their activities, suffering as they are emotionally abused by H. Mom will say that the boys call her husband Dad (if we could stop it, we would). This scenario isn't enough to have a judge say Oh, sounds like THIS family needs joint decision making, right?
I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, does H move for joint (or sole with him) NOW, before Mom pulls the boys out/moves over 60 miles away/makes big CoC decision, or will H's chances be better if as soon as Mom makes a big change, he takes it immediately to court? Again, I know you don't have a crystal ball, but thoughts on when the right time is would be appreciated.
Seriously, thank you all.

Here's what's new: Mom has met with head teachers and has told them she thinks it'll be too traumatic for boys to potentially run into Dad at school. Teachers suggested it might actually be helpful for boys to interact w/ Dad in safe, structured, public environment. Mom said it wasn't worth the risk.
Mom has not filed any CPS reports and all of Dad's PT is unsupervised. If Mom really thought Dad was dangerous, she'd have acted on those items, right? So is it unreasonable to take Mom's statements to the teachers as evidence that she isn't fostering a positive relationship between boys & Dad? Just curious...

I see nothing at all wrong with using those statements. But are we talking written statement? Or can the head teachers testify?

She better have more than a grudge if she wants the court to actually believe her. It can be thrown back in her face faster than she can pause for breath.

Not written; teachers would tell the truth. They are pretty smart & see what Mom is up to.
It seems not unlikely to me that Mom would inflate some of Dad's normal range parenting gaffes into big, big, "abusive" deals, if it went to court. Judges see through that... Right?
Bigger picture is that I think Dad & I are both realizing that taking this to court would totally wreck the boys' school experience and might trigger Mom to do some pretty bad psychological stuff to the kids. The boys' minds are worth more than winning. So at this point, unless Mom actually withdraws them, I think we have to just document and be patient.