Are you the parent of a child with autism or a learning disability who needs an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) to determine their educational needs or services? Have you heard that parents can ask their school district’s special education staff to pay for an IEE at public expense? This article will discuss the 5 IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requirements for a publicly sponsored IEE.
1. IDEA 300.502 under (b)(1) states that parents “have the right under this part to obtain an independent educational evaluation by the public if the parent disagrees with the evaluation obtained by the public agency.”
2. Special education staff can ask you why you disagree with their evaluation, but they cannot require you to explain why you disagree. In fact, I recommend not telling them what you disagree with, because they may try to limit the IEE.
3. IDEA 300.502(b)(2) states “that if a parent requests an independent educational evaluation at public expense, the public agency must, without unnecessary delay, either: 1. Request a due process hearing to show that their evaluation is appropriate, or 2. Ensure that an independent educational evaluation is provided at public expense….”
4. IDEA 300.502(5)(e) states that “if an IEE is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, must be the same as those criteria that the public agency uses when initiating an evaluation, to the extent that those criteria are consistent with the parent’s right to an IEE.” Many school districts try to impose many criteria on parents for publicly funded IEEs. For example: geographic, cost, evaluator name must be in a list, etc.
5. Except for the criteria in 4 above, school districts may not impose other conditions or deadlines on the IEE at public expense.
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has stated that school districts may develop criteria for IEEs at public expense; with these two exceptions.
has. The school district may not establish criteria that prevent parents from obtaining an IEE at public expense. For example: if you live in a small town, with no testers available, and your district says the test must be done within 30 miles; it would be impossible for you to find an evaluator. Or the special education staff makes the cost so low that you can’t find anyone to evaluate your child. This can prevent you from getting the IEE at public expense, so deal with special education staff.
b. School districts must allow parents to demonstrate that their child’s circumstances are unique and require a waiver of the criteria. For example: if you think your child needs to be seen by a clinical psychologist, the cost is probably more than what a psychologist would charge. If you can prove unique circumstances why your child needs to be evaluated by a clinical psychologist, then the school district is supposed to pay for the clinical psychologist. Whether a school district is willing to do that, without a due process hearing, is up to your school district.
Remember that any criteria a school district establishes for an IEE at public expense should not prevent parents from obtaining the IEE; and they must allow the criteria to be waived if the child’s circumstances require it. A good independent evaluation can benefit your child by determining their disabilities or related educational and service needs.