Has your child recently been evaluated by the School District? Do you read the assessment report and scratch your head, because the child described is not the child you know? Are aspects of your child’s characteristics missing? Or worse yet have you requested an independent evaluation and been ignored by the School District?
Federal Special Education Regulations mandate that “A parent has the right to an independent educational evaluation (“IEE”) at public (school district) expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the public agency.”
Once a parent has requested, in writing, an IEE, citing that they do not agree with the current assessment, the School District, must without delay, either agree to fund the IEE or file a Due Process Complaint to request a determination that its evaluation is appropriate. A parent need not explain the reason for their disagreement; they must only notify the School District that they do not agree with the assessment.
More often than not, filing and completing a Due Process Hearing to defend its assessment will cost the School District much more money than merely funding the requested IEE, so it makes economical sense for the School District to acquiesce.
If the School District ignores your request for an IEE or says “no” and does not file a Due Process Complaint, you can force the issue by filing a Compliance Complaint with the California Department of Education.
Once you have requested an IEE in writing you must wait “a reasonable amount of time” for a response before you do anything further. There is no hard and fast rule about what constitutes a “reasonable” amount of time, but at least 15 school days seems appropriate, before further action is taken.
Should you have any problems with your School District or have further questions on this or other topics, do not hesitate to contact me, Kathy Greco, Esq. at http://www.facebook.com/SpecialEdForumKGEsq or SpecialEdForumKGesq@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter, SpecialEdForum
No comments:
Post a Comment