General Parent Information
Click HERE to go to the Parent Guides and other publication resources that provide a wealth of useful information on special education and other issues.
Need to know your rights? Click HERE for help in understanding the Procedural Safeguards Notice.
Parents have the right to an Independent Educational Evaluation at public expense if there is disagreement with the evaluation of their child obtained by the LEA, subject to the following conditions:
a) If you request an IEE of your child at public expense, your LEA must, without unnecessary delay, either (a) File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate; or (b) Provide an IEE at public expense , unless the LEA demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of your child that you obtained did not meet the LEA’s criteria.
b) If your LEA requests a hearing and the final decision is that your LEA’s evaluation of your child is appropriate, you still have the right to an IEE, but not at public expense.
c) If you request an IEE of your child, the LEA may ask why you object to the evaluation of your child obtained by your LEA. However, your LEA may not require an explanation and may not unreasonably delay either providing the IEE of your child at public expense or filing a due process complaint to request a due process hearing to defend the ELA’s evaluation of your child.
d) You are entitled to only one IEE of your child at public expense each time your LEA conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree.
e) LEA criteria: If an IEE is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation and the qualification of the examiner, must be the same as the criteria that the LEA uses when it initiates an evaluation (to the extent those criteria are consistent with your right to an IEE). Except for the criteria described above, a LEA may not impose conditions or timelines related to obtaining an IEE at public expense.