IEE Facts

A great tool used in getting your child appropriate services. Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE) are requested from Parents when the evaluations conducted by their districts are not comprehensive enough. As a Parent you have the right to request an IEE at the District’s expense if you do not agree with their evaluation. Once you have made the request the District has two choices; to approve and fund the evaluation and to deny it and file for a due process against you. Here are a few IEE facts that we want you to be aware of:

 

1. If your district approves your request for an IEE, they cannot limit your choices. Most of the time Districts will send you a list of what they consider “approved” assessors and a maximum amount they are to pay for the evaluations. We challenge the limits that are placed by districts.
2. This list is merely a suggestion by the District. However, we do not recommend using assessors on this list. We have a great list of assessors whom we believe complete great and comprehensive evaluations.
3. District cannot give you an expense cap in order to prevent you form obtaining an evaluation from a qualified assessor. Although there is no law preventing districts from trying to place these limits we do challenge them in efforts of providing you with the best evaluation possible.
4. Recently we have come across a new limit being given to parents, a restriction of the mileage between the assessor and district, there is no maximum distance allowed. Not only did we find a restriction on mileage the notice also tried to restrict the county of location of the assessor. There is also no law to limit the location and we also work to challenge this limit as well.
5. An IEP must consider these evaluations and the comments and recommendations of the evaluator. The independent assessor typically has a more comprehensive evaluation than that provided by the district and gives more insight into your child’s needs. These evaluations are great in that they provide a more in depth picture of your child and that they also provide great recommendations as to which programs would be beneficial. More times than not these evaluations bring to light other areas of need that had been missed with more vague evaluations.

 

The process of not just obtaining an IEE but also making sure it is a qualified one can be challenging. Our offices are knowledgeable in these requests as well as great assessors!