School communication with IEE assessors

[Tamar]

Are the school and an IEE assessor allowed to have conversations regarding observations before the meeting to determine additional services/ assessments, without including the parent?
 

We are in the process of an IEE with the Riverside school district for my son. It's not going well- the district has drug the process on for over a year and I finally agreed to use the psychoeducational assessor on their list (who my advocate recommended) after they shot down multiple other psychologists I requested. The assessment is complete and submitted but we don't have our meeting to discuss it until May. I have also requested an IEE for the FBA but the school hasn't replied, and then said they need to contact the IEE psychologist for more info before deciding if they can approve the FBA. I emailed the IEE psychologist who said the school did reach out to him, "They were just asking about my observations when I observed him."
 

We already had a meeting to discuss the IEE for OT and the meeting was awful- the school OT refused to even put OT consultation into the current 504, basically the team gaslight everything- the OT IEE recommended weekly services and a vision assessment.
 

Is that conversation allowed to happen without the parent being included? I never provided permission for it specifically BUT did sign other consents for the IEE itself. The district has not overall been acting in good faith throughout this process, hence my apprehension. My son currently doesn't have an IEP- the IEE we haven't had the meeting for does recommend an IEP for OHI and SLD- the goal is also for him to have a 1:1 aide given his behavioral support needs (he currently has a part time aide under his 504. This school district is bizarre).  He has been suspended once last year and once this year (1st grade), and has multiple "incidents" in his permanent record.  

[JSD24]

From what I've been told in the trainings I've taken, you are only allowed one FBA per year.  This might not apply to you/your state.

This is 1000% my guess:  Could RSD get the person who did the completed IEE to do an FBA IEE based on the observations they did when they observed for the IEE you will meet about next month?  Based on what you posted, I'm thinking this was what the conversation between the evaluator & RSD was about.  I think that when an evaluator does a lot of IEEs in a SD, they do develop a relationship of sorts.  This is OK.  Professionals in the same industry can & do develop working relationships.  The evaluator can still be able to be unbiased when they have a working relationship with a district.

Yes, they are allowed to talk to each other without parent permission or the parent being present.  Evaluators don't just show up & observe.  They are going to arrange a time that works for the school and will hopefully be a good time so the behavior they want to see will occur.

There are general ed FBAs that a school can do w/o parent permission.  With this, a BIP/PBSP can be written for a student who doesn't have an IEP.  A 1:1 aide is an accommodation so it is something that can go on a 504.

Lastly, I'll ask if the person who did the OT IEE has school OT credentials?  Schools listen to school people more than they listen to medical people.  A student might medically need OT weekly and not have a need for OT at school.  Given the school OT didn't seem to have an interest in what was on the OT IEE report,  one reason could be that the person who wrote the report does not have school credentials.