IEE questions

[AM23]

Hi,

 

I am feeling overwhelmed and want to make sure I am understanding some details about asking for an IEE. I understand that the school may deny my request and file for Due Process, however I am concerned about doing this at the end of the school year. 

• How long after a school reeval can I ask for an IEE? Also, is it from the date the reeval was done or the date on the reeval report?
• If I ask for an IEE do I have to have the eval done within a certain amount of time? 
• If the school denies my request, is the Due Process timeline paused over the summer?
• Can I decide to not proceed if the school files for Due Process?
• We've presented private reports to the school before, and the school stated they would not accept the testing results. Some of the school's testing results differed significantly from our private testing. We have two private reports with the same diagnosis, SLD Written Expression/Dysgraphia, and the school will not recognize or accept the results/conclusions/diagnosis. Is there some criteria I need to ask about that the school requires to accept private testing? My problem is that the IEP should reflect my son and it really doesn't. He has a lot of accommodations for reading and writing, and the school refuses to qualify him under  a second category of SLD.  I want the categories to reflect where his main struggles are so teachers looking at the IEP quickly see this and also for SAT/college accommodations, but wonder why we're getting so much resistance to adding another qualifying category of  SLD. Is this so the school can more easily legally provide accommodations instead of instruction in writing? We are not the only family in our district in disagreement with the school that accommodations (spell and grammar check) and grade-level edited long-form writing are sufficient to show a student no longer needs additional writing instruction.

Thanks!

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Hi AM.  I will attempt to answer the questions I can in the order you presented them.

• To be safe, I would wait until after the meeting is held to go over the results of the school's reevaluation.  It would be a difficult to argue you disagree with the evaluation (necessary to request an IEE) if you haven't seen it or received an explanation of the results.
• The amount of time in which an IEE is done is on the school - not you.  However, you should keep an eye on the timeframe.  Most states define it as "within a reasonable time," which has been interpreted as 60 days (similar to the school evaluation requirement).  If it starts going beyond 60 days, I would reach out to the school and inquire as to timing.
• I'm not completely sure about the Due Process timeline for denying an IEE and how it's affected by summer break.  In my state, Due Process complaints and resulting timelines continue throughout the summer.  You could call your state department of education and ask.
• You can always decide to withdraw your request for an IEE.
• Unfortunately, there is no criteria on when a school district must accept the results of a private evaluation.  Legally, they are only required to "consider" such results.  That's why IEEs are so important - to "break the tie" between the differing reports in the hopes that the school district will reconsider their refusal of a secondary category.  At the very least, it will hopefully get the needs listed in the present levels and then the IEP has to address those needs regardless of whether he is found eligible in a particular category.

[JSD24]

• How long after a school reeval can I ask for an IEE? Also, is it from the date the reeval was done or the date on the reeval report?  **If it's more than a year, the school might want to redo an eval rather than say yes to an IEE.  (Do wait until after the meeting where you go over the report.  5 minutes after is OK.  )
• If I ask for an IEE do I have to have the eval done within a certain amount of time?  **No.  Often, evaluators have a waitlist & the better ones can have a longer wait.
• If the school denies my request, is the Due Process timeline paused over the summer?  **This probably varies by state but since a teacher who works under a 10 month contract isn't usually involved, my guess is no pause for the summer.
• Can I decide to not proceed if the school files for Due Process?  **You can recind your request for an IEE.  (I did this once.)
• We've presented private reports to the school before, and the school stated they would not accept the testing results. Some of the school's testing results differed significantly from our private testing. We have two private reports with the same diagnosis, SLD Written Expression/Dysgraphia, and the school will not recognize or accept the results/conclusions/diagnosis. Is there some criteria I need to ask about that the school requires to accept private testing? My problem is that the IEP should reflect my son and it really doesn't. He has a lot of accommodations for reading and writing, and the school refuses to qualify him under  a second category of SLD.  I want the categories to reflect where his main struggles are so teachers looking at the IEP quickly see this and also for SAT/college accommodations, but wonder why we're getting so much resistance to adding another qualifying category of  SLD. Is this so the school can more easily legally provide accommodations instead of instruction in writing? We are not the only family in our district in disagreement with the school that accommodations (spell and grammar check) and grade-level edited long-form writing are sufficient to show a student no longer needs additional writing instruction.  **Some states do not allow a 2nd box to get checked but the 2nd area of disability can and should be described in the eval report & on the IEP.  With SATs, the college board will want a copy of the IEP & will provide what's there so long as the student has used the accommodation and the school asked for the accommodation.  (Apply early so there are accommodations with taking the PSAT too.)  If a student is performing at grade level with accommodations, they need these accommodations.  This isn't a good reason to stop remedial instruction to bring a student up to speed w/o accommodations.  Have you asked the school about this in writing so there's a paper trail?  (XX gets accommodations for spell and grammar check as well as grade-level edited long-form writing.  This shows this is an area of need/disability.  Why is there no specially designed instruction so XX can have goals to be at grade level in these areas without accommodations?)  Keep in mind that an IEE is an outside eval that the school must consider & doesn't need to follow.  If you aren't the only family, what about a class action lawsuit?  This is how special ed got started - look up the PARC Consent Decree for the whole story.  Also, look up the tests the school did.  See what the publishers say these tests assess.  Then do the same for the outside evals.  Did both sets of tests look at the same areas?  If they didn't look at the same things, this could be why the conclusions were different.  It's possible they don't have a teacher with the expertise to provide the instruction that would be needed.  Plus it's more expensive to teach versus accommodate.  Not sure if filing a state complaint might work.  The complaint would be:  The school is recognising there is a deficit by accommodating - why is there no special instruction to go with it?  I remember a training where we needed to go through an eval and make sure there was an SDI for every area of need.  This would be best practice.