The parent or legal guardian of a student with a disability pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 34 CFR 300.502 or of a student suspected of having an IDEA disability has the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) of their child at public expense if they disagree with an evaluation or any component of an evaluation obtained or conducted by the Dexter R­ XI School District. That right is subject to the requirement that the independent evaluation must meet the educational evaluation criteria used by the responsible public agency when it initiates an evaluation, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the parent's right to an independent evaluation.

Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the student in question.

The parent or legal guardian may request one IEE in response to each full evaluation completed by the District. If the parent request for an IEE comes one year or more from the date of the completion of the District's evaluation, the District may seek to complete a reevaluation prior to paying for an IEE.

PARENT REQUESTS INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION

A parent is not required to notify the District prior to obtaining an IEE. However, if the parent or legal guardian requests an IEE at public expense, the District will request that the parent provide a reason why he or she objects to the District's evaluation. In making that request, the District may not unreasonably delay either providing the requested IEE at public expense or initiating a due process hearing to defend the District's evaluation.

1. When a parent requests an IEE, the Director of Special Services shall be notified. The Director of Special Services will, without unreasonable delay, provide the parent or legal guardian a copy of these procedures, as well as information about where an IEE may be obtained and the District's criteria for such evaluations.
2. Within 30 business days from the receipt of the request for an IEE, the District will inform the parent or legal guardian that the District (a) will pay for the requested evaluation subject to the requirements addressed in these procedures or (b) will initiate due process to defend the District's evaluation.
3. Before making the decision indicated in paragraph 2 above, the Director of Special Services will ask the parent or legal guardian for the reason or reasons why he/she objects to or disagrees with the District's evaluation or any component of that evaluation. However, the parent or legal guardian is not required to provide that reason, and the District will not use the request or a lack of parental response to such a request to unreasonably delay its decision regarding whether to provide the requested IEE at public expense or to initiate due process to defend the District's evaluation.
4. If the District's decision is to pay for the IEE, the Director of Special Services will offer the parent or legal guardian the opportunity to convene the student's multidisciplinary team to develop an evaluation plan to address the areas to be evaluated and the independent evaluator who will assess the student. That plan will comply with the District's criteria for evaluator qualifications, geographic location, assessments used, and cost limitations as specified below in this procedure.
5. Independent evaluators must agree to release the results of their independent evaluations to the District prior to receipt of payment for services. The independent evaluators must also agree to make all test protocols available to District staff for review when requested. The results of any independent evaluation will be considered by the student's multidisciplinary or IEP team with respect to any decisions involving the provision of a free appropriate public education of the student.
6. The parent or legal guardian may also proceed to arrange for completion of the IEE without a multidisciplinary team meeting, but the IEE, as completed, must comply with the requirements of this policy before the District is obligated to pay.

PARENT REQUESTS PAYMENT FOR COMPLETED INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION

The parent of a student with a disability may obtain an IEE without notification to the District and then request payment for that evaluation.

1. If the parent is requesting payment for an IEE already completed, the parent must notify the District's Director of Special Services in writing. Upon receipt of the request, the District will provide the parent with a copy of these procedures.
2. Within 30 business days, the District will notify the parent as to whether the District will initiate due process to establish the appropriateness of its evaluation or pay of the IEE.
3. If the District decides to pay for the IEE, the District criteria for the location of the evaluator(s), the minimum qualifications of the evaluator(s), the cost of the evaluation, and the use of approved assessment instruments must be met. If the cost of the IEE exceeds the District's cost limitations, the District will inform the parent that the District will pay the portion of the cost that is within the District's limitations, if the District determines that an appropriate IEE could have been obtained within the cost limitations.
4. Any IEE obtained by the parent must be consistent with the criteria used by the District in conducting its own education evaluations. Those criteria include, but are not limited to, minimum qualifications for evaluators, geographic location, assessments used, and cost limitations as noted below.
5. If the District initiates a due process hearing pursuant to paragraph 2 above and the final decision is that the District's evaluation is appropriate, the parent or legal guardian still has the right to an IEE, but the District will not be required to pay for that evaluation.
6. If the parent or legal guardian obtains an IEE at private expense, the results of that evaluation must be considered by the District, if that privately funded IEE meets the District's criteria for evaluations, with respect to any decisions regarding the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child.

LOCATION LIMITATIONS FOR EVALUATORS

Approved evaluators will be located within 100 miles of Dexter. Evaluators outside of this area will be approved only on an exception basis, providing the parent can demonstrate the necessity of using personnel outside this area.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR EVALUATORS

Evaluators with credentials other than those listed below will not be approved unless the parent can demonstrate the appropriateness of using other qualifications:

COST LIMITATIONS FOR EVALUATIONS

The total cost of a multidisciplinary independent evaluation will be limited to $1,000.00. Single evaluations will be limited to the cost schedule listed below. These same cost limitations apply to the District when it conducts an evaluation. The maximum charges have been established to allow the District and parents to choose from among qualified professional in the area and are intended to result only in the elimination of excessive fees. Costs above this amount will not be approved unless the parent can demonstrate that such costs reflect a reasonable and customary rate for such evaluative services. When Medicaid or other public insurance will cover all or part of the costs of the IEE, the District will assume payment only for the portion of the costs not covered by public insurance, provided that the use of that public insurance would not decrease any insurance benefit or otherwise negatively impact the child's or family’s insurance coverage. If the child is covered by private insurance, the District may request parental consent to access that private insurance coverage. Independent evaluators must agree to release their assessment information and results to the Dexter R-XI School District prior to receipt of payment for services.

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