“If you, as a parent of a child with a disability, do not agree with the results of the individualized evaluation of your child, as conducted by the school system, you have the right to obtain what is known as an Independent Educational Evaluation, or an IEE (§300.502). This means that you may ask that a professional, competent evaluator who is not employed by the school system conduct another evaluation of your child.
The following is from the NYS Procedural Guidelines
INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATIONS
34 CFR section 300.502; 8 NYCRR section 200.S(g)
General
As described below, you have the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation (IEE) of your child if you disagree with the evaluation of your child that was obtained by your school district.
If you request an IEE, the school district must provide you with information about where
you may obtain one and about the school district’s criteria that apply to IEEs.
Definitions
Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district responsible for the education of your child. Public expense means that the school district either pays for the full cost of the evaluation or ensures that the evaluation is otherwise provided at no cost to you, consistent with the provisions of Part B of IDEA, which allow each state to use whatever State, local, federal and private sources of support are available in the State to meet the requirements of Part B of IDEA.
Parent right to evaluation at public expense
You have the right to an IEE of your child at public expense if you disagree with an evaluation of your child obtained by your school district, subject to the following conditions:
- If you request an IEE of your child at public expense, your school district 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 school district demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of
your child that you obtained did not meet the school district’s criteria. - If your school district requests a hearing and the final decision is that your school
district’s evaluation of your child is appropriate, you still have the right to an IEE, but
not at public expense. - If you request an IEE of your child, the school district may ask why you object to the
evaluation of your child obtained by your school district. However, your school district
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 school district’s evaluation of your child.
You are entitled to only one IEE of your child at public expense each time your school
district conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree.
Parent-initiated evaluations
If you obtain an IEE of your child at public expense or you choose to share with the school
district an evaluation of your child that you obtained at private expense: - Your school district must consider the results of the evaluation of your child, if it meets
the school district’s criteria for IEE, in any decision made with respect to the provision
of FAPE to your child; and - You or your school district may present the evaluation as evidence at a due process
hearing regarding your child.
Requests for evaluations by impartial hearing officers
If an impartial hearing officer requests an IEE of your child as part of a due process
hearing, the cost of the evaluation must be at public expense.
School district criteria
If an IEE is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including
the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, must be the same as
the criteria that the school district 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 school district may not impose conditions or
timelines related to obtaining an IEE at public expense.