With very limited exceptions, the right to special education extends to all students between the ages of three and twenty-one, inclusive,1  who meet the criteria for one or more of the 13 exceptionalities listed in the IDEA and state regulations: Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance (“ED”), Hard of Hearing, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment (“OHI”), Specific Learning Disabilities (“SLD”), Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Visual Impairment Including Blindness.2  Children under nine may also be eligible for special education services under the category of Developmental Delay.3  Each exceptionality has its own set of legal criteria distinct from any related medical diagnosis. Some of these exceptionalities require evaluation procedures particular to that suspected disability in addition to the general evaluation procedures applicable to all exceptionalities.

• 120 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A); La. Bulletin 1706 § 230. States are not required to provide FAPE to students between the ages of 18 and 21 who are incarcerated in an adult correctional facility provided that the student was not identified as a student with a disability and did not have an IEP prior to being incarcerated. La. Bulletin 1706 § 102(A)(1). Furthermore, the right to FAPE ceases when a student graduates with a regular high school diploma. Id. § 102(A)(2). Students who turn 22 during their final school year of eligibility are entitled to continue receiving FAPE until the end of the school year if steps in the student’s transition plan have not been completed. La. Bulletin 1530 § 103(C)(2)(b).
• 220 U.S.C. § 1401(3)(A); La. Bulletin 1508 § 701, et seq.; La. Bulletin 1706 § 905;
• 320 U.S.C. § 1401(3)(B); La. Bulletin 1508 § 705; La. Bulletin 1706 § 111(B).

Under both the IDEA and Louisiana law, an LEA has an affirmative obligation, known as “Child Find,” to identify, locate, and evaluate any child suspected of having a disability residing within the LEA’s geographic boundaries.1  If the LEA is a charter organization to which traditional attendance zones do not apply, its Child Find obligations extend to any student enrolled in one of its charter schools. An LEA’s Child Find duty is triggered when it has reason to suspect a particular child has a disability and a reason to suspect that special education services may be needed to address that disability. When these suspicions arise, the educational agency must refer the student for evaluation “within a reasonable time after the school district is on notice of facts or behavior likely to indicate a disability.”2  The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a four-month delay from notice of facts likely to indicate that a student has a disability before initiating an evaluation is unreasonable.3  The Child Find duty applies regardless of the severity of the disability and regardless of whether the student is advancing from grade to grade.4  Educators’ training, expertise, and direct student contact put them in a position to be able to identify red flags that a student may have a disability and refer the student for evaluation. The Child Find duty also extends to students with suspected disabilities residing in the LEA’s jurisdiction who are enrolled in private schools, preschools, or day care programs; who are not enrolled in any school; and who are highly mobile, including migrant students.5

• 120 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(3)(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.111; La. Bulletin 1706 § 230(A).
• 2Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Woody, 865 F.3d 303, 320 (5th Cir. 2017).
• 3Krawietz ex rel. Parker v. Galveston Indep. Sch. Dist., 900 F.3d 673 (5th Cir. 2018).
• 434 C.F.R. § 300.111; La. Bulletin 1508 § 103.
• 534 C.F.R. § 300.111; La. Bulletin 1508 § 103.

If they suspect their child has a disability, parents and their advocates do not have to wait for school officials to act on their Child Find duties. Under the IDEA, “a parent of a child . . . may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine” whether the child is an eligible child with a disability.1  Within a reasonable time of the request, the LEA must either deny the request with a written explanation or obtain informed consent from the parent for the initial evaluation.2  LEAs use a team of educators and administrators known as the School Building Level Committee (“SBLC”) to make decisions regarding whether to refer a particular student for a special education initial evaluation.3  The SBLC can also choose to refer a child to other interventions in lieu of or as part of a referral for an initial special education evaluation.4  LEAs must conduct a “full and individual initial evaluation” in compliance with the IDEA before the “initial provision of special education,” but parental consent for an initial evaluation does not constitute consent for the provision of special education services.5

Once a parent consents to the initial evaluation, the LEA must “use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about the student, including information provided by the parent.”6  Initial special education evaluations must be completed within 60 business days of the LEA having obtained parental consent.7  The timeline, however, is interrupted by summer and can be extended with the parent’s consent.8  Once assessments are completed, the evaluation team, also known as a dissemination team, meets to disseminate the final evaluation report and determine if the child is eligible for special education under one or more exceptionalities. If a parent refuses to provide consent for the initiation of special education services after an initial evaluation has found the student eligible, the LEA is relieved of its obligation to provide FAPE to the student.9

• 120 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(1)(B); La. Bulletin 1508 § 302(B).
• 2La. Bulletin 1508 § 509(B)­–(C).
• 3La. Bulletin 1508 § 303. In some districts and charters, the SBLC is called the Student Assistance Team (“SAT”).
• 4La. Bulletin 1508 § 303.
• 534 C.F.R. § 300.301(a); 20 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(1)(A).
• 620 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(2)(A); La. Bulletin 1706 § 305(B)(1).
• 7La. Bulletin 1706 § 302(C); La. Bulletin 1508 § 511(A).
• 8La. Bulletin 1508 § 511(A).
• 920 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(1)(D)(ii)(III); La. Bulletin 1706 § 301(B)(3).

Once special education services begin, a reevaluation must occur at least once every three years.1  The triennial evaluation operates on the same timelines as the initial evaluation, and the deadline can be extended by agreement of the LEA and parent provided that the reevaluation is completed on or prior to the three-year anniversary date.2  The LEA must conduct the reevaluation earlier if the LEA determines an earlier reevaluation is warranted by the educational or related service needs of a student, if the student’s teacher or parent requests a reevaluation, or if a significant change in placement to a more restrictive environment is proposed that would result in a student being in a regular class for less than 40% of the day.3  A reevaluation must also occur before removing a student no longer suspected of having an exceptionality from special education by terminating eligibility.4

An evaluation coordinator must be assigned as part of a reevaluation, and the coordinator must review any evaluations or information provided by the parents or student.5  The coordinator must also review the student’s educational history, progress monitoring data, and data from student observations.6  The reevaluation must also satisfy any reevaluation requirements for the specific disabilities at issue and include the development or review of a Functional Behavioral Assessment (“FBA”) if behavior is a concern.7  Under Louisiana regulations, no other particular assessments are required as a part of a reevaluation unless a parent requests an assessment to determine the student’s educational needs or the LEA determines that additional data is needed.8  However, when a different exceptionality from the student’s current one is suspected, the reevaluation must follow the same initial criteria and procedures for the suspected exceptional as a required for an initial evaluation.9

• 120 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(2)(B); La. Bulletin 1508 § 304(b)(2).
• 2La. Bulletin 1508 § 1105(H).
• 3Id. § 1101(A).
• 4Id. § 1101(A)(4).
• 5Id. § 1105(A).
• 6Id.
• 7Id.
• 8La. Bulletin 1508 § 1105(D)–(F). However, the federal regulations do not distinguish between evaluation procedures for initial evaluations and reevaluations, suggesting that LEAs must use a variety of assessment tools for both types of evaluations. 34 C.F.R. § 300.304.
• 9La. Bulletin 1508 § 1105(F)(1).

An Independent Educational Evaluation (“IEE”) is “an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency who is responsible for the education of the student in question.”1  If a parent disagrees with an evaluation provided by the school district, the parent has a right to an IEE at public cost.2  The parent does not have to provide the LEA with the reason it disagrees with its evaluation and inquiring about the reason for the IEE request cannot be used as a method of unreasonably delaying the IEE.3  Once a parent requests an IEE, the LEA must without unnecessary delay either ensure that the IEE is provided at public expense or file a request for a due process hearing to show that the LEA’s evaluation is appropriate.4  Regardless of the LEA’s chosen course of action, it must provide the parent with information about where to obtain an IEE as well as the criteria for IEEs that the LEA has set.5  If the IEE is at public expense, the LEA may set criteria for the location of the IEE and the qualifications of the examiner so long as the LEA uses the same criteria for its own initial evaluations.6  The results of any IEE, whether or not provided at public cost, must be considered by the LEA if the parent shares the IEE and may be used as evidence at a due process hearing by either side.7  A parent is entitled to only one IEE at public expense per LEA evaluation.8

• 1La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(A)(3)(a); 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(a)(3)(i).
• 234 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(1); La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(B)(1).
• 334 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(4); La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(B)(4).
• 434 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(2); La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(B)(2).
• 5La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(A)(2).
• 6Id. § 503(E).
• 734 C.F.R. § 300.502(c); La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(C).
• 834 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(4); La. Bulletin 1706 § 503(B)(5).