4.2.3 Initial Evaluation

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).