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).