WRITTEN VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
In part two of our series on the IEE, we will discuss the two options that the school district has in responding to a parent’s request for an IEE at public expense.
In response to a parent’s request for an IEE, the school district only has two choices. Without unnecessary delay, the school district must either agree to fund the IEE, or file for due process to defend its own evaluation.
To agree to fund the IEE simply means the district agrees with the parent’s request to fund the cost of the IEE. In other words, they agree to pay for the IEE.
The second option, which is to file for to process to defend its evaluation, means that the school district files a due process complaint against the parent and argues to a judge that its evaluation was appropriate.
If the school district can prove that its evaluation was appropriate, the judge will likely deny the parents request for an IEE at public expense.
If the school district fails to prove that its evaluation was appropriate, the judge will likely award the parent the IEE at public expense.
So, there are only two legal options available to the school district once it receives an IEE request: Either agree to fund the IEE, or file for due process against the parent to defend its evaluation.
And school districts can get tripped up because they don’t follow either of these two required steps. If they don’t want to pay for the IEE, then they have to file for due process. They can’t, for example, write a letter to the parent stating that they will not fund the IEE. That action is not filing for the process. Or maybe they write a letter to the parent stating the will reevaluate the child. Well, that’s not filing for due process. Or maybe they ignore the parents request for the IEE altogether. Well, of course, that’s not filing for the process.
The problem with these improper responses is that under the law, the school district must file for due process without undue delay.
So, if they write these letters to the parent and the parent ignores them, it’s likely that too much time will pass thereby creating an unnecessary delay.
And in that case, a judge may grant that IEE, even if the district’s evaluation was appropriate, because the district waited too long to file for due process.
Now the law doesn’t define the term unnecessary delay. It may be jurisdictional based upon case law of that particular area. In some areas, more than three months between the time the parent makes the IEE request and the district’s filing for due process may be too long or constitute unnecessary delay. In other jurisdictions, it might be more than six months.
But the point is that if the district wants to challenge the parent’s request for a publicly funded IEE, it should take steps within a reasonable amount of time to file for to process against the parent to defend its own evaluation. So, the district should carefully consider the parent’s request for an IEE, both procedurally and substantively, and then determine whether it’s worth the cost an effort to file for to process. If the district concludes there are grounds to file for due process, they should do so quickly so as to not create any undue delay.
In part three of this series, we will talk about the IEP team’s obligation to consider the results of the IEE.
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