When the school finishes evaluating your child, that report drives everything — whether your child qualifies, and what the plan will include. So what happens when you read it and something feels wrong? Maybe the testing missed an area you're worried about, or the conclusions don't match the child you live with. This is exactly the situation the independent educational evaluation was built for. An IEE is an evaluation of your child done by a qualified professional who doesn't work for the school district — an outside expert's second opinion, on the record.
Here's the powerful part. If you disagree with the evaluation the school conducted, you have the right to request an independent educational evaluation at public expense — meaning the district pays for it, not you. You don't have to prove the school was wrong to ask; you simply have to disagree with its evaluation. This right exists because the same institution that provides your child's services also tests them, and the law recognizes you may sometimes want an assessment from someone with no stake in the outcome. It's one of the strongest tools parents have.
Once you make that request, the school has to do one of two things, and only two. It can agree and arrange for the independent evaluation at public expense. Or, if it believes its own evaluation was appropriate, it can file for a due process hearing to defend it before a neutral officer. What the school cannot do is simply ignore your request or sit on it indefinitely — it must act without unnecessary delay, either funding the IEE or formally standing behind its own work. That built-in fork is what gives your request real weight.
There are reasonable limits worth understanding. You're generally entitled to one independent evaluation at public expense each time the school evaluates and you disagree — not an unlimited series of second opinions on the same testing. The district can also set sensible criteria for the evaluator, such as their qualifications and reasonable limits on cost, and these usually have to match the standards the district uses for its own evaluations. It's fair to ask the school, up front, for its written IEE criteria so you can choose an evaluator who qualifies and avoid a dispute over the bill later.
Asking is straightforward, and putting it in writing matters. You don't need a long justification — a clear sentence that names your disagreement does it: "I disagree with the evaluation the school completed on [date], and I am requesting an independent educational evaluation at public expense." Send it to the special education coordinator, keep a dated copy, and ask for the district's IEE criteria and list of qualified evaluators in the same note. That single message starts the clock on the school's obligation to respond with one of its two choices.
An independent evaluation isn't just for your own peace of mind — it has to be taken seriously. When you obtain an IEE, whether the public paid or you did, the team is required to consider its results in decisions about your child. That doesn't mean the school must agree with every finding, but it can't pretend the report doesn't exist. So an IEE can genuinely reshape a plan: a fresh, expert set of eyes might identify a need the first evaluation missed, and once it's on the table, "please consider this evaluation's findings" is a request the team has to honor.
General information and document preparation — not legal advice.
