What is Required of School Districts?
The federal regulations direct school districts to inform parents of their right to obtain an IEE, 34 C.F.R. 300.502(a), where they may obtain an IEE, id., and conditions for obtaining an IEE at public expense. 34 C.F.R 300.502(b). Several sections of the federal regulations direct local school systems to ensure that such information provided by parents is properly considered. See 34 C.F.R. 300.343(c)(2)(iii), 300.503(c), 300.533(a)(1)(i). The federal regulations even envision instances where the independent evaluation may be given greater weight than the school system’s evaluation. 34 C.F.R. 300.502(b). Consideration of parentally obtained evaluations by the IEP team is not discretionary, it is mandatory. 34 C.F.R. 300.503(c) (“If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at private expense, the results of the evaluation (1) Must be considered by the public agency in any decision made with respect to the provision of a [free appropriate public education] to the child.”)
