La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § XLIII-503

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 4, April 20, 2024

Section XLIII-503 - Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

A. General

1. The parents of a student with a disability have the right under these regulations to obtain an independent educational evaluation of the student, subject to Subsections B through E of this Section.

2. Each public agency shall provide to the parent, upon request for an IEE, information about where an independent educational evaluation may be obtained and the agency criteria applicable for independent educational evaluations as set forth in Subsection E of this Section.

3. For the purposes of this Chapter:

a.Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)-an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the student in question; and

b.Public Expense-that the public agency either pays for the full cost of the evaluation or ensures that the evaluation is otherwise provided at no cost to the parent, consistent with §103.

B. Parent Right to Evaluation at Public Expense

1. A parent has the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the public agency, subject to the conditions in Paragraphs B.2 through 4 of this Section.

2. If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation at public expense, the public agency shall, without unnecessary delay, either:

a. file a request for due process hearing to show that its evaluation is appropriate; or

b. ensure that an independent educational evaluation is provided at public expense, unless the agency demonstrates in a hearing pursuant to §507 that the evaluation obtained by the parent did not meet agency criteria.

3. If the public agency files a request for due process hearing and the final decision is that the agency's evaluation is appropriate, the parent still has the right to an independent educational evaluation, but not at public expense.

4. If a parent requests an independent educational evaluation, the public agency may ask for the parent's reason why he or she objects to the public evaluation. However, the public agency may not require the parent to provide an explanation and may not unreasonably delay either providing the independent educational evaluation at public expense or filing a request for due process hearing to defend the public evaluation.

5. A parent is entitled to only one independent educational evaluation at public expense each time the public agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees.

C. Parent-Initiated Evaluations. If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at public expense or shares with the public agency an evaluation obtained at private expense, the results of the evaluation:

1. shall be considered by the public agency, if it meets agency criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the student; and

2. may be presented by any party as evidence at a hearing on a due process request regarding that student under Chapter 5 of these regulations.

D. Requests for Evaluations by Hearing Officers. If a hearing officer requests an independent educational evaluation as part of a hearing on a request for due process hearing, the cost of the evaluation shall be at public expense.

E. Agency Criteria

1. If an independent educational evaluation is at public expense, the criteria under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications of the examiner, shall be the same as the criteria that the public agency uses when it initiates an evaluation, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the parent's right to an independent educational evaluation.

2. Except for the criteria described in Paragraph E.1 of this Section, a public agency may not impose conditions or timelines related to obtaining an independent educational evaluation at public expense.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § XLIII-503

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 34:2068 (October 2008).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S.17:1941 et seq.