Monday, October 15, 2018

Obtaining A Bay Area Independent Educational Evaluation

By Catherine Barnes


When a parent is in disagreement with the results of an assessment of a special education student, there are some steps which can help rectify the situation. In most cases, parents can ask that a Bay Area Independent Educational Evaluation be completed.

While it can sometimes be difficult to obtain one from a school administrator or teacher, it is important to know parental rights in such regard. In public schools, these evaluations are often provided at public expense if a parent disagrees with an assessment or evaluation by a public agency. Upon requesting the assessment, a school district must without hesitation or delay request a hearing to determine whether the assessment is accurate, or if the assessment did not meet agency standards.

It is important to follow the necessary steps to make this type of request in order to obtain the best results. For example, parents must first write a letter outlining the issue to the education board, school and administrator. While not required, many also suggest forwarding a copy of the letter to the head of special education department when and where possible.

When filing for such a request, it is important to do so in writing. In addition, it is also recommended that those doing so retain copies of all such letters for future reference. For, if there are questions which arise as to the reason for the complaint, the correspondence can often be a good resource with regards to an answer as to why such request is being made.

The next step is to wait for a response before taking further action. In most cases, this will take several weeks. At the same time, it should be noted that the state of California nor any federal agency provides a timeline with regards to a response. Instead, the law provides that a response need be made by the school district without delay.

Most states which have guidelines require a reply within thirty days from receipt of the complaint. Whereas, a California court has recently heard and ruled in which it was determined that a reasonable amount of time is up to 3 months. While this is the case in California, the reply is only regarding a hearing while other states must record a decision when making a reply.

With regards to this rule set by the court, California now considers 3 months a reasonable waiting period. Whereas, other states often consider 15 days a reasonable period as that is how long it takes for a response within a local school district for in-house issues. In any case, it is never okay to simply take no for an answer as parents are entitled to receive an assessment or evaluation upon request.

The time it takes to reply to a request can depend on a number of factors. In some cases, it is related to the size of a district, school or number of special education students. Most often, individuals can notify an administrator and ask about reply times related to past cases to get a general idea. If and when doing so, it is important to do so when originally requesting the evaluation so as to not seem impatient during the process.




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