IEE

It is my understanding that it is not legal for the school district to limit a parent to a list of names of individuals as this would yield a list of psychologists/ related service providers, who were known to give schools the information they wanted. In other words why would a district keep a psychologist or related service provider, on their list if that psycholgist was known to produce results that went against the school districts? My understanding is that the school district is to give the parents a list of qualified people in the area, but that the list may not be used exclusively, and that they must also provide a list of the mandatory QUALIFICATIONS of psychologists (or related service providers) so that the parents may choose one for themselves.: I’ve got a rather unusual question about IEEs & am hoping for
: opinions/information/clarification. If a parent disagrees with sd
: evaluation and requests an IEE at district expense, the district
: normally will provide a list of evaluators parent can choose from.
: In effect the “independent evaluator” thereby becomes a
: subcontractor (with the school district) and is therefore
: considered to be an employee of the district. If this is true it
: would appear to me this is not an IEE as there would be truly
: nothing”independent” about it. Many parents cannot
: afford to obtain an IEE on their own and therefore relie on their
: sd to provide this. How can the best interests of children be
: served in terms of an IEE if the independent evaluator is
: considered to be an “employee” of the district — when
: the parents have already disagreed with evaluation(s) performed by
: district employees? Something doesn’t sound right to me.

We do MANY I.E.E.’s, for several Districts across the State of Washington. “OHIO” is correct in saying that the Districts can give parents a list, but as long as they choose someone(s) who meet the qualifications AND produce what we refer to as a “Legally Defensible Diagnosis”, there is no problem.As far as us becoming “an employee of the District” - no, that is entirely untrue. At least, for us. Our diagnosis is whatever it is without regard to who is paying for it. Perhaps that is a definition of “professional?”

Thank you OHIO & Kay for your replies. I am posting another message about this as it might relate to FERPA. When I requested my IEE at district expense I was handed the infamous “list”. I told them that I wanted my own (had the name of a neuropsych highly recommended), and that my child was entitled to this, and that I expected to be reimbursed. I was challenged on “qualifications” and also told that the district and my IEE had to agree on the testing. My answer to that was that it was up to the evaluator to determine the nature/extent of the tests given the areas of suspected to disability. I’m still trying to get reimbursed. This is the second time I’ve had to get an IEE since the sd was poor at best. Have any tips I may not have thought of?