Dear Debbie:
I want my child to be evaluated by the Committee on Special Education, so that he can receive special education services. When should these evaluations be completed? And what do I do if I do not agree with the evaluations performed by my school district?
You should write to your school district’s Committee on Special Education, and fill out the district’s form to consent to the evaluations. You can also write a letter giving consent to all evaluations, so that your child can be evaluated in all areas of his suspected disability. Or, you can give verbal consent — but make sure you follow this up with a letter as soon as possible.
Keep copies of all documents you give to the district, with the dates that you submitted them. If you cannot hand-deliver the documents, and get your copy hand-stamped by the district to indicate that they were received, then you should mail every letter via certified mail with return receipt — saving your copies and receipts.
All children who are referred to the committee are required by law to be evaluated. This free evaluation must include a variety of assessment tools and strategies. If your child needs an evaluation by a medical doctor, the school district is required to provide it for free.
If a student has a disability and requires special education services, the services should be in place within 60 school days of the consent to evaluate your child. In New York City, if the evaluations do not take place within 30 days, you are entitled to a P 1 letter, which allows you to place your child in a state-approved non-public school, at public expense, if such a school accepts your child.
If no placement is made for your child within the state timelines, you are also entitled to a P 1 letter.
If you believe that your child was not evaluated or provided with special education services in a timely manner, you may call Advocates for Children. Your district also should provide you with a list of low-cost legal services in your area.
When the committee has completed its evaluations, you should see the results before you have any meetings to discuss them. At your meeting, you should also be given a copy of all the evaluations.
If you disagree with any of the evaluations, you have the right to request an independent evaluation at the school district’s expense. Your request should be in writing, and either hand-delivered or sent by certified mail with return receipt.
When you request an independent evaluation, the school may ask the reason for your objection, but you do not have to give an explanation. At this point, the district has two choices: it must either ensure that the independent evaluation is provided at public expense, or it must request a hearing to show that its evaluation was appropriate.
The person whom you select to do the independent evaluation should be licensed to perform it. For example, if you disagree with the speech and language evaluation, the evaluator whom you select should be a licensed speech and language provider.
It is my opinion that parents should request an independent evaluation when original results do not appear to reflect what the parent is seeing with her child, and/or what teachers are reporting in the classroom, when the evaluation is not valid or reliable, or when the evaluation is not complete.
Examples of invalid tests include:
• A test given in a language your child isn’t fluent in.
• An IQ test given to a child suspected of having a disability in reading, writing or math, as the evaluator did not use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to determine if the child has a disability in reading, writing, or math.
• A test that fails to evaluate fine motor skills when a teacher reports that your child has difficulty holding a pencil properly, cannot use scissors in an age-appropriate manner, and cannot form letters or physically write in an age-appropriate way.
If a district ignores your request for an independent evaluation, I suggest that you file a state complaint, or ask for mediation. You may also file for due process, and in your due process complaint, state that the district has failed to respond to your request for an independent evaluation. The state regulations do not give a specific timeline as to when the district must respond, but the regulations do say “without unnecessary delay” — in my opinion, about 20 days.
To contact Advocates for Children, call (866) 427-6033 or visit the website, www.advocatesforchildren.org. For more information, visit www.nysed.gov and search for “state complaint.”
Deborah Berger is an attorney who concentrates in Education Law. She represents parents and students in Long Island, NY. Visit her online at www.deborahberger.com.
