S-VEINDEPENDENTEDUCATIONALEVALUATION.pdfVIP

S-VE INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION INTRODUCTION The School District has established the following policy on independent educational evaluations for children with disabilities or for children who are referred to the Committee on Special Education because they are suspected of having an educational disability and may, therefore, be in need of special education. Parents of children with disabilities have the right under Federal and State laws and regulations to obtain an independent educational evaluation at public expense under certain conditions. A parent does not have the right to an independent evaluation if the School District has not conducted and completed its evaluation of the child. In addition, the State Education Department Publication A Parent’s Guide to Special Education: Your Child’s Right to an Education in New York State, discusses independent evaluation requirements. This document is available from the District upon request. The School District has adopted this policy in order to explain the rights of parents and the responsibilities of the School District with regard to independent educational evaluations and to avoid any misunderstandings. DEFINED An independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a person who is not employed by the school district responsible for the education of the child. Such an evaluation is for the purpose of determining a child’s eligibility for special education or related services, and for planning to meet the child’s educational needs. If the parent disagrees with the evaluation conducted by the School District, the parent has a right to request an independent educational evaluation at public expense. The District may, in turn, request the parent to specify the areas of disagreement with the evaluation to show that its evaluation is appropriate, and may initiate an impartial formal hearing if it believes its evaluation is appropriate and does