The IEP team never discussed the evaluation I paid for
You paid an outside psychologist or therapist for an evaluation, handed the report to the case manager, and the team’s notes never mention it — no discussion, no minutes, no answer to a single recommendation. No: once a private evaluation meets the district’s own criteria, the district has to consider it in any decision about your child’s services or placement (34 CFR 300.502(c)(1)(i)). Start by pulling the IEP page or the letter the dispute turns on and writing down today’s date; every move below adds to that record.
What the rule says
“Must be considered by the public agency, if it meets agency criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the child.”
34 CFR 300.502(c)(1)(i)
Once you hand it over, the evaluation stops being optional reading and starts being something the team answers.
What to do this week, in order
Before the next meeting, turn each finding in the evaluation into its own numbered line.
A numbered list of findings
Email your numbered list to whoever chairs the team, and ask when the group will look at it.
Your email and its send date
At the meeting, ask for an item-by-item answer to each recommendation; what a parent provides is on the team’s revision list.
Meeting notes naming each item’s answer34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(ii)(C)
Mark any recommendation that still gets no answer as unresolved; the evaluation itself can be presented as evidence at a due process hearing.
Your list, marked with the unresolved item34 CFR 300.502(c)(1)(ii)
What to put in writing
Replace what sits in brackets and send it by email, so the date is fixed.
- To
- The person running the meeting, with the district psychologist in copy
Dear [IEP Team Chair’s name], On [date the evaluation arrived], I gave the school the private evaluation of [child’s name] by [evaluator’s name and title], with its recommendations summarized on page [page]. Nothing in it has come up in a meeting or a note since, including item [number]. Please answer each recommendation in writing: which ones the team will use, which it will not, and the data behind each one it declines. If any is declined, please send that decision with the reasons and records 34 CFR 300.503 calls for. Sincerely, [Your name]
If the answer is no, it arrives as prior written notice: what was refused, why, and the records the district relied on (34 CFR 300.503(b)).
When to escalate, and to whom
Escalate when the written answer is a no, or when the record you built this week draws no answer at all.
| The path | The count | How it runs |
|---|---|---|
| A state complaint | 60 days to a decision | A signed letter to your state education agency about a violation inside the past year; the state decides in writing within 60 days.34 CFR 300.152(a), 300.153(c) |
| Mediation | Voluntary, at no cost to you | You and the district sit with an impartial mediator the state pays for; it can start before any complaint and may not delay a hearing.34 CFR 300.506(b) |
| A due process complaint | 2 years to file | A hearing before an impartial officer; the district holds a resolution meeting within 15 days, and the decision is due 45 days after the 30-day resolution period.34 CFR 300.507(a)(2), 300.510(a)(1), 300.515(a) |
Those counts are IDEA’s; your state may set its own window for due process, and publishes its own complaint form.
This page explains the federal rule, and it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages this dispute is about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the service, goal or wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Parent right to an independent evaluation (34 CFR 300.502)The quoted parent right.
- How the IEP team weighs evaluations (34 CFR 300.324)The most recent evaluation belongs here.
- Where an evaluation team’s information comes from (34 CFR 300.306)Outside findings feed the decision.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What every no owes you.
When the paragraph needs to become a full letter, the letter templates carry one for each request.