Rochelle’s Special Education Tips
When a parent brings an Independent Educational Evaluation (“IEE”) or any information to the IEP team, the obligation of the IEP team is to “consider” the information. The team does not have to agree with it. Make sure the Prior Written Notice (“PWN”) states that the IEE was “reviewed and considered” by the team. If a partial report is provided, the PWN should note that and state that the IEP team was unable to accept the report as it was not provided in full but that the team asked the parents to provide a complete report. Finally, whenever a document is provided to the IEP team, identify the date on the document. For instance, write on the top of the first page, “Received from parent by IEP team at IEP team meeting held on September 1, 2016.” You need to do this because sometimes parents will intentionally or unintentionally give you old reports and later claim you did not timely review the report or timely amend the IEP.
