Independent Educational Evaluation: VDOE Rules FCPS in Noncompliance, Follows OSEP Monitoring Report
Having Trouble Getting an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) in Virginia?
If your school district in Virginia is denying your request for an IEE because it didn’t evaluate in that area, there’s important precedent you should know about.
Background
In June 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) found that Virginia’s special education regulations unlawfully restricted parents’ rights to an IEE at public expense. Specifically, OSEP concluded
Based on a review of documents and interviews with State personnel, for the reasons set forth above, OSEP concludes that the provision of Virginia’s regulation, 8VAC20-81-170(B)(2)(a) and (e), are inconsistent with 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1) and 34 C.F.R. § 300.502, because the State’s regulation restricts a parent’s right to an IEE at public expense to only those areas in which the public agency had previously evaluated the child.
Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) Initial Response
Despite OSEP’s findings, FCPS refused to follow federal regulations and continued to restrict IEEs.