Your request for a school IEP assessment must be in writing and delivered to your school district. The best idea is to deliver it to the district’s special education director or someone else high up in the special ed department. Like all things in special education, keep a copy of your request. Here’s a sample request form from the Disability Rights of California. I recommend that for most disabilities you check the box on the form for “psychoeducation.” That ensures that your child will be evaluated by a school psychologist. Your can deliver the form in any way, but I recommend by email because then you have a record of it. If you don’t get a response in a week or so, follow-up with another email, and every week until you get a response.
In CA you’re entitled to receive an assessment plan within 15 days of their receipt of your request. Once you sign that school assessment plan, the district has 60 days to complete the evaluation and schedule a meeting to review the results. All special ed deadlines still stands during COVID, by the way. It’s at that meeting, when the school district determines whether your child qualifies for an IEP and/or therapies. That meeting is very important and you should attend it with a family member, friend or advocate because these meetings can be intimidating. You have a right to get a copy of the evaluation before the meeting so you can review it in advance, and you have a right to question the results. If you disagree with the results, you can request an Independent Education Evaluation (“IEE”) at public expense. I did a webinar on IEEs for the Learning Rights Law Center which you can access here.
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