Tolland 25-0307

Complaint Summary

Date Findings Report Sent:

April 23, 2025

Case Number:

25-0307

Grade Level:

Elementary

Person filing complaint:

Parent

School District:

Tolland Public Schools (single student)

Allegation(s):

  • The Parents alleged that they requested an IEE at public expense and that as of the date of this complaint, the District has not filed for a due process hearing to defend its evaluation or ensured that the evaluation was provided at no cost to the Parents.
  • 34 CFR § 300.502 and RCSA § 10-76d-9(c) provide that a parent may have a right to a publicly funded IEE if the parent disagrees with a district evaluation. When a parent requests an IEE, the district must, without unnecessary delay, file for a due process hearing to defend its evaluation or ensure that the evaluation is provided at no cost to the parent.

Conclusion(s):

  • 34 CFR § 300.502 and RCSA § 10-76d-9(c) provide that a parent may have a right to a publicly funded IEE if the parent disagrees with a district evaluation. When a parent requests an IEE, the district must, without unnecessary delay, file for a due process hearing to defend its evaluation or ensure that the evaluation is provided at no cost to the parent. The regulations do not require a parent to provide the District with prior notification of the parent’s intent to obtain an IEE at public expense as a precondition for public payment of an IEE. The parent is entitled to only one IEE at public expense each time the agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees. On September 17, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in D.S. v. Trumbull Board of Education, 120 L.R.P. 28133 (2d Cir. 2020) pertaining to IEEs at public expense. The court determined that a two-year statute of limitations does not apply to a parent’s request for an IEE at public expense, since they are not required to file a due process complaint to obtain an IEE at public expense. The court held that the Parent must disagree with an evaluation before the District conducts the next three-year reevaluation. Therefore, the allowable time period for raising a disagreement and requesting an IEE at public expense could be more than two years, depending on the timing of the three-year reevaluations for the specific student.
  • In this case, the Student’s initial evaluation was completed on February 1, 2022, i.e., the date the last assessment was completed as part of the initial evaluation. The Student’s three-year reevaluation was started on January 3, 2025. The Parents requested the IEEs at public expense within the allowable timeframe when they made the requests at the PPT meeting on September 30, 2024. However, it should be noted that Parents are only entitled to one IEE at public expense each time the agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees. At the PPT meeting on September 30, 2024, the Parent in essence requested two IEEs at public expense, since the independent evaluation at private expense had already been conducted prior to this meeting. It is concluded that the District violated 34 CFR § 300.502 and RCSA § 10-76d-9(c) when it failed to file for a due process hearing to defend its evaluation or ensure that the evaluation is provided at no cost to the parent when the Parent requested IEEs at public expense on September 30, 2024. Corrective action is required.

Corrective Action(s):

  • The District must provide the Parents with an IEE at public expense. However, the Parents must inform the District whether they are requesting reimbursement for the independent evaluation or if they are requesting the independent speech and language evaluation.