What is an IEE, and who pays for it?

You disagreed with the school's evaluation. Here is what federal law says happens next — and why the bill is usually not yours.

What an IEE actually is

An Independent Educational Evaluation is an evaluation of your child by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district. If you disagree with an evaluation the district conducted, federal law gives you the right to request an IEE at public expense — meaning the district pays, at no cost to you.

The district must also tell you where an IEE may be obtained and what criteria apply. You are allowed to ask for that information (34 CFR § 300.502(a)(2)).

You do not have to explain why you disagree

Disagreeing is enough. You do not have to prove the evaluation was wrong. Maybe it missed areas, understated needs, or doesn't match what you see at home.

The district may ask why you disagree. You may answer if you want to. But under 34 CFR § 300.502(b)(4), you cannot be required to explain, and the district may not use the question to unreasonably delay either funding the IEE or filing for due process.

The district has exactly two lawful options

Once you request an IEE at public expense, 34 CFR § 300.502(b)(2) says the district must, without unnecessary delay, do one of two things:

1. Ensure the IEE is provided at public expense. They pay.
2. File a due process complaint to show that its own evaluation was appropriate. A hearing officer then decides.

That is the whole list. A flat "no" is not option three. Neither is silence.

"Without unnecessary delay" has no fixed federal number attached to it. But weeks of silence is itself a decision, and it is a documentable one.

What the district can and cannot require

The district may apply criteria to the IEE — evaluator qualifications, location, cost caps. But those criteria must be the same ones the district uses when it conducts its own evaluations, and they must allow exceptions when your child's circumstances justify one. Apart from those criteria, the district may not impose conditions or timelines on obtaining an IEE at public expense (34 CFR § 300.502(e)).

Two more limits worth knowing:

• You are entitled to one publicly funded IEE each time the district conducts an evaluation you disagree with (§ 300.502(b)(5)).
• You can always obtain a private evaluation at your own expense. Either way — public or private — the district must consider the results in any decision about your child's education (§ 300.502(c)).

What to do if they stall or refuse

1. Follow up in writing. Restate the date of your request and the district's two options under 34 CFR § 300.502. Ask which option they are choosing, and by what date. Email, not a phone call.
2. If they say no without filing due process, reply in writing: "Please identify which option under 34 CFR § 300.502(b) the district is exercising, and provide prior written notice of any refusal." A refusal that has to be justified in writing often gets reconsidered — and prior written notice turns a verbal no into a documented decision you can appeal.
3. If they impose conditions, check them against the district's published IEE criteria. They may not demand you explain your disagreement, add extra approval steps, or run out the clock "reviewing" your request.
4. File a state complaint. It is free and does not require a lawyer. A district that neither funded an IEE nor filed for due process is a clean, document-based violation — your dated request and their silence are the whole case. The form is on your state Department of Education's website.

Timing, and where state law comes in

The federal rule sets the right and the two options, but not a day count for the district's response. Some states add their own timelines and procedures on top of the federal floor. If your question is about how long the district's original evaluation was allowed to take, that is set by state law — see the evaluation deadline for your state.