Independent Educational Evaluation in Missouri: What Parents Need to Know

The school just completed an evaluation of your child and concluded they do not qualify for special education services — or they qualify under a category that does not match what the outside clinician told you. You suspect the district's testing was incomplete, rushed, or designed to reach a predetermined conclusion. What can you do?

In Missouri, you have the right to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at the school district's expense. This is one of the most powerful and underused tools in a parent's legal toolkit. Here is exactly how it works.

What Is an IEE?

An IEE is a comprehensive evaluation of your child conducted by a qualified professional who is not employed by the school district. When conducted at public expense, the district pays for it. You choose the evaluator (within certain district criteria), and the results must be considered by the IEP team.

Missouri's IEE rights are grounded in IDEA and enforced locally by DESE. Under Missouri rules, parents are entitled to one IEE at public expense for each specific district evaluation with which they disagree.

When Can You Request an IEE?

You can request an IEE any time you disagree with a district-conducted evaluation. The most common situations:

• The district evaluated your child and concluded they do not have a qualifying disability, but you have outside assessments suggesting otherwise
• The district's evaluation used limited testing instruments and missed significant areas of need
• The evaluation concluded your child qualifies for a less restrictive category than outside professionals recommend
• You believe the evaluator had a conflict of interest or used culturally inappropriate testing instruments

You do not have to explain why you disagree or justify your request in detail. A simple written statement — "I disagree with the district's evaluation and am requesting an Independent Educational Evaluation at public expense" — is sufficient to start the process.

What the District Must Do After Your Request

Once you submit your IEE request in writing, the district has two legal options. There is no third option.

Option 1: The district agrees to pay for the IEE. They must provide you with information about their criteria for the IEE — including the general geographic area where the evaluator may be located and reasonable cost caps — within a reasonable time. Note: the cost caps cannot be so low that they effectively deny your right to a qualified evaluator.

Option 2: The district files a due process complaint. If the district believes its own evaluation was appropriate, it must file a due process complaint without unnecessary delay to defend it. The burden is on the district to prove its evaluation was complete and appropriate. The AHC commissioner decides whether the district's evaluation was appropriate; the district must fund the IEE if the decision does not uphold the district evaluation.

Critically, the district cannot delay, stall, or demand justification from you while deciding which option to pursue. Missouri's MPACT fact sheet on IEEs notes the district must act "without unnecessary delay." If weeks pass after your written request without a response, document the delay and raise it with DESE.

Choosing the Evaluator

Once the district agrees to fund the IEE, you have significant say in who conducts it. The district can establish criteria — the evaluator must be licensed under Missouri law, must be in a reasonable geographic area, and the cost must fall within a reasonable cap. Those criteria cannot effectively deny the right to a qualified evaluator. You retain the right to select any qualified professional who meets the criteria.

For neuropsychological evaluations in Missouri, evaluators at university-affiliated clinics (such as those connected to the University of Missouri or Missouri State University) often conduct IEEs and may operate on sliding-fee scales even for private clients. For behavioral assessments, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) at independent practices are the standard evaluators.

The independent evaluator must agree to release their full findings to the district before payment is made.

What Happens After the IEE

Once the independent evaluation is complete, the IEP team is legally required to consider the results. "Consider" is a meaningful legal standard — the team cannot simply receive the report and ignore it. The team is not required to implement every recommendation or document a response to every individual finding.

However, the team is not required to agree with every recommendation in the IEE. If the IEE recommends intensive ABA therapy and the district believes other services are appropriate, they can disagree with that recommendation. If the team proposes or refuses a change to identification, evaluation, placement, or FAPE, it must provide a Notice of Action explaining that action.

This is why an IEE is most powerful when paired with documentation of why the district's original evaluation was insufficient and when the independent evaluator's credentials are strong enough to be difficult to dismiss.

If You Pay for an Evaluation Yourself

If you choose to obtain an independent evaluation at your own expense rather than requesting one at public expense, the IEP team still has an obligation to consider the results if you choose to share them. You are not required to submit private evaluations to the school, but if you do, the team cannot ignore them.

IEE Rights and the SSD in St. Louis County

If your child is in St. Louis County and served by the Special School District (SSD), the IEE request goes to the SSD as the responsible Local Education Agency (LEA) for special education services — not just to the local component district. Routing your written request to both the SSD case manager and the SSD Area Coordinator in writing creates the clearest paper trail.

Using the IEE Strategically

An IEE can function as more than a second opinion. It creates a formal, documented record from an independent professional that the IEP team must consider. If the independent evaluation affects a proposed or refused change to identification, evaluation, placement, or FAPE, the district must explain that action in a Notice of Action. That Notice of Action then becomes evidence in any subsequent DESE complaint or AHC due process proceeding.

The Missouri IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a step-by-step IEE request process, the language to use when submitting your written request, and how to connect the IEE results to your child's IEP goals in a way that creates accountability.

Summary: Missouri IEE Basics

• You can request one IEE at public expense for each district evaluation you disagree with
• Your written request triggers an obligation to respond without unnecessary delay: the district must either fund the IEE or file due process
• The district may set reasonable geographic and cost criteria but cannot effectively deny your right
• The IEP team must consider IEE results and need not implement every recommendation; a Notice of Action is required when the district proposes or refuses a covered change
• In St. Louis County, route your IEE request to both the SSD and the local component district in writing

Requesting an IEE is not an attack on the school. It is a legally protected right designed to ensure that no single entity — with its own financial incentives — gets to be the only voice determining what your child needs.

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