Independent Educational Evaluation in Texas: Your IEE Rights Under IDEA and TAC Chapter 89

The district completed a FIIE and concluded your child does not qualify for special education — or qualifies only for minimal services. You do not trust the evaluation. You are wondering whether you can hire your own evaluator and make the school pay for it.

You can. But in Texas, there are specific steps that determine whether the evaluation is at public expense and how the results must be considered by the ARD committee.

What Is an IEE?

An Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) is an evaluation of your child conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district. Under IDEA (34 CFR §300.502) and TAC Chapter 89, parents have the right to obtain an IEE at public expense if they disagree with the school's evaluation.

"At public expense" means the district pays for or reimburses the full cost of the evaluation. This is not a small thing — a comprehensive neuropsychological or psychoeducational evaluation from a private provider in Texas typically costs $3,000–$7,000 or more.

When You Can Request a Public-Expense IEE

You have the right to request an IEE at public expense whenever you disagree with the district's evaluation — their Full Individual and Initial Evaluation (FIIE) or a subsequent reevaluation. You do not have to articulate why you disagree. You do not need to provide a competing evaluation first. You simply state in writing that you disagree with the evaluation and request an IEE at public expense.

That is the full threshold. Many Texas parents do not know this because districts sometimes respond as if the process requires more justification than it does.

What Happens After You Request

Once you submit a written IEE request, the district has two options under IDEA:

1. Initiate a due process hearing to demonstrate that its evaluation was appropriate. If the district takes this route, the hearing officer decides whether the district's evaluation was sufficient. If the district wins, you are not entitled to public expense reimbursement. If you win (or the district does not file), you are.

2. Provide the IEE at public expense without a hearing. In practice, most Texas districts do this rather than pay attorney fees for a due process hearing.

The district must respond without unnecessary delay. TEA interprets this as a reasonable timeframe, typically a few weeks. If the district does not respond in writing either approving the IEE or filing for due process, document the delay — it supports a TEA complaint.

Criteria the District Can Set

The district can set criteria for the IEE — such as requiring the evaluator to hold specific credentials — as long as those criteria do not limit your ability to choose a qualified evaluator. For example, the district can require the evaluator to be a licensed psychologist or LSSP. It cannot require you to use a specific provider or limit the geographic area to one the district finds convenient.

Ask the district for their IEE criteria in writing before you choose your evaluator. Make sure your chosen evaluator meets those criteria so there is no dispute about reimbursement.

What the ARD Must Do With Your IEE

Once you obtain an IEE, the ARD committee must consider it when making eligibility and services decisions. "Consider" is a legal term of art — it means the team must genuinely review the IEE results and address them in the meeting. The ARD does not have to adopt every conclusion or recommendation in the IEE, but it cannot simply ignore it.

If the IEE shows your child has a learning disability and the school's FIIE did not, the ARD must explain in the meeting why it is or is not changing its eligibility determination, and provide a Prior Written Notice (PWN) documenting the decision. That PWN is critical for any subsequent TEA complaint or due process hearing.

Disagreeing With the FIIE Specifically

Texas uses the term FIIE (Full Individual and Initial Evaluation) for the initial evaluation. This is the same evaluation that triggers IEE rights. Common reasons Texas parents disagree with a FIIE:

• The FIIE did not assess all areas of suspected disability (e.g., only tested reading, not math or behavior)
• The evaluator's conclusions do not match the test scores
• The evaluation was completed quickly without sufficient observation or teacher input
• The child has a private-provider diagnosis (dyslexia, ADHD, autism) that the FIIE did not find eligible
• The evaluation underestimated cognitive ability or overestimated performance compared to classroom reality

For the dyslexia category specifically: since HB 3928 (2022), the FIIE must assess for SLD/dyslexia under IDEA standards if dyslexia is suspected. If the district's FIIE used only a dyslexia screener rather than a full evaluation, that is grounds to dispute the FIIE and request an IEE.

What an IEE Should Include

A thorough independent evaluation for a Texas child typically includes:

• Cognitive assessment (IQ testing such as WISC-V or similar)
• Academic achievement testing (reading decoding, reading comprehension, math calculation, written expression)
• Processing assessments as appropriate (phonological processing, processing speed, working memory)
• Behavioral/emotional rating scales where ADHD, anxiety, or emotional disturbance is suspected
• Adaptive behavior scales for autism or intellectual disability evaluation
• Classroom observation (may require district permission if conducted during school hours)

The evaluator's written report should include specific score data, diagnostic conclusions, and — critically for Texas — recommendations for IEP eligibility and services that the ARD can act on.

Private-Pay IEEs

You can also obtain an IEE at your own expense at any time, without the public-expense request. A private-pay IEE is useful when you want an evaluation before or outside the dispute process, or when you want a report to bring to an ARD where you have not formally disputed the district's evaluation.

The district must still consider a private-pay IEE at an ARD meeting — but the rules about criteria and reimbursement do not apply.

After the IEE: Next Steps

If the IEE supports a different eligibility finding or more robust services and the ARD committee still declines to change the IEP, your next options in Texas are:

• TEA State Complaint — Free to file, investigated within 60 days, can result in corrective action
• Mediation — Voluntary, uses a neutral TEA-contracted mediator, results in a binding agreement
• Due Process Hearing — Formal adversarial hearing before an independent hearing officer

The Texas IEP & 504 Blueprint includes the exact IEE request letter language, ARD preparation templates, and a walkthrough of what to do when the district disputes your evaluation or refuses to act on it.

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