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Friday, September 5, 2008

District can not satisfy obligation to evaluate by referring parents to outside evaluator

N.B v. Hellgate Elementary School District, ex rel. Bd. of Directors, Missoula County, Mont., –F.3d– (9th Cir.(Mont.) Sep 04, 2008): A school district is obligated to evaluate a child in all suspected areas of disability. Here, the school district was aware that the child might be autistic. The school district suggested that the parents obtain an evaluation and referred the parents to a testing center. The 9th Circuit reversed the District and found that the school district “did not fulfill its statutory obligations by simply referring C.B.'s parents to the CDC. Such an action does not “ensure that the child is assessed,” as required by 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(3)(C).”