SCHOOL BOARD OF MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA v. L.H. (M.D.Fla. 9-30-2009):
Parents contended that implementation of an unwritten policy prevented them from obtaining an independent psychological evaluation; that without the completed evaluation, the parents did not have the information they needed to effectively participate in the development of an IEP for their child; and that the parents’ right to obtain an independent educational evaluation (IEE) under the IDEA included the right to have their private psychologist conduct in-school observations of their child. The Court agreed with the parents citing to an OSEP memo, Letter to Mamas, 42 IDELR 10. The Court thus affimed the ALJ’s order allowing the psychologist retained by the parents to conduct an in-school observation of at least two hours.
