Question: Does a parent have the right to obtain an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense in an area of need that the school district did not evaluate?
Answer: Yes. In 2016 guidance, the US Dept of Education, Office of Special Programs has stated that if the school conducted an evaluation but did not fully identify all areas that needed to be evaluated, the parent has a right to ask for an IEE at public expense if the parent disagrees with the evaluation. The school must either fund the IEE or initiate a due process hearing to show its evaluation was appropriate.
The same logic could be applied when a school district refuses to evaluate a student for special education at all.