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Question: Special Education Assessment
Who provides and pays for the evaluation to determine eligibility for special education?
Answer:
Any evaluation conducted by a public school for the purpose of determining whether a child has a disability for purposes of special education (or Section 504) eligibility, and any reevaluation it requires once the child is determined eligible for special education, must be provided AT NO COST to the parents.
If the student is Medicaid eligible, the school may use those benefits towards the cost of the evaluation. The school may also seek reimbursement from the parents' private insurance, if the parents voluntarily agree and there is no adverse affect on the child's insurance status and no direct or indirect cost to the parent.
In addition, if the school determines that specialized evaluations needed to be conducted, beyond those to be done by their own staff, they are required to pay the cost of those evaluations. This could potentially include psychiatric or neurological evaluations, evaluations by neuropsychologists, or other specialized evaluations by private clinicians.
Source:
Matt Cohen. Email correspondence/interview. April 28, 2009.
Source: ...