All students from birth through age 21 who are suspected of having a disability may be referred for a special education evaluation. School personnel, parents or guardians, physician, community agencies, or other appropriate individuals may initiate a referral for special education evaluation. Referral of students for possible special education services is part of the Districts’ overall regular education referral and screening system.

If a parent makes a written request for an initial evaluation for special education services to the director of special education services or an administrative employee of the school district or open enrollment charter school, the district or charter school must respond no later than 15 school days after receiving the request. At that time, the district or charter school must give the parent a prior written notice of whether it agrees to or refuses to evaluate the student, along with a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards.  If the school district or charter school agrees to evaluate the student, it must also give the parent the opportunity to give written consent for the evaluation. 

Please note that a request for a special education evaluation may be made verbally and does not need to be in writing.  Districts and charter schools must still comply with all federal prior written notice and procedural safeguard requirements and the requirements for identifying, locating, and evaluating children who are suspected of being a child with a disability and in need of special education. However, a verbal request does not require the district or charter school to respond within the 15-school-day timeline.

If the district or charter school decides to evaluate the student, it must complete the student’s initial evaluation and evaluation report no later than 45 school days from the day it receives a parent’s written consent to evaluate the student.  However, if the student is absent from school during the evaluation period for three or more school days, the evaluation period will be extended by the number of school days equal to the number of school days that the student is absent.

There is an exception to the 45-school-day timeline.  If a district or charter school receives a parent’s consent for the initial evaluation at least 35 but less than 45 school days before the last instructional day of the school year, it must complete the written report and provide a copy of the report to the parent by June 30 of that year. However, if the student is absent from school for three or more days during the evaluation period, the June 30th due date no longer applies. Instead, the general timeline of 45 school days plus extensions for absences of three or more days will apply.

Please note the District should not utilize the Response to Intervention (RTI) or  multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) process to delay or deny a timely initial evaluation for children suspected of having a disability. The District has an obligation to ensure that evaluations of children suspected of having a disability are not delayed or denied because of implementation of an RTI/MTSS strategy. Furthermore, a parent has a right to request an initial evaluation at any time to determine if a child is a child with a disability under IDEA. The following OSEP memo provides details regarding this topic.

OSEP Memorandum 11-07

With respect to preschool children, IDEA does not require or encourage a local or preschool program to use a MTSS approach prior to referral for evaluation or as part of determining whether a 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old is eligible for special education and related services. Once the district receives a referral for a preschool child, the District must initiate an evaluation process to determine if the child is a child with a disability.  The following OSEP memo provides details regarding this topic.

OSEP Memorandum 16-07

Upon completing the evaluation, the district or charter school must give the parent a copy of the evaluation report at no cost.

If the parent disagrees with the Full Individual Evaluation (FIE) provided by the District, the parent has a right to request an independent educational evaluation (IEE) evaluation at public expense, by someone who does not work for the District. Parents may refer to pages 1036-1039 in the posted FBISD Special Education Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) Proceduresfor more information.

Additional information regarding special education is available in a companion document titled Parent's Guide to the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Process (English) and Parent's Guide to the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Process- Spanish.

Procedural Safeguards (English) and Procedural Safeguards- Spanish are avaliable to review and understand your rights in the evaluation process.

If your child is enrolled at a Fort Bend ISD campus and you wish to request a special education evaluation, please provide the written request to the campus principal. If your child does not attend school but lives within the Fort Bend ISD boundaries or attends a Private School located within the Fort Bend ISD boundaries, please contact the Special Education Intake Center at 281-634-1351. The Intake Center is now located at the Technical Education Center, 540 Dulles Avenue, Sugar Land, Texas 77478.