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District seeks evaluation
Concerned when her daughter started doing poorly in school, Ms. White,* a Home School Legal Defense Association member, began teaching the girl at home in August 2006. In the same month, Ms. White received a letter from her local school district stating that officials wanted to evaluate her daughter for special education needs.
While her daughter was in public school, Ms. White had been concerned about her daughter’s physical and educational needs. During the process of trying to find the teaching approach and tools that would be most helpful to her daughter, Ms. White had spoken to several school personnel over the years.
Even after she had determined that she would homeschool her daughter, Ms. White still had an occasional conversation with the district’s coordinator for special education services about various private programs. However, because she clearly intended to use private services instead of public school services, Ms. White was surprised to receive the evaluation letter from the school district.
Deciding that it would not be beneficial to have the district evaluate her daughter when she intended to have her daughter’s needs met privately, Ms. White turned to HSLDA for help.
HSLDA Attorney Thomas Schmidt informed the district that Ms. White was declining their offer of a special education evaluation, but that she was designing a privately developed plan (PDP) for her daughter in compliance with Oregon law.
Under Oregon Administrative Rule § 581-021-0029, parents can design a PDP with one or more private service providers to address their child’s special education needs. The PDP outlines the child’s individual educational goals and defines satisfactory educational progress for that child. Parents may use the PDP evaluation of their child’s progress to satisfy the testing requirement in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10.
Since HSLDA&rquo;s contact with the district, Ms. White has received no further requests for evaluation.
— by Thomas J. Schmidt
* Name changed to protect family’s privacy.
