Are Districts Obligated to Implement Recommendations Made by an Outside Evaluation Team?

According to Parents Rights in Special Education (Procedural Safeguards) distributed by South Carolina's Office of Exceptional Children at the State Department of Education, after an initial evaluation is completed, if the parent disagrees with the district's evaluation, they have the right to ask for an independent educational evaluation at public expense. If the parent obtains an independent educational evaluation at public expense or provides the agency with an evaluation obtained at private expense, the results of the evaluation must be considered by the district, if it meets the district's criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the child. However, the district is not obligated to implement the recommendations made by the outside evaluation team.