School Wins Right to Assess Student Over Parent's Objection After 3+ Years Without Evaluation

What Happened

Student was a 15-year-old who had been assessed by Garden Grove Unified School District in spring 2019, resulting in an IEP document dated May and June 2019. The parties disputed whether that document was ever a final, implementable IEP. After Garden Grove, Student attended schools in Santa Ana, and then enrolled in Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Ana in August 2020. Once Student enrolled, Parent informed Magnolia Science of the prior Garden Grove IEP. Magnolia Science concluded the Garden Grove IEP was incomplete and could not be implemented, and began preparing assessment plans to evaluate Student fresh — first in March 2021, again in March 2022, again in May 2022, and finally in November 2022. Parent refused to consent to any of them, believing that agreeing to a new assessment meant admitting the Garden Grove IEP had never been valid.

With no formal assessment having occurred since 2019, and no agreed-upon IEP in place, Magnolia Science attempted to address Student's needs through a Section 504 plan in August 2022 — but Parent did not consent to that either. The school's records showed Student struggled with inattention, poor focus, memory difficulties, disorganization, and anxiety. Parent had long expressed concerns about Student's reading, writing, math, expressive language, executive functioning, and possible dyslexia or dysgraphia. When Parent refused to consent to the November 2022 assessment plan, Magnolia Science filed for due process asking the ALJ to authorize the assessment without parental consent.

What the ALJ Found

The ALJ ruled entirely in Magnolia Science's favor. On the procedural side, the ALJ found that the November 2022 assessment plan was legally compliant: it was written in plain English (Parent's native language), clearly explained the proposed assessment areas, informed Parent that no IEP would result without her separate consent, and was provided to Parent with at least 15 days to review and respond. Proper prior written notice was also included.

On the substantive side, the ALJ rejected Parent's argument that no new assessment was needed because the Garden Grove IEP already existed. The law requires schools to reassess students at least once every three years, regardless of whether an IEP is currently in place. More than three years had passed since Student was last formally assessed in spring 2019. The ALJ found that Student's educational needs — including concerns about academic achievement, language and communication development, intellectual processing, health, and social-emotional functioning — clearly justified a comprehensive reevaluation. The proposed assessment tools and qualified assessors were found to be appropriate for the areas of concern. The ALJ also found that Magnolia Science had made numerous reasonable attempts to obtain Parent's consent over the course of two years and had been repeatedly refused.

The ALJ noted that the dispute over whether the Garden Grove IEP was ever valid was outside the scope of this hearing and was not decided. That question remains open.

What Was Ordered

1. Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Ana is authorized to reassess Student pursuant to the November 10, 2022 assessment plan without parental consent.

Why This Matters for Parents

1. The three-year reassessment rule is not optional, even when an IEP already exists. Under the IDEA and California law, schools must conduct a formal reevaluation at least once every three years. This obligation applies whether or not a current IEP is in place. Parents cannot block a legally required reassessment by pointing to an older IEP.

2. Refusing to consent to an assessment does not protect your legal position on a separate dispute. Parent in this case feared that signing the assessment plan would undermine her argument about the Garden Grove IEP. The ALJ made clear that these are separate issues — consenting to a reassessment does not mean you are conceding anything about a prior IEP's validity. Linking the two issues strategically can backfire and result in a hearing where the school wins the right to assess your child anyway.

3. Schools must follow specific procedural steps before they can assess without your consent. To override a parent's refusal, a school must prove that the assessment plan was legally compliant (plain language, proper notice, 15 days to respond) and that the student's educational needs genuinely warrant reassessment. If a school skips these steps, a parent has stronger grounds to challenge the assessment.

4. A Section 504 plan is not a substitute for a special education evaluation. Magnolia Science tried to accommodate Student through a Section 504 plan when it could not get consent for a formal assessment. The school's own expert acknowledged that the 504 plan was a limited stopgap and that a full assessment was needed to accurately identify Student's needs. If your child may be eligible for special education, a 504 plan alone is unlikely to be sufficient.