District Wins Right to Assess Student After Grandparent Blocks Every Attempt

What Happened

Student was a 13-year-old seventh grader with diagnoses of autism, ADHD, and post-traumatic stress disorder, who qualified for special education under the categories of other health impairment and speech and language impairment. Student's grandparent held educational rights and had re-enrolled Student in Hueneme Elementary School District in March 2022 after years at other schools. Student was receiving home-hospital instruction due to behavioral and psychiatric challenges that made a traditional classroom setting temporarily inappropriate. Student had not been formally assessed since 2018 — five years before this hearing — making a triennial reassessment long overdue.

Starting in May 2022, Hueneme developed a legally compliant assessment plan covering psychological, academic, health, speech and language, and occupational therapy evaluations. Grandparent eventually signed the plan but then refused to make Student available for testing unless the district agreed to her conditions: assessments had to occur at a neutral location like a public library, and Grandparent had to be present in the room with Student during testing. Over the following months, Grandparent and her advocate cancelled scheduled appointments, scheduled conflicting doctor visits at the same time as confirmed assessments, walked Student out of the testing site moments after arriving, and refused to provide medical releases that would have allowed assessors to speak with Student's treating doctors. When the district agreed to move testing to a middle school to accommodate Student, Grandparent added new demands. No complete assessment was ever finished.

What the ALJ Found

Because the district filed this case — not the parent — the ALJ evaluated whether Hueneme was legally entitled to assess Student over Grandparent's objections. The ALJ found overwhelmingly in the district's favor.

The ALJ determined that although Grandparent signed the assessment plan, her repeated interference and conditions amounted to effectively withdrawing consent. Under federal and California law, a parent who wants their child to continue receiving special education services must allow reassessment when conditions warrant it. The ALJ found that Grandparent's demands — controlling the location and insisting on being present during testing — were unreasonable. Notably, the doctors' letters Grandparent submitted recommending a neutral setting and parental presence were given little weight: neither doctor had expertise in educational testing, both letters were based solely on information Grandparent provided, and Grandparent refused to sign releases allowing the district to speak with either doctor directly.

The ALJ also found that Grandparent's pattern of obstruction at Hueneme mirrored difficulties another school district experienced with the same family in 2021, and was consistent with conduct a federal appeals court had previously found unreasonable in a similar case. Student's raw anxiety and non-compliance in educational settings, the ALJ noted, were themselves areas that needed to be assessed — not reasons to block the assessment.

What Was Ordered

1. Hueneme is permitted to conduct a full multidisciplinary assessment of Student under the May 2, 2022 assessment plan.
2. Hueneme may conduct assessments at its district offices, a school site, or any other location the district and its assessors consider appropriate for valid results.
3. Hueneme must notify Grandparent within 15 business days of the decision with dates, times, and locations for assessments. The district has authority to approve or reject any scheduling changes Grandparent proposes.
4. Grandparent is ordered to cooperate in making Student available for all assessments as requested by Hueneme.
5. Grandparent may not impose conditions on assessment locations or veto district-selected sites.
6. Grandparent may not be present during Student's assessments unless the individual assessor determines her presence is appropriate.
7. All scheduling communication must occur directly via email between Hueneme and Grandparent.
8. If Grandparent fails to cooperate in making Student available for the complete assessments at the start of the 2023–2024 school year, Hueneme is no longer obligated to provide Student special education and related services.

Why This Matters for Parents

1. Signing an assessment plan but refusing to cooperate is treated as withdrawing consent. If you sign a district's assessment plan, the law expects you to make your child genuinely available. Courts and ALJs have repeatedly found that signing a plan but then blocking assessments through conditions or cancellations is legally the same as refusing consent — and it can cost your child their special education services.

2. Parents do not have an automatic right to be present during assessments. It may feel natural to want to comfort your child during testing, but the law does not give parents a veto over who is in the room. Whether a parent may be present is the assessor's professional decision, not the parent's. Demanding presence as a condition of assessment is considered an unreasonable restriction under IDEA.

3. A doctor's letter supporting your position carries more weight if the doctor is willing to speak with the school. The grandparent's doctors wrote letters recommending a neutral site, but because Grandparent refused to sign medical releases, the district could never follow up. The ALJ gave those letters almost no weight as a result. If you have a treating provider who supports your concerns, allow them to communicate directly with district staff — it will make their opinion far more credible.

4. Blocking a triennial reassessment can result in your child losing all special education services. Federal law requires districts to reassess students at least every three years. If a parent prevents that from happening and a district wins at due process, the ALJ can — and did here — order that services cease if the parent continues to obstruct. The child who most needs protection ends up without services.