Can a school have teachers complete ADHD screening forms when a parent has not requested this? These forms were mailed to me by our area education agency and we had no prior notice that this would be happening.
I know that my daughter does not have ADHD. I do believe she has a learning disability and we are in the process of getting that diagnosed privately outside of the school. Can I have these removed from her file?
A school should not conduct an individualized evaluation of a child for purposes of diagnosing or identifying a disability without the written informed consent of the parent.
ADHD rating scales are assessment tools used for the purpose of determining whether a child has ADHD. As such, they suggest the school is conducting an evaluation of that student, which must be done with the consent of the parent. Schools are allowed to conduct school-wide evaluations of all students without consent, but are not supposed to conduct individual evaluations to assess disability without first informing the parents of the desire to evaluate, obtaining the parents’ input about whether an evaluation should be done and the components of such an evaluation, and obtaining their written consent for the evaluation.
If an evaluation was done without consent, or if a student’s file has any records that the parents object to, there are procedures under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and most states’ school records laws, for reviewing and objecting to specific records or information in the file. If the school does not agree to the parents’ request, there is a procedure for requesting an administrative hearing to challenge the presence of the objectionable records.