5th Grade Son Denied Special Ed — ASD + ADHD — IEE Appropriate? 504 Meeting Risk?

[pamata27]

Hi all. My 11-year-old 5th grader has confirmed diagnoses of ASD (diagnosed age 2) and ADHD Inattentive Type (diagnosed February 2026). He has had a 504 plan in place since the first time we were denied evaluations at all at the end of 3rd grade. We are in Missouri. The district completed an initial special ed evaluation and denied eligibility. I verbally disagreed with the determination in the meeting and did not sign anything. I am on a waiting list for a state advocacy nonprofit with no ETA. We have 23 school days left and he transitions to middle school in the fall.

MY QUESTIONS:

• Does this situation call for requesting an IEE at public expense?
• Is there a time limit after denial in which I have to request an IEE?
• The school wants to schedule a 504 Update Meeting. Is there a risk that attending or agreeing to updates could be used against me if I pursue an IEE? If so, should I send the IEE request before agreeing to that meeting?

Thank you for any guidance. More context below if needed...

The School's Position:

• The 504 is working
• Standardized testing scores are average to above average, so no academic need exists
• Executive functioning struggles are not pervasive across all settings because one teacher rated him average
• Even if he had qualified, he would only receive task initiation goals — no specially designed math instruction — because his standardized math scores don't show an academic deficit

My Argument:

• The current 504 requires constant teacher prompting and nightly home reteaching to sustain passing grades — that is not independent functioning
• Standardized scores were obtained one-on-one in a quiet room with no competing demands and do not reflect classroom performance
• Executive functioning deficits are the core barrier preventing him from independently accessing, learning, and retaining curriculum — especially math — and this is showing up clearly in his most academically demanding class
• His real classroom math data shows a consistent pattern of failure on unit tests despite passing daily low-demand work, which the standardized scores do not capture
• I believe he needs both executive functioning support AND specially designed math instruction that accounts for how his disabilities affect learning and retention in a real classroom

The evaluation findings:

• WISC-V: Full Scale IQ = 99 (average)
• WIAT-IV (one-on-one, quiet room): All scores average to above average. Used to rule out SLD.
• CELF-5: Core language score 98. Used to rule out Language Impairment.
• BRIEF-2 (executive function):
  His math/science teacher rated him clinically elevated on 6 scales including the Global Executive Composite (73).
  His ELA teacher rated him average (54).
  I rated him potentially clinically elevated (69).
  My son rated himself in the average range (62).
  The school concluded his difficulties are "not pervasive across settings" (said verbally in meeting) and denied on those grounds — despite clinically elevated ratings from the teacher in his most academically demanding class and a potentially clinically elevated rating from me at home.

What the classroom data shows:

• iReady Math: Scored at Grade 4 level in August and again in December (1 scale point of growth over a full semester). Jumped to Mid-5th grade level in March — during the period I was reteaching math at home nightly. School cited this jump as evidence the 504 is working without accounting for my home support.
• Unit tests in math: Consistently 50% or below. Daily 2-4 question exit worksheets after instruction: consistently 100%. 
• The school's own Tier 3 social intervention was described by the teacher as having "minimal success."
• The denial PWN lists his current math grade as an "A." His report card has never shown an A in math. His grade in math specifically has been Q1: B-, Q2: B-, Q3: B, Currently in Q4: C