dd's problem is more the result of impaired executive functioning. She has no clue what to write or how to organize her thoughts to get them on the paper.
That is exactly my ds' issue too - had no clue what to write or how to organize his thoughts to get them onto paper. This is also what speech therapy helped with soon so very much.
She also now has anxiety about writing, making everything worse, because teachers have mismanaged her for so long. If she was sitting there starting into space rather than writing they would yell at her to focus and make better choices.
DS' teachers also didn't understand that either - and he spent a lot of time stairing into space during writing assignments in elementary school because he was simply clueless and had no idea what to put on his paper. The teachers were really quick to place fault on ds, rather than admitting that he actually needed instruction.
I don't think that school districts are forced to give a student services unless they are failing.
I think that if you could find a local advocate it might help. I do think that school districts can't deny services just because a child isn't failing - I think you could google around the boards here and wrightslaw and find articles that specifically address that issue. What may be more relevant in your school/district's case though is the reality of ability to provide services - our school district has been very short-staffed and stretched to the limit to meet the needs of all the students who *should* qualify for IEP services, hence there are a lot of kids who are given quick excuses for why they don't qualify and only the kids who have a strong advocate fighting back ultimately get the IEP. At one point in time a friend of mine who teachers high school (regular academics) was extremely annoyed because the only way for high school students to get IEPs was basically to get denied and then have to go to due process or sue the district, which meant teachers then had to be pulled out of class to testify.
The new school actually increased DS's services for writing (practically tripled the pull-out time), but in terms of DD, they will not do anything unless the initial team from the old school makes her eligible. Since she was just evaluated and then we had an IEE they will not evaluate her, and they will not make their own eligibility determination (even though legally I think they are supposed to).
I don't know what the legal responsibility is in that situation, but it would be interesting to see what an advocate had to say about it. So if I understand, your dd was evaluated at her old school (the gifted school), found ineligible, you disagreed and the district paid for an IEE, the IEE shows that dd has a disability or meets criteria for some services based on discrepancy, and the old school still said no she doesn't qualify?
Do you have any pro-bono legal groups in your town that offer advice to people with disabilities? If you did, I'd make a call and just ask what they think about the situation.
I do also hope the new school works out much better than the old school - sending you lots of good wishes!
polarbear
