When is the school's deadline?
Special education runs on clocks, and almost none of them are ever said out loud to the parent. Pick what you sent and the day you sent it, and this gives you the date the school has to have done something by, the regulation it comes from, and the email to send. No signup, nothing leaves your browser.
1. What happened?
2. On what date?
The date they received it, if you know it. A posted letter counts from arrival, not from the day you wrote it.
3. Which state?
Only the evaluation clock changes by state, but it changes a lot: from 30 school days to 90 calendar days depending on where you live.
Naming the date and the regulation is what changes the reply. It moves the conversation from a parent who is unhappy to a district that is out of time, and it does it without a single angry word.
The states that set their own evaluation clock
Federal law says 60 days from consent, then immediately allows any state to replace that with its own timeframe, and many have. These are the ones checked one at a time against the state's own rule. If your state is not in this table it is not proof that it uses the federal 60 days, only that nobody has verified it here yet, and the tool says so rather than guessing.
| State | Clock | What it covers | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 60 calendar days | the IEP team meeting, counted from consent | California Education Code 56043(c) |
| Connecticut | 45 school days | the whole process through to an IEP, counted from the written referral | Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies 10-76d-13 |
| Florida | 60 calendar days | the evaluation to be completed | Florida Rule 6A-6.0331 |
| Georgia | 60 calendar days | the evaluation report to be completed | Georgia Rule 160-4-7-.04 |
| Illinois | 60 school days | eligibility decided and the IEP meeting held | 23 Illinois Administrative Code 226.110 |
| Indiana | 50 instructional days | the evaluation and the case conference | 511 IAC 7-40-5 |
| Massachusetts | 45 school days | the team meeting and a proposed IEP, counted from consent | 603 CMR 28.05 |
| Michigan | 30 school days | an offer of a free appropriate public education, or notice of ineligibility | Michigan MARSE R 340.1721b |
| Minnesota | 30 school days | the evaluation to be completed | Minnesota Rules 3525.2550 |
| New Jersey | 90 calendar days | the evaluation, the eligibility decision and the IEP | N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.4 |
| New York | 60 calendar days | the initial evaluation to be completed | 8 NYCRR 200.4(b)(7) |
| Ohio | 60 calendar days | the evaluation to be completed | Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-06 |
| Pennsylvania | 60 calendar days | the evaluation report to reach you | 22 Pa. Code Chapter 14 |
| Texas | 45 school days | the written evaluation report | Texas Education Code 29.004 |
| Washington | 35 school days | the evaluation report | Washington ESHB 2557, effective 11 June 2026 |
Why a date changes the conversation
Every one of these deadlines is already being counted by somebody at the district. There is a spreadsheet, and your child is a row on it. What varies is whether the parent is counting too, because a parent who is not counting can be told that things are moving along nicely for an entire term, and it will be true and useless at the same time.
The moment you write "consent was signed on 12 September, which under 34 CFR 300.301 makes the deadline 11 November", the reply comes from a different person in a different tone. Nothing about that sentence is aggressive. It is just the first message in the thread that both of you can check.
Questions people actually ask
The school missed the deadline. What actually happens?
Nothing automatic, which is the part nobody says out loud. A missed timeline is a procedural violation: it is the thing you put in a written complaint, and the state has 60 days to decide it. It does not void the IEP, it does not trigger a payment, and it will not be noticed unless somebody writes it down. That somebody is you, which is what this page is for.
Why does my state have a different number?
Because federal law allows it. 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)(i) sets 60 days from consent, and the very next clause says that if the State establishes its own timeframe, that one applies instead. Michigan runs 30 school days, New Jersey 90 calendar days, and Washington moved to 35 school days in June 2026. Same law, different clocks.
What is the difference between school days and calendar days?
About two months, in the worst case. Sixty calendar days from October runs out in December. Sixty school days from October, with Thanksgiving, the winter break and a snow day or two, runs into February. That is why this page will not print an exact date for a school-day state: it shows the earliest it could possibly be, and tells you to ask the district for the date off their own calendar.
Does the clock stop for the summer?
It depends on the state, and this is where most of the argument happens. Pennsylvania explicitly stops counting between the spring and autumn terms. Georgia restarts day one after a break of five days or more. Florida excludes board-adopted holidays. Others say nothing at all, which usually means calendar days keep running. The note under your result says which applies where it is known.
Is the reminder emailed to me?
Not yet. The calendar file is the reminder: it drops two entries into whatever calendar you already use, one a week before and one on the day. Nothing is stored on our side and there is nothing to sign up for.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is arithmetic on published rules, with the citation printed beside every answer so you can check it. Deadlines have exceptions, states amend their rules, and your situation may have facts this page knows nothing about. Your state's Parent Training and Information Center is free and is the right next call if the answer matters.
