IEP deadline calculator

Enter a state and the dates you have. Every deadline below is counted in the unit that state actually uses, anchored to the event that state actually names, with the regulation it came from. 50 states verified against the controlling regulation or agency manual, last checked 2026-08-12.

Calculate the deadlines

State

Referral received

Parental consent received

Eligibility determined (optional — leave blank to project it)

An amendment does not reset the annual review

34 CFR §300.324(a)(4) lets a team change an IEP in writing without reconvening. §300.324(b)(1) separately requires a review at least annually. Those are two different obligations, and satisfying the first does nothing for the second — so a team that amends in month ten still owes the annual review two months later. Connecticut says it outright: an amendment can never substitute for the annual review PPT meeting.

The failure mode is quiet. The amendment becomes the most recent action on the file, the document reads as current, and the annual review lapses without anything flagging it. Enter the two dates below to see which clock the change actually moves, and what consent the state requires before it takes effect.

Amendment or annual review?

State

What is happening

Annual review currently due

Date of this change

This is a material change — service minutes, placement, or terminating a service.Not a typo fix or a corrected date.

A written change under 34 CFR §300.324(a)(4), agreed with the parent instead of reconvening.

Why a generic 60-day counter gets this wrong

IDEA sets a 60-day initial evaluation deadline at 34 CFR §300.301(c)(1)(i), then immediately allows states to substitute their own timeframe at §300.301(c)(1)(ii). Most did. Four differences make a single “days” field structurally unable to produce the right date.

The unit changes per deadline, not per state

30 of these 50 states count at least one deadline in school days or business days rather than calendar days, and several mix units inside a single referral. New Mexico runs 15 school days, then 60 calendar, then 15 school, then 30 calendar. A school-day count depends on the district calendar, so the same rule produces a different date in two neighbouring districts.

The clock does not always start at consent

4 states run the evaluation clock from the referral date rather than consent: Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia. Connecticut replaced the federal 60-calendar-day rule in January 2020 with 45 school days from referral, so a tracker keyed to consent starts counting weeks late. A further 28 states run separate clocks off the referral before consent is obtained, which expire before the evaluation window has even opened.

Some states take the earlier of two rules

Delaware is 45 school days or 90 calendar days, whichever comes first. Nebraska is 45 school days or 60 calendar days. These are formulas, not lookups — during term the school-day prong normally binds, but a long break flips it to the calendar prong. Both must be computed and compared for every student.

What stops the clock varies more than the number

In some states the evaluation clock stops when testing is complete. In others it does not stop until eligibility is determined, and in Connecticut and Kansas not until the IEP is implemented. In Alaska it does not stop until services are actually being delivered. A tracker that marks the deadline met when testing finishes reports false compliance in the majority of these states.

The unregulated gap before consent

28 of these 50 states regulate the stage between a referral arriving and consent being obtained: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. In the other 22 the evaluation clock does not start until consent, so the time before it is invisible to any compliance report built on that clock. South Dakota and Montana are the clearest cases — a district can hold a referral indefinitely and still show a timely evaluation. The calculator surfaces that elapsed time rather than hiding it.

Every rule, by state

The complete rule set behind the calculator. Each figure was read from the source cited beside it.

Alabama

Clock stops at: Evaluation complete — eligibility is a separate clock. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — 60 calendar days from consent Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02(1)(b)
After the evaluation: Eligibility determined — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window r. 290-8-9-.04(1)
IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility r. 290-8-9-.05(2)(b) Runs from the eligibility decision, so the full path is 60 + 30 + 30 = 120 calendar days.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: Eligibility Committee · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 19

A mandatory eight-week Problem Solving Team intervention runs before referral in most cases.
The timeline runs through summer — it is not tolled by scheduled breaks.
Age of majority is 19 in Alabama, not 18.

Alaska

Clock stops at: Services actually being delivered — not merely the evaluation. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation, eligibility, IEP AND services in place — 90 calendar days from consent 4 AAC 52.115(a)
After the evaluation: IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility 4 AAC 52.140(b)(2) Nested inside the 90 days. It can shorten the outer deadline, never extend it.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: group of qualified professionals and a parent · Document: Evaluation Summary and Eligibility Report (ESER) · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

This is not an evaluation clock. Services must be delivered by day 90.
Benchmarks or short-term objectives are required on every Alaska IEP.
A widely-cited advocacy source still publishes 45 school days — the figure Alaska replaced in 2012.

Arizona

Clock stops at: The Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team's determination of eligibility. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Identification and screening completed after entry or after a parent raises a concern — 45 calendar days from referral A.A.C. R7-2-401(D)(5)
PEA notifies parents of a concern found by screening or record review — 10 school days from referral A.A.C. R7-2-401(D)(8)
Response to a parent's WRITTEN evaluation request — begin by reviewing existing data, or issue prior written notice refusing — 15 school days from referral A.A.C. R7-2-401(E)(4)
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation completed — the MET determines eligibility — 60 calendar days from consent A.A.C. R7-2-401(E)(3); A.R.S. §15-766(B)
After the evaluation: IEP team convenes and develops the first IEP — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 C.F.R. §300.323(c)(1), adopted at A.A.C. R7-2-401(A) Applies ONLY to the first IEP after eligibility. ADE states expressly that schools do NOT get 30 days past the annual review date for successive or transfer IEPs.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) · Document: Evaluation Report · Transition: Age 16 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

Three separate PRE-consent clocks run before the 60 days start: a 45-calendar-day screening window, a 10-school-day concern notice, and a 15-school-day response to a written parent request. None of them starts the evaluation clock.
Arizona moved its transition trigger AHEAD of the federal floor by a State Board rule change approved 21 October 2024 — transition services are required in the IEP in effect when the student completes 9TH GRADE or turns 16, whichever comes first.
The IEP must also carry an estimated graduation date, with written notice to parents one year before anticipated graduation.
Developmental delay ends at the 10th birthday, and a child may not be dropped from the classification without a reevaluation concluding they no longer qualify.

Arkansas

Clock stops at: Evaluation complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: Referral conference scheduled and notice sent — 7 calendar days from referral 6 CAR § 130-403(a)
Referral conference held (outer limit) — 21 calendar days from referral 6 CAR § 130-403(d)(1)
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — 60 calendar days from consent 6 CAR § 130-603(a)(1)
After the evaluation: Evaluation/programming conference — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window 6 CAR § 130-606(a)(1)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

The referral conference runs BEFORE consent. Its clocks expire before the evaluation clock starts.
DESE's process guide asserts a 365-day annual review rule that the section it cites does not contain.

California

Clock stops at: The initial IEP developed at a team meeting — testing complete does not stop the clock. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Proposed assessment plan given to the parent in writing — 15 calendar days from referral EC 56043(a); EC 56321(a)
Initial evaluation: Eligibility determined AND the initial IEP developed at an IEP team meeting — 60 calendar days from consent EC 56043(c), (f)(1); EC 56344(a)
After the evaluation: California sets no separate deadline here. Publishing a number for this step would invent law.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Document: assessment report and documentation of determination of eligibility · Transition: Age 16 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

The 60 days run from written parental CONSENT, not from the referral. The referral starts only a 15-day assessment-plan clock, and the parent then gets at least 15 more days to decide — so referral-to-IEP has no outer bound in California.
The vacation exclusion is measured in SCHOOLDAYS: a five-schoolday spring break does not stop the clock, a two-week winter break does.
Two exceptions switch the clock off entirely: a mid-evaluation transfer where the new LEA is making sufficient progress and has agreed a completion date, or a parent who repeatedly fails to produce the child.
Implementation is UNTIMED — 'as soon as possible following the IEP team meeting'. California sets no numeric grace period.
CURRENCY: EC 56043 was repealed and re-added by AB 438, operative 1 July 2025. Any summary written before mid-2025 describes the inoperative version.

Colorado

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation completed and eligibility determined — 60 calendar days from consent ECEA Rule 4.02(3)(c)
After the evaluation: Initial IEP developed — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window ECEA Rule 4.03(1)(d)(i) The rule's true anchor is CONSENT — 90 calendar days from consent. Because the evaluation window is consent+60, this is arithmetically the same, but the 90 days carries no extension provision of its own.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: multidisciplinary team · Transition: Age 15 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 21

Both Colorado clocks share the same day zero, written parental consent. The 90-day initial-IEP deadline is NOT a fresh window opening after eligibility — if the evaluation consumes all 60 days, only 30 remain to hold eligibility and write the IEP.
Age of majority in Colorado is 21, not 18, so the transfer-of-rights statement is due at 20.
Developmental delay ends at age 8.

Connecticut

Clock stops at: IEP implemented — this clock starts at referral, not consent. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Referral through IEP implementation — 45 school days from referral R.C.S.A. § 10-76d-13(a)(1)
After the evaluation: Connecticut sets no separate deadline here. Publishing a number for this step would invent law.
Local terms: Team: Planning and Placement Team (PPT) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Connecticut abandoned the federal 60-calendar-day timeline in January 2020. Any tool showing 60 calendar days here is wrong.
The clock pauses up to 10 school days each while awaiting the ED625 and ED626 consents, measured from parent RECEIPT.
Short-term objectives are required on every Connecticut IEP.
The team is the Planning and Placement Team (PPT), and meetings are PPT meetings.

Delaware

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined — the meeting must be inside the window. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Instructional support team forwards its recommendation — 10 school days from referral 14 DE Admin. Code 923 § 11.9.2.4
Parent notified and consent requested — 10 school days from referral 14 DE Admin. Code 923 § 11.9.2.5.2
Initial evaluation — whichever falls first: Evaluation and eligibility (school-day prong) — 45 school days from consent 14 DE Admin. Code 925 § 2.3
Evaluation and eligibility (calendar-day prong) — 90 calendar days from consent 14 DE Admin. Code 925 § 2.3
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility 14 DE Admin. Code 925 § 10.2.1
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Document: Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) · Transition: Age 14 or grade 8, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

Whichever prong falls first governs. School days normally bind; a long break flips it to the calendar prong.
Written notice of any IEP meeting is due no less than 10 school days ahead.
Transition triggers at age 14 OR entry to 8th grade, whichever is earlier.

Florida

Clock stops at: The initial evaluation is completed — testing finished, NOT eligibility determined and NOT the IEP. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: District requests consent after a district-identified trigger — 30 calendar days from referral Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(b), F.A.C.
Response to a PARENT's evaluation request — obtain consent OR issue written notice refusing — 30 calendar days from referral Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(c), F.A.C.
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation completed — 60 calendar days from consent Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(g), F.A.C.
After the evaluation: Initial IEP developed and in effect — 30 calendar days from eligibility Rule 6A-6.03028(3)(f)2., F.A.C. A state rule with explicit CALENDAR days, not merely the federal floor, and it requires the IEP developed and in effect — a held meeting alone does not satisfy it.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: a group of qualified professionals · Document: documentation of the determination of eligibility · Transition: Age 12 (courses of study), age 14 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

The stage between a completed evaluation and the eligibility determination is UNTIMED. A district can finish testing on day 59 and staff eligibility weeks later without breaking a state clock.
The 60 days are calendar days with large bites taken out — all school holidays and the entire summer vacation period do not count — so consent received in May routinely lands the due date in the fall.
The clock starts at the district's RECEIPT of consent, not the parent's signature. A form that sits in a backpack shifts the due date.
The 30-day extension is not freely available: it needs mutual written agreement secured before the 45th day, after formal testing has begun, and only on a finding that more evaluators are needed.
Gifted runs on a different clock entirely — no more than 90 SCHOOL days in attendance — and gifted students get an EP, not an IEP.

Georgia

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined — the rule says 'evaluation completed', GaDOE audits it as the eligibility date. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation completed — 60 calendar days from consent Ga. SBOE Rule 160-4-7-.04(1)(b)1.
After the evaluation: IEP Team meeting to develop the initial IEP — 30 calendar days from eligibility 160-4-7-.06(13)(a) To the MEETING, not to services starting. Implementation is untimed — 'as soon as possible' under .06(13)(b).
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: Eligibility Team · Document: Eligibility Report · Transition: Age 16 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

The 60 days are calendar days but not wall-calendar days: summer and any five-consecutive-school-day closure are subtracted, so a March consent can legitimately fall due in September.
Significant Developmental Delay has its own hard deadline unrelated to the 60/30 chain — initial SDD eligibility and an IEP must be in place on or before the seventh birthday, and SDD ends after the school year the child turns nine.
Gifted is not special education in Georgia and produces no IEP; it runs under rule 160-4-2-.38 in a different chapter entirely.
SLD requires BOTH a documented processing deficit AND RTI data, with a 12-week minimum intervention where the strategy names no duration.

Hawaii

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Prior written notice of proposal or refusal to assess — 15 calendar days from referral Haw. Admin. R. § 8-60-10(d)(2)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation and eligibility determination — 60 calendar days from consent Haw. Admin. R. § 8-60-33(c)(1)
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 15 calendar days from eligibility Haw. Admin. R. § 8-60-47(c)(1) Triggered by consent for initial services, not by the eligibility date.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: group of qualified professionals and the parent · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

One statewide district. There is no intrastate transfer rule — moving islands or to a charter school starts no clock.
The only exception to the 60 days is a parent repeatedly failing to produce the student.

Idaho

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined, not testing complete. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation and eligibility determination — 45 school days from consent Idaho Special Education Manual, Ch. 4 § 3.F
After the evaluation: IEP developed AND implemented — 30 calendar days from eligibility Idaho Special Education Manual, Ch. 5 § 1.C.1
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Evaluation Team · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

The clock does not restart if the team later adds an assessment area.
Out-of-state transfers are treated as initial evaluations, not continuations.
Transfer-of-rights notice is due by the 17th birthday.

Illinois

Clock stops at: The IEP developed — eligibility and the completed IEP meeting must both fall inside the 60 school days. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Decide whether to evaluate AND transmit the conclusions plus the consent request — 14 school days from referral 23 IAC 226.110(c)(3)
Initial evaluation: Eligibility determination AND the IEP meeting completed — 60 school days from consent 105 ILCS 5/14-8.02(b); 23 IAC 226.110(d)
After the evaluation: Services implemented — 10 school days from eligibility 105 ILCS 5/14-8.02(b); 23 IAC 226.220(a) Also a FLOOR — 23 IAC 226.520 defines 'reasonable time' for prior written notice as ten school days, so placement lands ON day 10 unless the parent waives.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Document: IEP Team's report · Transition: Age 14½ · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Illinois defines 'date of referral' as the date of written parental CONSENT. The request date starts only the 14-school-day pre-consent clock and never starts the evaluation clock.
23 IAC 226.110 contradicts itself: subsection (d) folds the IEP meeting into the 60 school days while subsection (j) still says the meeting is due within 30 days after eligibility. The statute and ISBE guidance both apply (d) — do not build to (j).
If fewer than 60 pupil attendance days remain after consent, both eligibility and the IEP must be completed before the first day of the following school year.
There is no tolling provision. The only clock modifier is that end-of-year jump.
Effective 1 January 2026 an IEE at public expense must be completed within 60 school days and the district has 7 school days to file for due process. 23 IAC 226.180 has not been updated to match.

Indiana

Clock stops at: The case conference committee convened — the CCC reviews the report and decides eligibility at that meeting. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Written notice plus procedural safeguards after a PARENT's evaluation request — 10 school days from referral 511 IAC 7-40-4(d), (e)(5)
Initial evaluation — whichever falls first: Evaluation conducted AND case conference committee convened — 50 school days from consent 511 IAC 7-40-5(d)
Expedited — student referred while suspended, expelled or in an IAES — 20 school days from consent 511 IAC 7-44-9(e)-(f)
After the evaluation: Services begin after written consent to the initial IEP — 10 school days from eligibility 511 IAC 7-42-8(a)(1) Anchored to receipt of the parent's signature, which may lag the CCC — Indiana sets no deadline for the parent to sign.
Local terms: Team: case conference committee (CCC) · Document: educational evaluation report · Transition: Age 14 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

Every Indiana figure is in INSTRUCTIONAL days — any day or part of a day students are expected to attend (511 IAC 7-32-22(c)). A consent signed in late April can push a lawful CCC into September.
Only three things stop the 50-day clock: a Part C child (the third-birthday rule applies instead), a parent who repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student, or a mid-evaluation transfer with an agreed completion date. There is no generic good-cause extension.
A child transitioning from First Steps has a hard deadline instead of a day count: evaluation, CCC, IEP and implementation all by the third birthday (511 IAC 7-43-2(d)).
Every IEP after the initial one takes effect on the 11th instructional day after written notice with no signature required (511 IAC 7-42-8(a)(2)).
Severe discrepancy is PROHIBITED for SLD identification (511 IAC 7-41-12(a)(2)(B)).

Iowa

Clock stops at: Evaluation complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — 60 calendar days from consent Iowa Admin. Code r. 281—41.301(3)“a”
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility Iowa Admin. Code r. 281—41.323(3)“a”
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

The Area Education Agency, not the district, runs evaluations and certifies entitlement.
Iowa sets no clock between evaluation completion and the eligibility decision.
Speech-, OT- or PT-only IEPs count as full special education in Iowa.

Kansas

Clock stops at: IEP implemented — a team that meets on day 59 has already missed it. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation, eligibility meeting AND IEP implementation — 60 school days from consent K.A.R. 91-40-8(f)
After the evaluation: IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility K.A.R. 91-40-8(h)
Services implemented after consent — 10 school days from eligibility K.A.R. 91-40-16(b)(2)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

Gifted students receive IEPs in Kansas under state law.
Written consent is required for any change of 25% or more in service duration or frequency.
Written IEP meeting notice is due 10 days in advance.

Kentucky

Clock stops at: Services delivered — specially designed instruction actually being provided under the IEP. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Child evaluated AND, if eligible, specially designed instruction and related services being PROVIDED under an IEP — 60 school days from consent 707 KAR 1:320 § 2(3)
After the evaluation: ARC meeting to develop the IEP — 30 calendar days from eligibility 707 KAR 1:320 § 2(4) Nested INSIDE the 60-school-day window, not appended to it. Whichever expires first governs.
Local terms: Team: Admissions and Release Committee (ARC) · Document: documentation of determination of eligibility · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

Kentucky has no standalone evaluation deadline. Day 60 is the day services must already be running, so a team that spends the whole window on testing has already blown it.
The master window is SCHOOL days while the 30-day ARC clock and the 7-day notice clock are CALENDAR days. Mixing them in either direction produces a wrong date.
Only two things stop the clock: a mid-evaluation move to a new LEA with an agreed completion date, or a parent who repeatedly fails to produce the child.
707 KAR 1:280 was recodified to 707 KAR 1:002, and several still-current regulations carry stale cross-references to the old number.

Louisiana

Clock stops at: The written integrated evaluation report — carrying the eligibility determination — is disseminated to the LEA's special education administrator. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: LEA requests consent OR issues prior written notice of refusal — 10 business days from referral Bulletin 1706 §301.A.4
Evaluation coordinator's initial responsibilities, including requesting consent — 10 business days from referral Bulletin 1508 §501.B.1
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation conducted and the integrated report disseminated — 60 business days from consent Bulletin 1706 §302.C.1.a; Bulletin 1508 §511.A
After the evaluation: IEP/placement document completed — 30 calendar days from eligibility Bulletin 1706 §323.C.1; Bulletin 1530 §307.B.2 Runs from ACTUAL dissemination of the report, not from the 60-day due date, so finishing early pulls it forward.
Services actually begin — 10 school days from eligibility Bulletin 1706 §323.C.2 A Louisiana addition — the federal rule says only 'as soon as possible'. Chains after the 30-day IEP clock, so the worst case is 30 calendar days plus 10 school days.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: multidisciplinary evaluation team (pupil appraisal), screened first by the School Building Level Committee · Document: integrated written evaluation report · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

'Business day' in Louisiana excludes federal AND state holidays, not just weekends, and Louisiana observes a long list of state holidays — so 60 business days is materially longer than twelve calendar weeks.
The evaluation clock has a codified SUMMER SUSPENSION: if fewer than 60 business days remain in the school year, days used between the parent's signature and 1 June are subtracted and the clock restarts 1 September. Extensions are barred for expedited disciplinary evaluations.
Louisiana says 'exceptionalities' rather than 'disabilities', and gifted and talented students are served under the same bulletin.
For GIFTED students only, Louisiana strips the LEA of the override route — if the parent withholds consent, the LEA may NOT request a due process hearing.
A full rewrite of the IEP DOES move the annual review anniversary (Bulletin 1530 §305.A.8), even though an ordinary amendment does not. That is the reverse of most states.

Maine

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Consent-to-evaluate form sent — 15 school days from referral 05-071 C.M.R. ch. 101 § IV.2.E
Initial evaluation: Evaluation and eligibility (ages 5–22) — 45 school days from consent 05-071 C.M.R. ch. 101 § V.1.A(3)(a)(i)
After the evaluation: Written evaluation report due — 40 school days from consent 05-071 C.M.R. ch. 101 § V.4.B
Complete IEP copy to the parent — 21 school days from eligibility 05-071 C.M.R. ch. 101 § IX.3.G
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Transition: Age 16 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

Children birth to five are handled by Child Development Services on a 60-calendar-day clock, not by districts.
Transition triggers on 9th grade or age 16, whichever comes first.

Maryland

Clock stops at: The IEP team meeting where the team reviews the data and decides — in Maryland 'evaluation' IS that meeting, not the completion of testing. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation — whichever falls first: Initial evaluation complete — from consent for assessments — 60 calendar days from consent COMAR 13A.05.01.06A(1)(a)
Initial evaluation complete — from the written referral — 90 calendar days from referral COMAR 13A.05.01.06A(1)(b)
After the evaluation: IEP team meets to develop the IEP — 30 calendar days from eligibility COMAR 13A.05.01.08A(1) Runs from the actual evaluation meeting, so finishing early DOES pull it forward.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Document: Evaluation Report · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18, but rights transfer only on a documented finding · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Two clocks run at once and the earlier controls. Because the 90-day clock starts at written referral, a slow consent chase can make the referral date the real deadline.
'Evaluation' in Maryland means the IEP team's review meeting, not the testing. A team that finished all testing on day 88 has NOT met the 90-day deadline until it has met and decided.
Maryland has an explicit tolling rule most summaries miss: the parent and IEP team may extend the timeframes by mutual written agreement.
Parental rights transfer at 18 only CONDITIONALLY — MSDE's own summary is that they do not transfer except in limited circumstances.

Massachusetts

Clock stops at: Two copies of the proposed IEP and placement in the parent's hands — not testing complete, not eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Written notice to the parent seeking consent to evaluate — 5 school days from referral 603 CMR 28.04(1)(a)
Initial evaluation — whichever falls first: Evaluation assessments completed — 30 school days from consent 603 CMR 28.05(1)
Team met, eligibility decided, and two copies of the proposed IEP and placement delivered to the parent — 45 school days from consent 603 CMR 28.05(1), 28.05(7)
After the evaluation: Parent accepts, rejects, or rejects in part — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window 603 CMR 28.05(7)(a) Runs from the parent's actual RECEIPT of the proposed IEP, so it chains off delivery rather than off the 45-day due date.
District forwards a rejected IEP or placement to the BSEA — 5 calendar days from eligibility 603 CMR 28.08(3)(b)
Local terms: Team: Team · Document: Special Education Eligibility Determination (DESE form) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

The 45 school working days is not time to evaluate — it is time to evaluate, convene, decide eligibility, WRITE the IEP and physically deliver two copies. Case managers arriving from a 60-calendar-day state routinely miss it by a full drafting cycle.
Summer has a hard backstop: consent arriving 30 to 45 school working days before the end of the year makes the proposed IEP due no later than 14 days after the school year ends.
The clocks run in 'school working days' — a unit 603 CMR 28.00 uses but never defines, while it does define 'school day' and 'day'.
The only lawful pause is an extended evaluation under 603 CMR 28.05(2)(b): parent consent required, cannot buy time for required assessments, capped at eight school weeks.
Short-term objectives are effectively required on every goal — the mandatory DESE form carries an unqualified per-goal objectives field.

Michigan

Clock stops at: Written notice of the offer of FAPE — or of ineligibility — is delivered to the parent. Not the IEP meeting, and not the completion of testing. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Written request for evaluation → prior written notice plus a request for consent — 10 school days from referral MARSE R 340.1721; R 340.1721b(1)(a)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation, eligibility, the IEP meeting AND written notice of the offer of FAPE delivered — 30 school days from consent MARSE R 340.1721b(1)(a)
After the evaluation: Parent returns written consent for initial services — 10 school days from the end of the evaluation window MARSE R 340.1721b(1)(b) A parent-side window, not a district obligation. The rule text anchors it to the parent's RECEIPT of the notice.
Initiate the proposed IEP — services begin — 15 school days from the end of the evaluation window MARSE R 340.1721b(1)(d)
Local terms: Team: IEP Team (IEPT) · Eligibility decided by: Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) — which RECOMMENDS only; the IEP Team determines eligibility · Document: MET report · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

The 30 school days is NOT an evaluation window. It runs from receipt of consent all the way to the written FAPE-offer notice landing with the parent, so testing, eligibility, the IEP meeting and the notice all have to fit inside it.
The separate rule allowing 7 school days after the meeting to send that notice buys nothing past day 30 — MDE caps it at 'in no case more than 30 school days from the date parental consent was received'. A meeting held on school day 29 leaves one school day, not seven.
The MET only RECOMMENDS. The IEP Team determines eligibility in Michigan.
Short-term objectives are required on Michigan IEPs.
Michigan serves students to age 26, which is well beyond the federal floor.

Minnesota

Clock stops at: The written evaluation report, carrying the eligibility determination, is delivered to the parent. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation conducted AND the report delivered to the parent — 30 school days from consent Minn. R. 3525.2550, subp. 2; 3525.2710, subp. 6
After the evaluation: Initial IEP team meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 C.F.R. §300.323(c)(1), adopted by MDE Minnesota adds no state meeting deadline, and the unit switches from school days to calendar days at this handoff.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Document: evaluation report · Transition: Age 14 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Minnesota codifies a tolling exception almost no other state has: the 30-school-day requirement applies 'unless a conciliation conference or hearing is requested'.
Prior written notice and the final IEP must reach the parent at least 14 calendar days BEFORE the proposed effective date, and the district may proceed 14 calendar days after sending notice unless the parent objects in writing.
Nothing in Minnesota law times the referral-to-consent stage, and Minn. Stat. §125A.56 requires two documented research-based interventions before a K-12 referral — so real elapsed time before day one is unregulated.
Short-term objectives are required on EVERY Minnesota IEP. The state never conformed its rule to the 2004 IDEA amendments that narrowed them to alternate-assessment students.
For a reevaluation the same 30 school days can run from expiry of the 14-day parental objection window rather than from consent.

Mississippi

Clock stops at: The comprehensive report is signed — not the eligibility meeting. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: MET convenes to decide whether to evaluate — 14 calendar days from referral Part 34 § 300.301(b)(1)(i)
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete (report signed) — 60 calendar days from consent Miss. Admin. Code Title 7, Part 34 § 300.301(c)(1)
After the evaluation: Eligibility meeting held — 14 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window Part 34 § 300.306(a)
IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility Part 34 § 300.323(c)(1)
Local terms: Team: IEP Committee · Eligibility decided by: Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 21

Age of majority is 21 in Mississippi. Rights do not transfer at 18 and the notice is due at 20.
Evaluation reports must reach the parent at least 7 calendar days before the eligibility meeting.
The team is the IEP Committee; the evaluation body is the MET.

Missouri

Clock stops at: Eligibility decision rendered — the determination meeting sits inside the window. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Procedural safeguards and Parents' Bill of Rights provided — 5 school days from referral State Plan Reg. V (34 CFR 300.504)(1)
Notice of Intent to Evaluate provided to the parent — 30 calendar days from referral State Plan Reg. III (Evaluation Timelines)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation completed AND the eligibility decision rendered — 60 calendar days from consent Missouri State Plan, Reg. III (Evaluation Timelines)
After the evaluation: Meeting to develop the IEP conducted — 30 calendar days from eligibility State Plan Reg. IV (34 CFR 300.323)
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Document: Evaluation Report · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

Missouri's clocks are TOLLABLE, unusually. Reg. III permits delaying both the 30- and 60-day timelines for documented 'just cause (school breaks for summer or holidays, student illness)' recorded in the student's record — so summer does not automatically burn the 60 days. But the tolling only protects the district if the reason is written down, which is why this tool does not apply it automatically.
There is NO deadline on the first day of services. The last timed step in Missouri is the IEP meeting; services follow 'as soon as possible' after it.
The window closes on the eligibility DECISION. An evaluation report finished on day 58 with the determination meeting set for day 70 is out of compliance.
Transition is changing. The current trigger is the first IEP in effect at age 16, but effective the 2027-28 school year transition services must be in the IEP before the student exits eighth grade.
Missouri codifies an SLD discrepancy formula — a severe discrepancy of at least 1.5 standard deviations — with a documented professional-judgment override allowed below that threshold.

Montana

Clock stops at: Assessments complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: All assessments on the Evaluation Plan complete — 60 calendar days from consent ARM 10.16.3321(1), adopting 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)(i)
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility ARM 10.16.3340(1), adopting 34 CFR 300.323(c)(1)
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: Evaluation Team · Document: Evaluation Report (ER) · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

Montana sets NO deadline between assessment completion and the Evaluation Report meeting — only “as soon as possible”. A district can lawfully stretch total elapsed time well past 90 days.
Written parental consent is required on the ANNUAL IEP, not just initial placement, with a two-notice 15-day override if the parent does not sign.
Montana writes almost no rules of its own — it adopts the federal text by reference.

Nebraska

Clock stops at: MDT verification report complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation — whichever falls first: MDT evaluation complete (rule text) — 45 school days from consent 92 NAC 51-009.04A1
Federal outer limit the department enforces — 60 calendar days from consent NDE policy memo, 12/3/2019
After the evaluation: IEP conference held — 30 calendar days from eligibility 92 NAC 51-009.04A2
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MDT) · Document: MDT verification report · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: rights never transfer

The codified rule says 45 school days; the department enforces whichever of the two comes first. It promised to amend the rule in 2019 and has not.
Parental rights NEVER transfer in Nebraska — the state declined the federal option. Keep notifying parents of an adult student.
Nebraska says a student is “verified”, not “eligible”.

Nevada

Clock stops at: Evaluation conducted. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation conducted — 45 school days from consent NAC 388.337(1)(a)
After the evaluation: IEP committee meets — 30 calendar days from eligibility NAC 388.281(13)(a)
Local terms: Team: IEP committee · Eligibility decided by: eligibility team · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

Only the State Superintendent may extend the window, by no more than 15 school days. A parent–district agreement is not enough.
Eligibility is decided by a separate eligibility team that must issue a written report at no cost to parents.
In-state transfers carry a hard 30-day adopt-or-reevaluate deadline.

New Hampshire

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined — the number matches federal but the scope does not. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: IEP team determines disposition of the referral — 15 business days from referral N.H. Admin. Code Ed 1106.01(d)–(e)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation, written summary, meeting AND eligibility decision — 60 calendar days from consent N.H. Admin. Code Ed 1107.01(c) with Ed 1102.02(n)
After the evaluation: New Hampshire sets no separate deadline here. Publishing a number for this step would invent law.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

A district finishing testing on day 58 and meeting on day 70 is compliant federally and non-compliant here.
The 30-day extension applies to reevaluations only — never to an initial evaluation.
Short-term objectives are required unless the parent decides they are unnecessary — the reverse of the federal default.
Examiners' reports must reach parents at least 5 days before the meeting; meeting notice is 10 days.

New Jersey

Clock stops at: IEP implemented — services actually running, not testing complete and not eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Identification meeting held and determination made — 20 calendar days from referral N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.3(e)
Written notice of the identification determination to the parent — 15 calendar days from referral N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.3(h)5i
Initial evaluation: Evaluation, eligibility AND the IEP implemented — 90 calendar days from consent N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.4(e)
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.7(a) NESTED inside the 90-day outer clock — both apply and the earlier governs. New Jersey sets no standalone deadline for determining eligibility, so this needs an actual eligibility date.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: eligibility meeting participants under N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.3(k)1 · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

New Jersey runs at least three interlocking clocks after consent, not one. The 90 days is the outer envelope, not the only rule.
There are THREE tolling paths: a parent who repeatedly fails to produce the child, a mid-evaluation district transfer with an agreed modified timeframe, and written parental consent to extend when an RTI methodology is used for SLD.
A 15-calendar-day prior-written-notice period must elapse before implementation unless the parent waives it in writing — so an IEP meeting after day 75 can be mathematically impossible to implement inside the 90 days.
Benchmarks or short-term objectives are required on EVERY New Jersey IEP (6A:14-3.7(e)3), not just for alternate-assessment students.
The 'child study team' is the standing evaluation unit, not the IEP team. Conflating them is the common error.

New Mexico

Clock stops at: Evaluation and written report complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: Respond to the evaluation request — 15 school days from referral 6.31.2.10(D)(3) NMAC
Initial evaluation: Evaluation and written report complete — 60 calendar days from consent 6.31.2.10(F)(2) NMAC
After the evaluation: Eligibility Determination Team meets — 15 school days from the end of the evaluation window 6.31.2.10(J)(1) NMAC
IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 CFR 300.323(c)(1) via 6.31.2.11(B)(1) NMAC
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Eligibility Determination Team (EDT) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

Four day types run in sequence: 15 school, 60 calendar, 15 school, 30 calendar.
Reports must reach parents at least 2 calendar days before the EDT meeting.
Gifted students moved out of IDEA in 2023 and now receive GIEPs — a separate scheme with no due-process route.

New York

Clock stops at: The evaluation is complete — testing done, not eligibility and not the IEP. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: District requests consent to evaluate, or gives the parent the referral and offers a meeting — 10 school days from referral 8 NYCRR 200.4(a)(2)(iv)
CSE chairperson forwards the referral to the building administrator — 5 school days from referral 8 NYCRR 200.4(a)(5)
Consent still not obtained — chairperson documents attempts and notifies the board — 30 calendar days from referral 8 NYCRR 200.4(a)(8)
Initial evaluation: Initial individual evaluation completed — 60 calendar days from consent 8 NYCRR 200.4(b)(1), (b)(7)
After the evaluation: CSE recommendation made AND the board arranges programs and services — 60 school days from consent 8 NYCRR 200.4(d), 200.4(e)(1) Runs from the SAME starting gun as the evaluation clock — receipt of consent — not from the evaluation due date. Finishing testing early does not move it.
Local terms: Team: Committee on Special Education (CSE) · Eligibility decided by: the CSE, but the BOARD OF EDUCATION must act on its recommendation and may remand it · Transition: Age 15 · Age of majority: rights transfer not verified for this state

Two different sixties from the same starting gun: 60 CALENDAR days to finish the evaluation and 60 SCHOOL days for services to be in place. They run in parallel from consent, so a spring consent puts the evaluation due mid-summer and services deep into the fall.
The board of education is a separate actor from the CSE. It may remand the recommendation or convene a second committee, but it must still arrange services inside the same 60 school days.
Transition planning begins at age 15 in New York, a year earlier than the federal floor.
Short-term objectives are required ONLY for students taking the state alternate assessment and for preschool students — not on every IEP.
A COVID-era tolling clause is still live text: days a school is closed under a Governor's Executive Order for a COVID-19 emergency do not count.

North Carolina

Clock stops at: Placement completed — one window covers evaluation, eligibility, the IEP and placement. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation conducted, eligibility determined, IEP developed AND placement completed — 90 calendar days from referral NC 1503-2.2(c)(1); NC 1503-4.4(c)(1)
After the evaluation: North Carolina sets no separate deadline here. Publishing a number for this step would invent law.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Document: Eligibility Determination form plus a per-disability Eligibility Worksheet · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

The clock starts at the written referral, not at signed consent — the most common out-of-state error here. On an oral parent request the LEA must help the parent complete a written referral, which then starts the 90 days.
Days are calendar days, so weekends, holidays and summer all count. A 1 June referral is due — through completed placement — around 30 August.
There are THREE exceptions, not two: a parent who repeatedly fails to produce the child, a parent who repeatedly fails to respond to the consent request, and a child who enrolls in another LEA mid-timeline.
The timeline CAN be extended by mutual written agreement. Widely-cited advocacy guidance saying no extension is possible contradicts the policy text.
There is no downstream clock at all — services follow 'as soon as possible' after the IEP is developed, and everything else already sits inside the 90 days.

North Dakota

Clock stops at: The IWAR meeting, where eligibility is determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation and the IWAR eligibility meeting — 60 calendar days from consent N.D. Admin. Code 67-23-01-03
After the evaluation: Initial IEP meeting — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 CFR 300.323(c)(1); NDDPI IEP Guidelines
Local terms: Team: Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) · Document: Integrated Written Assessment Report (IWAR) · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

A 90-calendar-day HARD CEILING applies even with an extension. It is in the rule and appears in none of the state's guidance.
Extensions are limited to documented extreme weather or department-verified limited evaluator access.
Age-out is governed by an August 1 cutoff, not the student's birthday.

Ohio

Clock stops at: The ETR meeting where the team, including the parent, determines eligibility and signs the report. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Obtain consent to evaluate, OR issue prior written notice that no disability is suspected — 30 calendar days from referral OAC 3301-51-06(B)(3)
Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation (ETR) conducted — 60 calendar days from consent OAC 3301-51-06(B)(4)(a)
After the evaluation: Initial IEP developed AND implemented — 30 calendar days from eligibility OAC 3301-51-07(H)(2)(a) Satisfied by IMPLEMENTATION, not by holding a meeting. A 90-day ceiling also runs from consent, so an evaluation that uses its full 60 days leaves about 30 to write the IEP, meet, and start services.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: evaluation team · Document: Evaluation Team Report (ETR), form PR-06 · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

The initial-IEP deadline is met by services actually starting, not by convening a meeting.
Ohio requires signed parental consent before any move along the continuum of alternative placements — most states do not.
Short-term objectives are contested between Ohio's own sources: the administrative code requires them for every goal while the statute makes them discretionary. The required PR-07 form carries an unconditional objectives block.
ODEW prescribes both the ETR (PR-06) and IEP (PR-07) forms.

Oklahoma

Clock stops at: The MEEGS meeting, where eligibility is determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Consent obtained after the Review of Existing Data — 10 school days from referral OSDE Policies & Procedures 2026, Oklahoma Policy #1
Initial evaluation: Evaluation and the MEEGS eligibility determination — 45 school days from consent OSDE Policies & Procedures 2026, Ch. 5 § 3.D.1
After the evaluation: Initial IEP — 30 calendar days from eligibility OSDE Ch. 6 § 2, citing 34 CFR 300.323(c)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Multidisciplinary Evaluation and Eligibility Group · Document: MEEGS · Transition: Age 15 or grade 9, whichever comes first · Age of majority: 18

45 school days is usually LONGER on the calendar than the federal 60 — school days exclude breaks.
Out-of-state transfers are treated as initial evaluations with a 10-school-day IEP meeting on enrolment.
Since 1 July 2026 parents must receive all documents 5 business days before any IEP or 504 meeting.

Oregon

Clock stops at: The eligibility meeting, not the evaluation report. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation and the meeting to consider eligibility — 60 school days from consent OAR 581-015-2110(5)(a)
After the evaluation: Initial IEP meeting — 30 calendar days from eligibility OAR 581-015-2220(2)(a)
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: eligibility team · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

The annual review is a hard 365 days. A meeting on day 366 is out of compliance even in the same school year.
Districts must use the state-issued Oregon Standard IEP form unless ODE approves an alternate.
Abbreviated school days may not be imposed unilaterally and need written parental consent.

Pennsylvania

Clock stops at: A copy of the Evaluation Report is presented to the parents — not testing complete, and not the IEP meeting. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Permission to Evaluate form given to the parents after an ORAL request — 10 calendar days from referral 22 Pa. Code §14.123(c)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation complete and a copy of the Evaluation Report presented to the parents — 60 calendar days from consent 22 Pa. Code §14.123(b)
After the evaluation: IEP implemented — 10 school days from eligibility 22 Pa. Code §14.131(a)(6)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: group of qualified professionals · Document: evaluation report (ER) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: rights never transfer

The 60 days are calendar days but the entire summer break is subtracted, so a Permission to Evaluate signed in May legally yields an Evaluation Report in late September.
Pennsylvania is one of the very few states where parental rights never transfer to the student — the age of majority for educational purposes is 21, and the Transfer of Rights block on the PA IEP is informational only.
Pennsylvania's own sources disagree on the implementation trigger: the regulation says 10 school days after the IEP's COMPLETION, while PaTTAN's Annotated IEP says 10 school days after the final IEP is PRESENTED to the parent. The regulation controls.
Gifted students are served on a GIEP under Chapter 16, not an IEP.

Rhode Island

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Evaluation Team meets to decide whether to evaluate — 10 school days from referral 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(A)(1)(a)(1)
Evaluation must commence after consent — 10 school days from consent 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(A)(1)(a)(2)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation, report AND the eligibility meeting — 60 calendar days from consent 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(A)(1)(b)
After the evaluation: IEP developed and services available — 15 school days from eligibility 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(A)(1)(c)
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: Evaluation Team, then a separate eligibility team · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Statute and regulation currently disagree: 63 days versus 60. Verify which your district is applying.
Short-term objectives are required on every Rhode Island IEP.
Since 1 July 2026 written parental consent is required before ANY change to an existing IEP.

South Carolina

Clock stops at: Verification that all required information has been gathered — NOT the eligibility decision. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — all required information gathered — 60 calendar days from consent SC State Board Regulation 43-243; SEPG (2013) §III.D
After the evaluation: Eligibility determined — 15 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window SEPG (2013) FAQ #13; SC Policies & Procedures §300.306 South Carolina's own two documents disagree on the unit — the Policies say '15 days' unqualified, the later SEPG says 'fifteen business days'. Modelled as calendar days, the conservative reading. The clock also runs from ACTUAL completion, so finishing early pulls it forward.
IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility SEPG (2013) §D; 34 CFR §300.323(a),(c)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: multidisciplinary team · Transition: Age 13 · Age of majority: 18

South Carolina inserts a 15-day eligibility clock between the end of the evaluation and the eligibility decision. It lives in SEA policy rather than in R.43-243, and it is the single most-missed South Carolina deadline.
The state's own two documents disagree on whether those 15 days are calendar or business days. This tool uses calendar, which is the tighter reading.
Transition planning triggers at AGE 13 under both R.43-243.III.G and S.C. Code Ann. §59-33-360 — but OSES only reviews IEPs of students 16 and above for Indicator 13, so state monitoring will not catch a missing transition page on a 13-year-old.
The 60 days end at 'verification that all required information has been gathered', not at the eligibility meeting, and a mid-May consent does not pause for summer.

South Dakota

Clock stops at: Evaluation complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — 25 school days from consent ARSD 24:05:25:03
After the evaluation: Reports, eligibility AND the IEP meeting — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window ARSD 24:05:25:03, para. 2 Anchored to the END of the 25-school-day window. Finishing the evaluation early does NOT pull this forward.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

The shortest evaluation window in the country.
A pre-referral “informal review” carries no deadline at all, so elapsed time before consent is unregulated.
Prior written notice must be given 5 days before any proposed change, so an IEP start date must sit at least 5 days after the parent receives it.

Tennessee

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation AND eligibility determination complete — 60 calendar days from consent Rule 0520-01-09-.05(1)(f)
After the evaluation: Initial IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 C.F.R. §300.323(c)(1), adopted by Rule 0520-01-09-.01 Anchored to the eligibility determination, so an early eligibility meeting moves this deadline earlier. It does not run from the 60-day due date.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Document: eligibility report · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

The 60 days is not a testing clock — the eligibility DECISION must land inside it. A district that finishes testing on day 58 and meets on day 65 is out of compliance.
Only the three federal tolling exceptions apply. TDOE has confirmed twice that there is no state-specific extension and none for late-arriving assessment data.
Part C transition overrides both clocks: the IEP must be developed AND implemented by the third birthday even where the 60+30 math would allow later.
Evaluation reports are due to the parent 48 hours before the meeting — modelled here as two calendar days.
Tennessee includes intellectually gifted as a category, and has a Functional Delay category unique to the state.

Texas

Clock stops at: The written FIIE report is completed — not eligibility, and not the IEP. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: Respond to a WRITTEN parent request with prior written notice, safeguards, TEA's parent overview, and an opportunity to consent — 15 school days from referral 19 TAC §89.1011(b); TEC §29.004(c)
Initial evaluation: Written report of the full individual and initial evaluation (FIIE) completed — 45 school days from consent 19 TAC §89.1011(d)(1); TEC §29.004(a)(1)
After the evaluation: ARD committee decides eligibility and, if appropriate, the IEP and placement — 30 calendar days from the end of the evaluation window 19 TAC §89.1011(g) Runs from the ACTUAL completion date of the report, not from the 45-school-day deadline — finishing early pulls it forward. If the 30th day falls in the summer, the ARD must meet no later than the 15th SCHOOL DAY of the following school year.
Local terms: Team: ARD committee (Admission, Review, and Dismissal committee) · Document: Full Individual and Initial Evaluation (FIIE) report · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

The 45-school-day clock ends at the written REPORT, not at eligibility. Eligibility is a separate 30-calendar-day clock, so the ARD meeting can legally fall well outside 45 school days.
The June 30 end-of-year rule is CONDITIONAL. Consent received at least 35 but fewer than 45 school days before the last instructional day moves the report to June 30 — unless the student was absent three or more school days in that stretch, which throws you back onto the ordinary clock.
The 45-day clock freezes over summer because it counts school days, but the 30-day ARD clock is CALENDAR days and keeps running — which is why the rule needs its own summer escape hatch.
The written FIIE report must reach the parent no later than five school days before the initial ARD meeting, a deadline added in the 2024 amendment.
Texas imposes real state-specific IEP content under §89.1055 — measurable goals must state a timeframe, condition, behavior and criterion; short-term objectives may not be used as the mastery criterion; and the IEP must carry each member's name, position and signature with agree or disagree indicated.

Utah

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Initial evaluation: Evaluation and eligibility determination — 45 school days from consent USBE Special Education Rules (June 2023), Rule II.D.2.a
After the evaluation: IEP meeting conducted — 30 calendar days from eligibility USBE Rule III.D.2
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

Units switch mid-referral: 45 school days to evaluate, then 30 calendar days to meet.
Transition starts at 14, and Utah also requires an annual IEP goal tied to transition for every student 14 and over.
Each LEA picks one of three SLD identification methods — the discrepancy model you used elsewhere may not be available.

Vermont

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined — the report is the deliverable the clock requires. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Request consent, convene the EPT, or give written reasons for denial — 15 calendar days from referral VT Rule 2362.2.1(b)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation complete and report issued — 60 calendar days from consent VT State Board Rule 2362.2.1(b)
After the evaluation: IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility VT Rule 2363.1(a)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: Evaluation Planning Team (EPT) · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18 · Short-term objectives required on every IEP

Eligibility has three prongs — the third is that the need cannot be met through the general-education support system.
Short-term objectives are required on every Vermont IEP.
After every IEP meeting the parent gets 10 days to complete a parent input page.
Delay past 60 days is allowed only for documented exceptional circumstances, with notice BEFORE day 60.

Virginia

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined — evaluations complete and the decision made inside the same 65 business days. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Special education administrator initiates, routes, or denies — 3 business days from referral 8VAC20-81-50 D 3 b
School-based team meets after receiving a referral — 10 business days from referral 8VAC20-81-50 D 5 a
Initial evaluation: All evaluations completed AND eligibility decided — 65 business days from referral 8VAC20-81-60 B 1 g
After the evaluation: IEP developed — 30 calendar days from eligibility 8VAC20-81-110 B 2 b Runs from the actual determination date, so finishing eligibility early DOES pull this forward.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: eligibility group · Document: written summary · Transition: Age 14 (courses of study), age 16 (postsecondary goals) · Age of majority: 18

Up to 13 business days of building-level process can legitimately precede day zero — the team has 10 business days to meet and 3 more to refer.
Two statutory OFF-SWITCHES suspend the clock entirely, separate from extension by agreement: a parent who repeatedly fails to produce the child, and a child who enrolls mid-evaluation from another Virginia division.
A Virginia business day excludes federal AND STATE holidays but NOT school breaks — the clock runs straight through July. This tool counts federal holidays only, so a date falling near a Virginia state holiday may be a day or two optimistic.
ANY revision to IEP services requires fresh written parental consent (8VAC20-81-170 E 1 d), which makes amendment-without-a-meeting far narrower here than elsewhere.
Divisions may unilaterally SHORTEN the 65 days by local policy — the regulation says so twice.

Washington

Clock stops at: The completed evaluation report is delivered to the parent — testing complete, eligibility NOT yet decided. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Before consent: Decide whether to evaluate, with parental input, and issue prior written notice — 25 school days from referral WAC 392-172A-03005(2)(c)
Initial evaluation: Evaluation completed AND the report delivered to the parent — 35 school days from consent RCW 28A.155.265(1)(a)-(b); WAC 392-172A-03005(3)(a)
After the evaluation: Eligibility determination meeting convened and eligibility decided — 40 school days from consent RCW 28A.155.265(1)(c)(ii) An absolute outer limit measured from CONSENT — it is NOT 'day 35 plus 5'. Finishing the evaluation early does not move it in. This meeting's date sets the next triennial reevaluation due date.
Initial IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility WAC 392-172A-03105(2)(a) Thirty CALENDAR days, beginning the day after the eligibility meeting. For Part C to B students the IEP must still be ready by the third birthday if that is sooner.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: a group of qualified professionals and the parent · Document: evaluation report · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

Washington runs three day-types in one sequence: 25 school days to decide, 35 school days to the report, 40 school days to the eligibility meeting, then 30 CALENDAR days to the IEP. Mixing them up is the most common error here.
The eligibility meeting may not be held sooner than 5 school days after the report was actually delivered. That is a FLOOR, waivable only by a written, voluntary, meeting-specific parent waiver — and it applies even under an agreed extension.
The codified rule still contradicts the statute. WAC 392-172A-03005(3)(a) has not been amended and still says eligibility is decided within 35 school days; RCW 28A.155.265, effective 11 June 2026, controls. Anyone reading only the WAC will run the wrong clock.
A parallel conflict on exit age: the statute guarantees services through the end of the school year in which the student turns 22, while the codified rule still says 21, bridged only by an emergency rule.
Clock exceptions are narrow — written parent agreement documenting the reasons, a parent repeatedly failing to produce the child, or a mid-evaluation transfer with an agreed completion date.

West Virginia

Clock stops at: The Eligibility Committee meeting. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: Student Assistance Team participants notified — 5 school days from referral WVBE Policy 2419, Ch. 2 § 3.D
SAT reviews concerns and decides — 10 school days from referral WVBE Policy 2419, Ch. 2 § 3.D
Initial evaluation: Evaluation and the Eligibility Committee meeting — 80 calendar days from consent WVBE Policy 2419, Ch. 3 § 2.A
After the evaluation: IEP Team meets — 30 calendar days from eligibility WVBE Policy 2419, Ch. 5 § 1.C.1 Policy says only “30 days” without naming the unit. Calendar is the safer reading.
Local terms: Team: IEP Team · Eligibility decided by: Eligibility Committee (EC) · Document: EC Report · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

The longest evaluation window of the states covered here.
If the Eligibility Committee is more than 30 days late and the student is eligible, the team must consider compensatory services.
Gifted students receive IEPs in grades 1–8 only; an 8th-grade reevaluation decides whether they continue.
Transfer-of-rights notice is due by the 17th birthday.

Wisconsin

Clock stops at: Eligibility determined by the IEP team. The eligibility decision must fall inside the evaluation window.

Before consent: LEA requests consent to evaluate, or notifies the parents no additional data are needed — 15 business days from referral Wis. Stat. § 115.777(3)(e)
Initial evaluation: IEP team determines whether the child is a child with a disability — 60 calendar days from consent Wis. Stat. § 115.78(3)(a)
After the evaluation: Meeting held to develop the IEP and determine placement — 30 calendar days from eligibility Wis. Stat. § 115.78(3)(c) Runs from the ACTUAL determination date, so finishing early pulls it forward. The duty is to CONDUCT THE MEETING, not to have services in effect.
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Document: Evaluation Report (DPI Form ER-1) · Transition: Age 14 · Age of majority: 18

Wisconsin times the eligibility DETERMINATION, not the end of testing — the 60 days close on the IEP team's decision.
A separate DPI deadline most summaries miss: the Postsecondary Transition Plan must be submitted to DPI within 30 days of the annual IEP meeting, for EVERY student aged 14 and over, every year. It lives in DPI guidance rather than in Ch. 115.
The 15-day pre-consent clock is in BUSINESS days while everything downstream is calendar days.
Wisconsin's SLD rule mandates an insufficient-progress method and prohibits the discrepancy model.

Wyoming

Clock stops at: Evaluation complete. Eligibility runs on its own clock.

Initial evaluation: Initial evaluation complete — 60 calendar days from consent WDE Rules ch. 7 § 4(b)(i)(B), adopting 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)(i)
After the evaluation: IEP meeting held — 30 calendar days from eligibility 34 CFR 300.323(c)(1) via WDE Rules ch. 7 § 5(d)(i)
Local terms: Team: IEP team · Eligibility decided by: group of qualified professionals · Transition: Age 16 · Age of majority: 18

Wyoming sets no clock between evaluation completion and the eligibility group meeting.
Preschool is run by the Department of Health, not districts — it is deemed an intermediate educational unit for ages 3–5.
An extension by written agreement is available for specific learning disability referrals only.

Common questions

How do I calculate an IEP evaluation deadline?

Start from the date the state's clock actually starts. That is parental consent in most states, but Connecticut and Virginia both run from the referral instead. Then count in the unit that state uses — 32 of these 50 states count at least one deadline in school, instructional or business days rather than calendar days, and those skip weekends, holidays and every scheduled break. A 45-school-day clock started in April finishes after summer, not in June. Georgia is a third case: its clock is in calendar days but pauses entirely over summer.

What is the difference between school days and calendar days for an IEP?

Calendar days count every day including weekends and holidays. School days count only days school is in session, which depends on the district's adopted instructional calendar. The same number produces wildly different dates: 45 school days is roughly 63 calendar days during a normal term, and well over 100 across a summer. Several states mix both units inside a single referral — New Mexico switches four times.

Which states use a different IEP evaluation timeline than the federal 60 days?

Most of them. IDEA sets 60 days from consent at 34 CFR §300.301(c)(1)(i) but §300.301(c)(1)(ii) expressly lets a state substitute its own timeframe. Of the 50 states verified here the figures are not even in comparable units: 25 school days in South Dakota, 50 instructional days in Indiana, 65 business days in Virginia, 90 calendar days in Alaska and New Jersey. Connecticut abandoned the 60-calendar-day rule in January 2020 for 45 school days measured from referral.

Does finishing an evaluation early move the next deadline earlier?

Not always. In South Dakota the 30-day IEP-meeting clock runs from the end of the evaluation window, not from the date testing finished, so completing the evaluation in week two does not pull the meeting date forward. Most states anchor to the eligibility determination instead. Getting the anchor wrong is the most common error in deadline tracking, because both produce a plausible-looking date.

What happens between the referral and parental consent?

In most states, nothing regulated. Twenty-nine of these 50 states set clocks that run before consent: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. In the other fifteen a district can hold a referral for months and still show a compliant evaluation timeline, because the clock has not started. The calculator flags that gap when it is unregulated.

Does amending an IEP reset the annual review date?

No. 34 CFR §300.324(a)(4) permits a written amendment without reconvening the team, and 34 CFR §300.324(b)(1) separately requires a review at least annually. An amendment satisfies neither obligation on behalf of the other, so the original annual review date stands. Connecticut states it explicitly — an amendment can never substitute for the annual review PPT meeting.

When does a change to an IEP require parental consent?

Beyond initial placement it depends on the state. Kansas requires written consent for any change of 25% or more in service duration or frequency, and for a substantial change in placement. Rhode Island has required written consent before any change to an existing IEP since 1 July 2026, with 10 school days for the parent to accept or reject. Utah requires a meeting for material or substantial changes. Montana requires written consent on the annual IEP itself, with a two-notice 15-day override sequence if it goes unsigned.

Is a school-day deadline calculation legally binding?

No. Any school-day result is an estimate until it is checked against the district's adopted instructional calendar, which includes staff development days, weather closures and local breaks that no general tool knows about. Calendar-day results are exact. This tool marks every school-day and business-day figure as an estimate for that reason.