California IEP requirements: the 15-day assessment plan rule and the 60-day clock
Two translations up front. California statute says assessment where federal law says evaluation — the "assessment plan" a parent signs is consent for what IDEA calls an initial evaluation. And services are organized through SELPAs — Special Education Local Plan Areas — regional consortia that supply the forms, program options, and procedural guidance your district follows. The IEP document itself is the federal one. What California adds is a set of deadlines counted in calendar days, several of them tighter than the federal floor, drawn from Education Code §56043 — the state's own one-stop timeline statute, whose official text is at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Note that §56043 was repealed and re-added by AB 438 (Stats. 2024, Ch. 901), operative July 1, 2025 — so guidance written before that date can be out of step with it. Those deadlines are what this page covers.
The California referral-to-IEP timeline
Unlike Texas's school-day clocks, California counts in calendar days — but pauses most clocks for breaks: days between regular school sessions or terms, and vacation days beyond five, don't count.
| Trigger | Clock | What's due |
|---|---|---|
| Referral for assessment received | 15 calendar days | The district must send parents a proposed assessment plan within 15 calendar days of the referral (EC 56043(a)). Days between school sessions/terms and vacations longer than five days don't count. |
| Parent receives the assessment plan | ≥ 15 calendar days | Parents have at least 15 calendar days from receipt to decide whether to consent (EC 56043(b)). Nothing runs until they sign — the big clock starts at consent, not at referral. |
| District receives signed consent | 60 calendar days | All assessments must be completed and the IEP meeting held to review them within 60 calendar days of consent (EC 56043(c), (f)(1)). A referral made 30 or fewer days before the end of the school year shifts the IEP deadline to within 30 days after the next school year starts (EC 56344(a)). |
| IEP meeting held, student eligible | Immediately | The IEP must be implemented as soon as possible after the meeting (EC 56043(i)) — California statute doesn't give a grace period for services to start. |
| IEP in effect | Annual + 3-year cycles | Review at least annually (EC 56043(d)) and reassess for eligibility at least every three years, and not more than once a year, unless parent and district agree otherwise in writing (EC 56043(k)). |
Deadlines that keep running after the IEP exists
The initial timeline gets the attention, but the deadlines state monitors and due-process filings actually turn on are the recurring ones. All citations below are to the California Education Code as published by the Legislature at leginfo:
- Parent requests an IEP meeting in writing → 30 days to hold it (EC 56043(l)). Oral requests don't start the clock; the district must direct the parent to write it down (EC 56343.5).
- Parent requests records → 5 business days to provide copies (EC 56043(n), EC 56504) — and before any IEP meeting or resolution session. Note the asymmetry with meeting requests: the records clock runs on a request made “either orally or in writing,” while the 30-day meeting clock needs the request in writing. A receiving district must also get records within 5 working days of request when a student transfers (EC 56043(o)) — that one the statute does phrase as working days, and the duty falls on the sending district.
- Procedural safeguards notice must be offered at every IEP meeting (EC 56500.1(b)); the once-a-year copy rule is federal, at 34 CFR §300.504(a), not part of EC 56500.1.
- Rights transfer at 18, and the IEP must carry the statement “[b]eginning not later than one year before the pupil reaches 18 years of age” — that is, by 17, not before 17 (EC 56043(g)(3)). After 18, EC 56041.5 requires the district to give the procedural-safeguards notice to both the student and the parents, and to notify both that rights have transferred, except where the student has been determined incompetent under state law.
Transition planning: the trigger moved to the start of high school
California no longer tracks the federal age-16 floor. Since July 1, 2025, the trigger is the start of high school, with 16 as the outer limit. AB 438 (Stats. 2024, Ch. 901) repealed and re-added EC 56043, and subdivision (g)(1) now requires transition content “beginning when the pupil starts their high school experience or not later than the first individualized education program to be in effect when the pupil is 16 years of age or younger, as appropriate.” The statute goes further than a deadline: a team that postpones to 16 “is encouraged to appropriately justify the basis for that postponement.” The same shift moves the meeting-notice duty — under EC 56341.5(e) the notice must flag transition as a purpose of the meeting and invite the student from that same earlier point. The California Department of Education lists this among requirements that are state-imposed and not required by IDEA.
If you case-manage across state lines — or inherit a transfer file from a state like Texas, where transition planning starts at 14, or Florida, where it starts at 12 — check which rule the incoming IEP was written under before you flag it as early or late. The same cross-border caution applies to evaluation clocks: Washington runs 35 school days from consent, so a Washington file’s dates won’t map onto California’s 60 calendar days.
Update — July 2026
On July 9, 2026, Governor Newsom signed AB 126, the education trailer bill adding $2.4 billion in special education funding — a 43% increase over the 2025 Budget Act — and raising the per-student special education rate to $1,340, paid to all local educational agencies at the same rate (per the Governor's office announcement). None of it changes the EC 56043 timelines or IEP requirements on this page — but the same budget funds the extraordinary cost pool, inclusive-practices grants, and alternative-pathways-to-diploma work your SELPA may roll out in 2026–27.
What California does NOT change
The required contents of the IEP are the federal list in 34 CFR §300.320 — present levels (PLAAFP), measurable annual goals, progress reporting, services, LRE. Our IEP compliance checklist applies to California IEPs without modification, and the goal-writing standard is the same one in how to write measurable IEP goals. For the recurring-deadline view of an entire caseload — annuals, triennials, transfers — the SPED compliance calendar works in California exactly as written; just swap in the EC deadlines above where they're tighter.
FAQ
How many days does a California school have to evaluate a student for special education?
Two clocks. First, the district must send parents a proposed assessment plan within 15 calendar days of the referral (EC 56043(a)), and parents get at least 15 calendar days to sign it (EC 56043(b)). Then, once signed consent is received, the district has 60 calendar days to complete the assessment and hold the IEP meeting that reviews it (EC 56043(c), (f)(1)). Both clocks pause for school vacations longer than five days.
What is a SELPA in California special education?
A Special Education Local Plan Area — the regional consortium through which California organizes special education services and funding. Small districts band together into one SELPA; large districts may be their own. Teachers mostly encounter the SELPA as the source of required IEP forms, procedural guidance, and program options that cross district lines. It does not change what the IEP must contain.
What does California call the evaluation and the IEP team?
California statute says "assessment" where federal law says "evaluation" — an assessment plan is the consent document for an evaluation. The team is simply the IEP team (unlike Texas's ARD committee). The document and the meeting carry the same names as federal law: IEP and IEP meeting.
How fast must a school hold an IEP meeting if a parent requests one in California?
Within 30 days of receiving the parent's written request, not counting school vacations longer than five days (EC 56043(l)). If the parent asks orally, the district must direct them to put it in writing — so the clock starts on the written request.
At what age does transition planning start in California?
When the student starts high school — with age 16 as the outer limit, not the trigger. AB 438 (Stats. 2024, Ch. 901) rewrote EC 56043(g)(1) operative July 1, 2025: transition content is required “beginning when the pupil starts their high school experience or not later than the first individualized education program to be in effect when the pupil is 16 years of age or younger, as appropriate.” The statute adds that a team choosing to postpone to 16 “is encouraged to appropriately justify the basis for that postponement.” California therefore no longer tracks the federal age-16 floor — the California Department of Education lists this among requirements that are state-imposed and not required by IDEA.
How California compares
California’s clock is one row in a bigger picture. The IEP evaluation timeline by state chart puts it beside 28 other states — the length of each clock, whether it counts school, calendar or business days, and what has to be finished when it expires — plus a transition-planning age comparison.