Texas IEP requirements: the 45-school-day clock and the ARD committee
First translation, because it trips up every teacher arriving from another state: in Texas, the IEP team is called the ARD committee — admission, review, and dismissal — and IEP meetings are ARD meetings. Per the Texas Education Agency, the IEP is the written document the ARD committee produces for every public-school student ages 3–21 receiving special education (TEA, IEP Overview); federal regulations simply call the same group the IEP team. Same document, same federal floor — plus a set of Texas-specific timelines and membership rules that state monitors actually check. Those are what this page covers.
The Texas referral-to-IEP timeline
Every deadline below comes from TEA's evaluation guidance implementing 19 TAC §89.1011 — note carefully which clocks run in school days and which in calendar days:
| Trigger | Clock | What's due |
|---|---|---|
| Parent submits a written referral request | 15 school days | District must give the parent prior written notice of its decision to evaluate or refuse, plus the procedural safeguards notice, within 15 school days of the written request reaching the special education director or an administrative employee. |
| District receives signed consent to evaluate | 45 school days | The full and individual initial evaluation (FIIE) written report is due within 45 school days of written consent (19 TAC §89.1011(d)(1)). Student absent 3+ school days in that window? Add the absences to the clock. Consent landing 35–44 school days before the last instructional day moves the report deadline to June 30. |
| Written evaluation report completed | 30 calendar days | The ARD committee must meet to determine eligibility — and write the initial IEP if eligible — within 30 calendar days of the report. A 30th day falling in summer pushes the deadline to the 15th school day of the following school year — in every summer case, not just the June-30 one. Exception: if the report shows the student needs ESY that summer, the ARD must meet as expeditiously as possible instead (19 TAC §89.1011(g)). |
| Initial ARD meeting scheduled | 5 school days | Parents must receive written notice of the initial ARD committee meeting at least 5 school days before it happens, at a mutually agreeable time and place. |
| IEP in effect | Annual + 3-year cycles | The ARD committee reviews the IEP at least annually, and reevaluation follows the federal 3-year cycle. These are ceilings, not schedules — the committee reconvenes any time progress data says the IEP isn't working. |
Who must be at the ARD table
The federal core team (parent, at least one general education teacher of the student, special education teacher, a district representative, someone who can interpret evaluation results) applies in Texas as everywhere. Texas then adds required members for specific situations — TEA's IEP development guide lists them:
- LPAC representative when the student is identified as an emergent bilingual student — the language proficiency committee member can dual-serve as a teacher member.
- CTE representative (preferably the CTE teacher) when initial or continued placement in career and technical education is on the table — and this member may not dual-serve in another required role.
- Dyslexia expertise when dyslexia is suspected: a person with specific knowledge of the reading process, dyslexia, and dyslexia instruction must serve on the evaluation team and any eligibility ARD (TEC §29.0031).
- Teacher of the deaf or hard of hearing when the student is suspected or identified as deaf or hard of hearing.
- JJAEP administrator or designee when the meeting concerns expulsion to a juvenile justice alternative education program.
Transition planning starts at 14, not 16
The most-missed Texas rule for case managers coming from out of state: federal law requires transition content in the first IEP in effect when the student turns 16 (the age states like California follow, while Florida starts at 12), but Texas Education Code §29.0111 requires transition planning to begin no later than the student's 14th birthday, and 19 TAC §89.1055(k) lists the issues the ARD committee must consider in the first IEP in effect at 14 (see the Texas Legal Framework, Transition Services). An annual ARD for a 13-year-old should already have transition on the agenda for the following year's document.
Texas adds real IEP content requirements
The federal content list still applies — present levels (PLAAFP), measurable annual goals, progress reporting, services and minutes, LRE justification, as covered in our IEP compliance checklist. But it is not the whole list here. 19 TAC §89.1055 layers state-specific requirements on top, and they are the kind a monitor checks line by line:
- A measurable annual goal must contain a timeframe, condition, behavior and criterion — §89.1055(b). The generic formula in how to write measurable IEP goals gets you most of the way, but Texas names the four parts.
- Short-term objectives may not be used as the mastery criterion — §89.1055(b)(2).
- Annual goals are additionally required whenever course content is modified or the student is removed from general education for a scheduled period — §89.1055(b)(1).
- The IEP must carry the meeting date and each member's name, position and signature, with agree or disagree indicated — §89.1055(q).
- Full written or audio translation into Spanish is required, with a good-faith effort for other languages — §89.1055(r).
- Transfer students get a 20-school-day IEP timeline — §89.1055(s).
The written FIIE report also has its own deadline that is easy to miss because it runs backward: it must reach the parent no later than five school days before the initial ARD meeting(§89.1011(h), added in the 2024 amendment), and separately the ARD meeting notice itself is due five school days ahead unless the parents agree to less (§89.1050(d)).
TEA is explicit that drafts may be prepared before the meeting — as long as parents are told they are drafts the ARD committee can change. And the annual-review requirement is a floor: the committee must reconvene when progress data shows the student is off track, not wait for the anniversary date.
FAQ
What does ARD stand for in Texas special education?
Admission, Review, and Dismissal. The ARD committee is Texas's name for what federal law calls the IEP team — the group that determines eligibility (admission), reviews and revises the IEP at least annually (review), and decides when a student exits special education (dismissal). An ARD meeting and an IEP meeting are the same thing.
How many days does a Texas school have to evaluate a student for special education?
45 school days from the date the district receives the parent's written consent, the written evaluation report must be completed (19 TAC §89.1011). If the student was absent 3 or more school days during that window, the timeline extends by the number of days absent. Consent received 35–44 school days before the last instructional day normally moves the report to June 30 — but NOT if the student was absent three or more school days in that stretch, in which case the ordinary 45-school-days-plus-absences clock governs instead (§89.1011(e)(2)).
How long after the evaluation must the ARD committee meet in Texas?
Within 30 calendar days of the written evaluation report, the ARD committee must meet to determine eligibility and, if eligible, develop the IEP. If that 30th day lands in summer and school is not in session, the committee has until the 15th school day of the following school year — §89.1011(g) as amended effective 30 July 2024. The older 'first day of classes' wording was repealed then but still circulates — including on TEA's own SPED Support pages, so checking their website will appear to confirm the wrong answer. One carve-out runs the other way: if the FIIE report indicates the student would need extended school year services during that same summer, §89.1011(g) requires the ARD committee to meet as expeditiously as possible after completion of the report rather than waiting for the new school year.
At what age does transition planning start in Texas?
By age 14 — earlier than the federal requirement. Texas Education Code §29.0111 requires state transition planning to begin no later than when the student turns 14, and 19 TAC §89.1055(k) lists the transition issues the ARD committee must consider in the first IEP in effect at that age. Federal law (IDEA) only requires transition content by the first IEP in effect when the student turns 16.
Is the IEP itself different in Texas?
The required contents of the IEP are the federal floor — present levels, measurable annual goals, services, LRE, and the rest of 34 CFR §300.320 apply in Texas exactly as everywhere else. Texas adds who must sit on the committee (LPAC representative for emergent bilingual students, CTE representative, dyslexia expertise), state timelines, and the age-14 transition rule on top of that floor.