Massachusetts IEP evaluation deadline: how long does the school have?

You signed consent for the evaluation. Here is exactly what Massachusetts law requires next, and what to do if the date passes.

The part most parents miss: "school working days" is its own day type

Massachusetts does not count calendar days. It also does not count school days the way most states do. It counts school working days — days that school staff work.

The regulation defines school working days as days school staff work. That is the whole definition — it is not tied to the student instructional calendar, so counting days off your child's school calendar will not reliably give you the right date.

Because the count depends entirely on the district's own staff work calendar, ask the district for its school working day calendar, and ask in writing which specific dates it has calculated as day 30 and day 45. Getting that in writing early prevents an argument later about whether the deadline was missed.

Both clocks start on the same day

The 30-day assessment deadline and the 45-day IEP deadline both run from your written consent. The 45 does not start after the 30 ends. That means the district has 15 school working days after assessments are due to convene the Team, decide eligibility, and get the paperwork into your hands.

Put your request in writing and keep the date. Then keep the consent date too — that is the date both clocks are measured from.

How to count your deadline

1. Find the date the district received your signed consent. Not the date you mailed it — the date they got it.
2. Count forward 30 school working days — days school staff work — using the district's school working day calendar. Ask for that calendar; you cannot reliably derive it from the student calendar.
3. That date is the deadline for the assessments to be completed.
4. Keep counting to 45 school working days from the same consent date. That is the deadline for the Team meeting, the eligibility decision, and two copies of the proposed IEP and placement.
5. Long breaks, including summer, stretch both dates well out on the calendar, because those days do not count.

What to do if the deadline passes

1. Put it in writing the same week. Email the Team chair and the special education director. State the consent date, which deadline you are counting (day 30 or day 45), and that it has passed. A phone call creates no record.
2. Ask for prior written notice. If the district refuses or delays, you are entitled to a written explanation of what it is doing and why.
3. File a state complaint. A missed timeline is a straightforward compliance violation. In Massachusetts this goes to DESE through the Problem Resolution System. It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.