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

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

The part most parents miss: 30 school days is one of the shortest clocks in the country

Most states give districts 60 days. Michigan gives 30 school days. And that short window does not just cover testing. It runs all the way through the FAPE offer — the district's offer of a free appropriate public education — or the written notice that your child is not eligible.

The clock can be extended, but only by written agreement, and the extension is measured in school days too. A district cannot just quietly take longer.

There are earlier and later deadlines around this one

Before the 30-day clock: when you ask for an evaluation, the district must respond with notice and a consent form within 10 school days. That is the deadline that catches districts who sit on a request.

After eligibility: once you consent to services, the proposed IEP must follow within 15 school days of that consent-to-services.

Put your request in writing and keep the date. The 30-day clock only starts once the district has your signed consent — so the 10-school-day response rule is what protects the gap before it.

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 days. Skip weekends, holidays, and any day school is not in session for instruction.
3. Skip full break periods entirely — winter break, spring break, and summer do not count at all.
4. That date is the deadline for the evaluation and the FAPE offer or ineligibility notice.
5. If you signed a written agreement to extend, add the agreed number of school days.

What to do if the deadline passes

1. Put it in writing the same week. Email the case manager and the special education director. State the consent date, the deadline date, 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 Michigan this goes to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.