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

You signed consent for an evaluation. Here is exactly what Utah rules require next, and what to do if the date passes.

The part most parents miss: school days mean summer pauses the clock

A school day is a day students are in attendance for instruction (34 CFR § 300.11). Days when school is not in session — summer, winter break, spring break, holidays, weekends — never count toward the 45.

That is not the district doing you a favor or stalling. It is how school-day counting works everywhere. The practical effect: consent signed in May does not produce a completed evaluation in June. The count picks back up when instruction resumes in the fall.

Once your child is found eligible

Under the federal rule, once a child is determined eligible the IEP meeting must be held within 30 calendar days, and the IEP implemented as soon as possible after that. 34 CFR §§ 300.323(c), 300.343(b).

How to count your deadline

1. Find the date the district received your signed written consent. Not the date you mailed it — the date they got it.
2. Count forward 45 school days. Skip weekends, holidays, breaks, and any day students are not in attendance for instruction.
3. Use your district's published school calendar to do this. Do not estimate.
4. That date is the deadline for the evaluation.

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 Utah this goes to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), Special Education Section. It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.