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

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

The part most parents miss: the deadline runs all the way to services starting

Most states stop the clock at the evaluation, or at the eligibility decision. Kansas goes further. Per the KSDE Process Handbook, the 60 school days run through evaluation, eligibility, and implementation of the IEP and services.

So "we finished testing on time" is not compliance in Kansas. If your child is found eligible, services are supposed to be actually running inside that 60-school-day window.

School days mean summer does not count

Kansas counts school days, not calendar days. Days when school is not in session never count toward the 60. Summer break pauses the count on its own, and so do winter and spring break.

Sixty school days is roughly twelve weeks of actual school. A consent signed in April will often push the deadline into the next school year.

How to count your deadline

1. Find the date the district received your signed consent. Not the date you signed it — the date they got it.
2. Count forward 60 school days using your district's calendar.
3. Skip every non-school day — weekends, holidays, breaks, summer.
4. That date is the deadline for the evaluation, the eligibility decision, and services being in place.

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 Kansas this goes to the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE). It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.