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

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

The part most parents miss: school days, not calendar days

Kentucky counts school 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 break, spring break, holidays, and weekends.

Sixty school days is roughly twelve weeks of actual school. If you sign consent in the spring, the deadline can land well into the next school year. That is legal — but it also means you should know your real date instead of assuming "about two months."

The clock starts at consent, not at your request

The 60 school days do not start when you ask for an evaluation. They start when the district receives your signed consent.

A district can take time between your request and handing you a consent form. Put your request in writing and date-stamp it. Then date-stamp the consent. Keep both.

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 and the ARC eligibility decision.

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