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

You signed consent for testing. Here is what Montana requires next, what is still unsettled, and what to do if the date passes.

60 calendar days

From the day the district receives your written consent, it must complete the initial evaluation.

Day type: Calendar days, with a summer exclusion described in state guidance (below)
Clock starts at: Your written parental consent to evaluate
What the deadline covers: The initial evaluation
Legal citation: ARM Title 10, ch. 16; OPI, Special Education in Montana

The summer rule: read this carefully before you rely on it

Montana's Office of Public Instruction publishes parent guidance saying the summer break is excluded from the 60 days, while all other breaks, weekends, and holidays do count.

This one is not settled. Our research confirmed the summer exclusion only in OPI's parent guidance document. We could not locate it in the ARM rule text itself. So treat it as state guidance, not established law. If your deadline depends on whether summer counts, call or email OPI and get the answer in writing before you rely on it. Do not assume a court or hearing officer would read it the same way.

If summer is not in play, the counting is simple: 60 calendar days, weekends and holidays included.

How to count your deadline

Find the date the district received your signed consent. Not the date you mailed it — the date they got it.
Count forward 60 calendar days, including weekends and holidays. Other school breaks count too.
If summer break falls inside that window, ask OPI in writing whether it pauses the clock. Per OPI guidance it does — but that point is unconfirmed in rule text.
Write both dates down: the consent date and the deadline date.

What to do if the deadline passes

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.
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.
File a state complaint. A missed timeline is a straightforward compliance violation. In Montana this goes to the Office of Public Instruction (OPI). It is free and does not require a lawyer.
Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.

Free: IEP evaluation deadlines for all 51 jurisdictions

A one-page chart of every state's deadline, day type, and when the clock starts — plus a playbook for when a district blows the date.

Get the free cheat sheet

Need the letters too? The Evaluation Request Kit has fill-in templates for the request, the follow-up, and the complaint.

Sources

ARM Title 10, ch. 16 — Montana special education rules (60-day evaluation timeline)
Office of Public Instruction — Special Education in Montana (source of the summer-exclusion statement)
34 CFR § 300.301(c)(1) — federal 60-calendar-day baseline

Verified July 2026. State rules change — confirm against the current code before relying on a date.