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

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

There is an earlier deadline before this one

The 35-day clock only starts once you have signed consent. But the district has its own deadline first: it has 25 school days from your referral to decide whether it will evaluate at all, and to give you prior written notice of that decision.

This matters because a district that sits on your request for two months has already violated the law — even though the 35-day clock never technically started. Put your request in writing and keep the date.

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.

The practical effect: consent signed in late May does not produce an eligibility decision in June. The 35 school days pick back up when instruction resumes. Thirty-five school days is roughly seven weeks of instruction, but it can span several months if a break falls inside 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 35 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 and the 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 Washington this goes to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.