Alabama

1. Initial evaluation timeline

60 calendar days from the public agency’s receipt of the parent’s signedconsent for initial evaluation - and, unlike Pennsylvania, the summer does notstop the clock. Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02(1)(b): “The public agency has sixty (60) calendar days from the date the public agency receives a parent’s signed consent for initial evaluation to conduct and complete an initial evaluation. The public agency has thirty (30) calendar days from the completion of the evaluation to determine initial eligibility. The timeline runs regardless of any scheduled interruptions in the scholastic year or the scheduled summer vacation.“ That last sentence is the one to quote at a district that says ”we’ll get to it in August“ - a consent signed in May is due back inside 60 calendar days, summer break included. Two express exceptions in the rule: (1) the timeline ”does not apply if the parent of a child repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the child for the evaluation“; and (2) it does not apply where the child transfers to another public agency mid-evaluation, and then only if the receiving agency ”is making sufficient progress to ensure a prompt completion of the evaluation, and the parent and receiving public agency agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be completed.“ Sources: Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02 (Cornell LII); Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02 (Alabama Administrative Code, official); ALSDE - Chapter 290-8-9, Special Education Services (full text PDF).

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

Alabama stacks three distinct clocks, all calendar days, so the outer envelope from consent to an IEP meeting is roughly 60 + 30 + 30 = 120 calendar days:

• 30 calendar days from completion of the evaluation to determine initial eligibility. Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02(1)(b) (quoted above).

• 30 calendar days from the eligibility determination to the IEP meeting. Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.05(2)(b): “A meeting to develop an IEP must be conducted within 30 calendar days of the initial determination that the child needs special education and related services.”

• Implementation “as soon as possible following the IEP meeting.” Same subsection: the IEP “must be implemented as soon as possible following the IEP meeting, unless the meeting occurred during the summer or a vacation period, or where there are circumstances that require a short delay (e.g., working out transportation arrangements or finding a qualified provider). There can be no delay in implementing a child’s IEP while determining the payment source.” Note the asymmetry: the evaluation clock ignores summer, but the implementation clock expressly tolerates a summer/vacation delay.

• Bonus clock worth knowing: a parent-requested IEP review must be convened fast - “If the parents or the child’s teacher has reason to suspect that the IEP needs revision, an IEP meeting may be requested at any time. The education agency must conduct the IEP meeting within 30 calendar days upon the receipt of the request.“ Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.05 (IEP review). This is a state-law hook with no federal analogue and is the cleanest lever for forcing a mid-year meeting.

Sources: Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.05 (Cornell LII); ALSDE - Chapter 290-8-9 (full text PDF).