Alaska

1. Initial evaluation timeline

90 calendar days from the district’s receipt of parental consent - and the 90 days does not just buy the evaluation. It has to produce the evaluation, the eligibility determination, the IEP, and the start of services. 4 AAC 52.115(a): “No later than 90 calendar days after obtaining parental consent for an initial evaluation or reevaluation of eligibility the district shall evaluate the referred child, develop an IEP if the child is determined to be eligible and parental consent for services is obtained, and provide the child with special education and related services.“ Alaska has used the state-timeframe option in 34 C.F.R. § 300.301(c)(1)(ii) to displace the federal 60-day default, and its substitute is longer on paper but does far more work.

• Days are calendar days, expressly. Not school days, instructional days, or business days. There is no summer or holiday tolling in 4 AAC 52.115. A consent signed in mid-April therefore matures in mid-July, during summer vacation.

• The clock also runs on reevaluations. 4 AAC 52.115(a) applies “for an initial evaluation or reevaluation of eligibility,“ and DEED’s own guidance repeats it: ”The 90 day timeline (4 AAC 52.115) does apply to re-evaluations.“ Federal law imposes no comparable outer deadline on reevaluation, so this is a state-law-only cause of action.

• Federal evaluation mechanics still apply by adoption. 4 AAC 52.120 adopts 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.301-300.302, 300.304-300.306 and 300.308-300.311 by reference (as revised Oct. 13, 2006), which carries in the § 300.301(d)-(e) exceptions (parent repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the child; child enrolls in another district mid-evaluation).

• The 90-day period is Alaska’s state-established evaluation timeframe. DEED treats 4 AAC 52.115 as Alaska’s timeframe under 34 C.F.R. § 300.301(c)(1)(ii): evaluation, eligibility, IEP development, and the start of services all fit within the single 90-calendar-day period. A district may use much of that period for evaluation, but it does not gain a separate federal 60-day evaluation period on top of Alaska’s rule. Source: DEED special-education guidance.

Sources: 4 AAC 52.115 (Cornell LII); 4 AAC 52.120 (Cornell LII); DEED - Guidance for Special Education Personnel (Jan. 2017) (DOCX); DEED - Special Education; Stone Soup Group - Alaskan Special Education Parent Handbook (PDF).

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

30 days from the eligibility determination - but subject to the 90-day ceiling, whichever comes first. Two hooks:

• 4 AAC 52.115(b): “A district remains obligated under AS 14.30.278 to develop an IEP not later than 30 days after the determination of the child’s eligibility.“

• 4 AAC 52.140: a district must convene the IEP team meeting “no later than 30 days after determination of eligibility for special education services.“

DEED’s worked example is the operative rule and is worth quoting to a district that thinks it gets 60 + 30: “If a district determines eligibility earlier, for example in 35 days, the district would then have 30 days from the eligibility determination to develop and to provide an IEP. If the district determines eligibility after 60 days, for example in 70 days, the district may not exceed the 90 days to provide IEP services.“ The 30 days is a floor-to-ceiling interval, not an add-on.

Related downstream duties:

• Copy of the evaluation report and the eligibility documentation to the parent - 4 AAC 52.125(b). Chapter 52 sets no minimum number of days before the meeting by which the report must be delivered.

• Ages 3-5: an IFSP may be used in place of an IEP if the district meets 4 AAC 52.142(b); the parent may decline the IFSP and demand an IEP at any time. An initial IEP for a Part C transition child “must be developed before a child’s third birthday and be implemented on the child’s third birthday” (4 AAC 52.140(c)).

• Day type for the 30 days: the period is 30 calendar days. Under 34 C.F.R. § 300.11(a), an unqualified “day” means a calendar day, and 4 AAC 52.140 incorporates the federal 30-day IEP rule.

Sources: 4 AAC 52.115; 4 AAC 52.140 (Cornell LII); DEED - Special Education; DEED Guidance.