Kansas

1. Initial evaluation timeline

60 schooldays from the agency’s receipt of written parental consent - and, unlike the federal rule, the eligibility meeting, the IEP, andimplementation of the IEP all have to happen inside that same window. K.A.R. 91-40-8(f): “Unless an agency has obtained written parental consent to an extension of time and except as otherwise provided in subsection (g), the agency shall complete the following activities within 60 school days of the date the agency receives written parental consent for evaluation of a child: (1) Conduct the evaluation of the child; (2) conduct a meeting to determine whether the child is an exceptional child and, if so, to develop an IEP for the child … and (3) implement the child’s IEP in accordance with K.A.R. 91-40-16.” The federal 60-calendar-day rule (34 C.F.R. § 300.301(c)) only requires the evaluation to be done; Kansas requires the child to actually be receiving services by day 60.

“School day” is the whole ballgame. K.A.R. 91-40-1 defines “day” as a calendar day unless otherwise indicated and defines a school day as a day, including a partial day, when all children are in attendance for instructional purposes. Because K.A.R. 91-40-8(f) uses “school days,” summer vacation, winter and spring break, snow days, and nonattendance in-service days do not count. The definition itself resolves the issue; no separate guidance sentence is required.

Exceptions (only two, and they are narrow). K.A.R. 91-40-8(g): the 60-school-day frame does not apply if (1) “the parent or parents of the child who is to be evaluated repeatedly fail or refuse to produce the child for the evaluation,” or (2) “the child enrolls in a different school before the evaluation is completed, and the parent and new school agree to a specific date by which the evaluation will be completed.” Any other extension requires written parental consent.

Front-end trap. A Kansas referral may be oral or written, and the clock does not start until written consent comes back. KSDE fills the federal “reasonable time” gap with a number: “Under most circumstances, the Kansas State Department of Education considers 15 school days to be a reasonable time in which to respond to a parent’s request for an evaluation“ with a Prior Written Notice proposing or refusing it - and KSDE applies the same 15-school-day standard ”with regard to any parent request related to identification, evaluation, placement, or the provision of FAPE.“ Put the request in writing and date-stamp it.

Sources: K.A.R. 91-40-8 (Cornell LII); K.A.R. 91-40-1 - Definitions (Cornell LII); Kansas Special Education Process Handbook (complete, updated 6/12/2026); KSDE - Process Handbook landing page.

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

30 days from the eligibility determination - but nested inside the 60 school days, so in practice the shorter clock usually controls. Three stacked deadlines:

• IEP developed within 30 days of the eligibility finding. K.A.R. 91-40-8(h): “In complying with subsection (f), each agency shall ensure that an IEP is developed for each exceptional child within 30 days from the date on which the child is determined to need special education and related services.“ These are calendar days - K.A.R. 91-40-1 makes “day” mean a calendar day unless the regulation says otherwise, and § 91-40-8(h) does not. So the eligibility-to-IEP clock runs through the summer even though the 60-day evaluation clock does not. KSDE’s Process Handbook states the rule as: “The IEP Team meets and develops an IEP within 30 calendar days of determination of eligibility but not later than 60 school days from the receipt of written parent consent.”

• IEP implemented not later than 10 schooldays after parental consent. K.A.R. 91-40-16(b)(2): services “for which written consent has been granted as specified by law are implemented not later than 10 school days after parental consent is granted unless reasonable justification for a delay can be shown.“ (That escape hatch has no federal analogue; make the district state its justification in writing.)

• All of it inside the 60 school days. K.A.R. 91-40-8(f)(3) folds implementation into the outer deadline.

Kansas sets no separate advance-delivery interval for the completed evaluation report. K.A.R. 91-40-10(b) requires a no-cost copy. Separately, K.A.R. 91-40-17(a)(2) requires written meeting notice at least 10 calendar days before the eligibility or IEP meeting. Source: Kansas Special Education Process Handbook, updated June 12, 2026.

Sources: K.A.R. 91-40-8; K.A.R. 91-40-16 (Cornell LII); K.A.R. 91-40-1; Process Handbook, Ch. 3.