Massachusetts

1. Initial evaluation timeline

Assessments completed within 30 school working days of receipt of parental consent; the whole evaluation-to-IEP cycle must finish within 45 school working days. 603 CMR 28.05(1): “Within 45 school working days after receipt of a parent’s written consent to an initial evaluation or reevaluation, the school district shall: provide an evaluation; convene a Team meeting to review the evaluation data, determine whether the student requires special education and, if required, develop an IEP … and provide the parents with two copies of the proposed IEP and proposed placement; or, if the Team determines that the student is not eligible … send a written explanation of the finding.” Within that outer 45-day clock, “[t]he evaluation assessments shall be completed within 30 school working days after receipt of parental consent for evaluation.” Upstream of consent: the district must send written notice seeking consent within five school days of receipt of the referral (603 CMR 28.04(1)). Days are school days, not calendar days - 603 CMR 28.02(5) defines “day” as calendar day “unless the regulation specifies school day, which shall mean any day, including a partial day, that students are in attendance at school for instructional purposes.” Practical effect: summer, February and April vacations, and snow days stop the clock, so 45 school working days can run well past the federal 60-calendar-day default in 34 C.F.R. § 300.301(c)(1). End-of-year exception: if consent is received 30 to 45 school working days before the end of the school year, the proposed IEP or ineligibility notice must issue no later than 14 days after the end of the school year. Sources: 603 CMR 28.05 (DESE); 603 CMR 28.04 (DESE); 603 CMR 28.02 Definitions (DESE); 603 CMR 28.05 (Cornell LII).

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

Massachusetts sets no separate eligibility-to-IEP clock - the eligibility determination and the IEP are folded into the same 45-school-working-day deadline in 603 CMR 28.05(1), which requires the Team to determine eligibility and develop the IEP and deliver two copies of the proposed IEP and proposed placement to the parent within that window. On the back end, the parent then has 30 calendar days after receipt of the proposed IEP and placement to accept or reject it in whole or in part (603 CMR 28.05(7)); accepted portions are implemented immediately. Source: 603 CMR 28.05 (DESE); 603 CMR 28.05 (Cornell LII).