New Hampshire

1. Initial evaluation timeline

60 calendardays from the LEA’s receipt of written parental consent - and, unlike Pennsylvania, New Hampshire tolls nothing for summer. N.H. Code Admin. R. Ed 1107.01: “The evaluation process . . . shall be completed within 60 days after receipt of parental consent to evaluate” (Ed 1107.01(c)-(d)). “Day” is not defined idiosyncratically in New Hampshire - Ed 1102.02(a) adopts the federal definition: “’Day’ means ‘day’ as defined in 34 CFR 300.11(a),” i.e., calendar day unless the rule says business day or school day. So the clock runs through February break, April break, and the entire summer. A consent signed in late May produces a report due in late July.

Extensions. Ed 1107.01(e) permits a written extension of up to 30 days only for the reevaluation timeline in Ed 1107.01(d). Treat the initial 60 days as firm, subject to the federal transfer and repeated-failure-to-produce exceptions in 34 C.F.R. § 300.301(d), incorporated by Ed 1107.01(a).

Two front-end New Hampshire rules that precede the 60 days and are easy to miss:

• Disposition of referral within 15 businessdays. Ed 1106.01: on receipt of a referral the LEA must “immediately notify the parent, in writing, of the referral,” and the IEP team must, within 15 business days of the referral, decide whether evaluation is needed and “give the parent written notice of its disposition of the referral.” Note the switch to business days - this is the only place in the sequence that uses them.

• The consent request rides on a Written Prior Notice, and the parent gets 14 days to answer. Ed 1120.03 requires WPN “within a reasonable time, but not less than 14 days, before the LEA proposes to initiate or change . . . the referral, evaluation, determination of eligibility, IEP, or educational placement“; Ed 1120.04(c) gives parents ”14 days after the sending of the written prior notice“ to sign consent, refuse, or consent in part. The 60-day evaluation clock does not start until the signed consent comes back.

• Evaluation reports to parents 5 days before the meeting - automatically. Ed 1107.04(d): “The LEA shall provide parents with copies of each examiner’s evaluation and assessment report(s) at least 5 days prior to the meeting of the IEP team at which the evaluation and assessment report(s) will be discussed.” No parent request required (contrast Indiana).

Sources: Ed 1100 full text (NH General Court); N.H. Admin. Code § Ed 1120.03 (Cornell LII); N.H. Admin. Code § Ed 1120.04 (Cornell LII); N.H. Admin. Code § Ed 1106.01 (Cornell LII); NHED Special Education Procedural Safeguards Handbook (Dec. 20, 2024).

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

30 calendar days from eligibility to the IEP meeting; the IEP does not take effect until parent consent. Ed 1109.03(a) and (d) incorporate 34 C.F.R. § 300.323, including its 30-day rule. Ed 1102.02(a) makes unspecified days calendar days.

The consent overlay is where New Hampshire departs from most states - see § 9 context. Ed 1120.04(a) requires informed written parental consent not just for initial evaluation and initial services (the federal floor), but also for “(3) Annual renewal of the IEP and placement of a child with a disability; (4) Determining or changing the disability classification; (5) Changing the nature or extent of the special education or special education and related services; [and] (6) Conducting a reevaluation.” The parent has 14 days from the sending of the WPN to consent, refuse, or consent in part (Ed 1120.04(c)), and if the parent refuses a proposed change, the existing placement stands (Ed 1120.04(g)).

But silence is not a veto. Ed 1120.06(a): “If a parent fails to respond within 14 days after the sending of written prior notice pursuant to Ed 1120.04(b), the LEA shall implement its proposed changes if the LEA has taken reasonable measures to obtain informed written consent.” Reasonable measures are defined and documented - logged phone calls, and “[c]orrespondence shall be sent certified mail, return receipt requested“ (Ed 1120.06(b)). Counsel a New Hampshire parent to answer the WPN in writing every time, even to say “I do not consent”; ignoring it converts to implied consent.

Sources: Ed 1100 full text (NH General Court); N.H. Admin. Code § Ed 1120.04 (Cornell LII); N.H. Admin. Code § Ed 1120.06 (Cornell LII); NHED Procedural Safeguards Handbook (Dec. 2024).