Pennsylvania

1. Initial evaluation timeline

60 calendar days from the agency’s receipt of writtenparental consent - with the summer carved out of the count. 22 Pa. Code § 14.123(b): the initial evaluation “shall be completed and a copy of the evaluation report presented to the parents no later than 60-calendar days after the agency receives written parental consent for evaluation, except that the calendar days from the day after the last day of the spring school term up to and including the day before the first day of the subsequent fall school term will not be counted.” So a consent signed in May does not produce a report 60 days later - the clock stops for summer vacation and restarts in the fall. Related trap: a parent request for evaluation must be in writing, and if a parent asks orally, the school employee or administrator “shall provide a copy of the permission to evaluate form to the parents within 10-calendar days of the oral request” (§ 14.123(a)). Sources: 22 Pa. Code § 14.123 (PA Code); 22 Pa. Code § 14.123 (Cornell LII); ODR - Timelines and Notices.

2. Eligibility-to-IEP timeline

Three stacked deadlines:

• Evaluation report to parents at least 10 school days before the IEP team meeting, unless the parent waives that in writing. 22 Pa. Code § 14.123(d).

• Initial IEP meeting within 30 calendar days after the determination that the child needs special education and related services. The legal hook is the federal rule, 34 C.F.R. § 300.323(c)(1), incorporated into Pennsylvania’s IDEA system through 22 Pa. Code § 14.102. ODR summarizes the practical clock as 30 calendar days after the evaluation team issues its Evaluation Report. Sources: 34 C.F.R. § 300.323; 22 Pa. Code § 14.102; ODR - Timelines and Notices.

• IEP implemented no later than 10 school days after its completion. 22 Pa. Code § 14.131(a): “The IEP of each student shall be implemented as soon as possible, but no later than 10 school days after its completion.” Source: 22 Pa. Code § 14.131 (PA Code).