Kentucky IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)
- Evaluation window
- 60 school days
- The clock starts at
- Parental consent
- State complaint deadline
- One year
- Due process deadline
- Three years
How long does a school in Kentucky have to complete an IEP evaluation?
A Kentucky school district has 60 school days from the day it receives written parental consent to finish an initial evaluation. Kentucky counts school days rather than calendar days, so the window pauses over holidays plus summer break and can end well past 60 calendar days. That same window covers more than testing. Where a child is found eligible, the Admissions and Release Committee meets within 30 days of the eligibility decision to write the IEP, inside those same 60 school days, so specially designed instruction can start. Two situations lift the 60 school day timeline: a child moving to a new district after consent was given, where the new district is making sufficient progress plus both sides agree on a completion date, or a parent repeatedly failing or refusing to produce the child for evaluation.
The evaluation timeline in Kentucky
| Initial evaluation window | 60 school days |
|---|---|
| The clock starts at | receipt of parental consent for evaluation |
| Against the federal rule | A timeframe Kentucky sets for itself |
IDEA sets a default of 60 calendar days from parental consent for an initial evaluation (34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)). It also lets a state set its own timeframe instead, which is what Kentucky has done, so the window above is the one that applies here.
Kentucky measures its 60 day window in school days rather than calendar days, which stretches the real-world window beyond the federal 60 calendar days. The Admissions and Release Committee meeting to develop the IEP must then happen within 30 more days of the eligibility decision.
Source: 707 KAR 1:320, Section 2(3) apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/707/001/320/
The same window sits beside all fifty-one jurisdictions on the evaluation timelines by state table, which explains where the federal deadline comes from. To pull one state's window on its own, the evaluation deadline checker returns that single result.
Reevaluation and IEP review cadence in Kentucky
Kentucky keeps the federal cadence rather than writing a tighter one. A reevaluation happens at least every three years unless the family and the district agree one is not needed, with no more than one a year unless both sides agree otherwise. The Admissions and Release Committee, which is Kentucky's name for the IEP team, reviews the IEP at least once a year to see whether the annual goals are being met. Around that cadence Kentucky adds meeting rules of its own. Written notice of a committee meeting reaches the family at least seven days ahead, or at least twenty-four hours ahead when the meeting concerns a safety issue or a disciplinary change in placement. A district can correct a minor, nonprogrammatic item on an IEP without calling the committee together, such as a typing error or a wrong birth date, provided every member receives a copy of the change plus an explanation within ten school days. Any member who objects, a parent included, brings the committee back to the table. Kentucky also puts progress reporting in statute: school personnel give families reports on progress toward the annual goals at least as often as report cards go to students who do not have disabilities.
Source: 707 KAR 1:300, Section 4(18) and (19) (reevaluation cadence), 707 KAR 1:320, Section 2(6)(a) (annual review of the IEP), 707 KAR 1:320, Section 2(2) (minor nonprogrammatic changes) plus 707 KAR 1:340, Section 3(1) and (2) (meeting notice), with the progress reporting frequency set by KRS 157.196(2); the three year and annual cadence tracks 34 CFR 300.303(b) and 34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(i) apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/707/001/300/
If you disagree in Kentucky
IDEA gives families in every state the same three routes when a disagreement with the school does not resolve at the team table. What changes at the state line is who administers each route, how long you have to file and the local detail below.
The state complaint
Handled by the Kentucky Department of Education, through the Division of IDEA Monitoring and Results in its Office of Special Education and Early Learning. Time limit to file: one year, since the complaint has to show that the violation did not happen more than one year before the department received it.
Kentucky calls this route a formal written complaint. Any organization or individual can file one, including someone from outside Kentucky, alleging that a district or another public agency broke a requirement of Kentucky's special education regulations or of IDEA. The signed written complaint names the child plus the school, sets out the facts, proposes a resolution where the person filing knows of one and shows that the violation falls inside the one year window. A copy goes to the district at the same time. The department then has 60 days to investigate where an investigation is needed, with both sides able to submit more information. Its written decision addresses each allegation with findings of fact, conclusions plus the reasons behind them. The department's own parent guide puts that decision no later than 60 calendar days from the day the complaint was filed unless the timeline is extended. The district gets a chance to propose its own resolution plus an offer of voluntary mediation. Two grounds extend the 60 days: exceptional circumstances, or an agreement between the family and the district to try mediation or another route. Kentucky then adds a step the federal rules do not require. The person who filed, whether the parent or the district, can appeal the written decision to the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education within 15 business days of receiving it, while the district carries out any corrective action in the meantime. The department backs its decisions with technical assistance, negotiations or corrective action.
Source: 707 KAR 1:340, Section 8(1) through (7), with the one year window at Section 8(3)(h), the copy to the district at Section 8(4) plus the appeal to the commissioner at Section 8(5); the 60 day decision and its extension grounds track 34 CFR 300.152(a) and (b)(1), the complaint contents 34 CFR 300.153(b); the department's Quick Guide to Special Education Dispute Resolution Processes states that the written decision issues no later than 60 calendar days from filing unless the timeline is extended plus that corrective action continues during an appeal apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/707/001/340/
Mediation
The Kentucky Department of Education runs mediation itself and pays for it. It keeps a list of qualified mediators who are trained in mediation technique, who cannot be employees of the department or of the district involved with the child plus who cannot have a personal or professional conflict of interest. Kentucky picks from that list at random. The department's Office of Legal Services assigns the mediator. Either the family or the district can ask for mediation at any point in a disagreement. It stays voluntary for both sides, so both have to agree before it happens. It cannot be used to deny or delay a due process hearing. Sessions are scheduled in a timely manner not to exceed 60 days, at a place convenient to both sides. Where the two sides reach a resolution they sign a legally binding written agreement setting out the resolution plus the timeline for carrying it out, enforceable in a state court of competent jurisdiction or in a United States district court. What is said in mediation stays confidential and cannot be used as evidence in a later hearing or civil case. Kentucky writes the subject matter broadly: mediation can cover ongoing alleged violations, compensatory education or any other issue tied to the child's enrollment in the district.
Source: 707 KAR 1:340, Section 9(1) (the right of a parent or a district to request mediation from the department) plus Section 10(1) through (7), with the random selection at Section 10(2)(b), the department bearing the cost at Section 10(3), the 60 day scheduling limit at Section 10(4)(a) plus the subject matter at Section 10(7); the voluntariness, the no delay or denial term, the state paying, the signed binding agreement plus the confidentiality all track 34 CFR 300.506(b); the department's Quick Guide to Special Education Dispute Resolution Processes states that mediators are assigned by its Office of Legal Services apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/707/001/340/
A due process hearing
Time limit to file: three years from the date the parent, the public agency or the eligible student knew about the action the complaint is based on, which is one year longer than the federal default.
Kentucky is one of the states that set their own filing window instead of using the federal two years. State law gives a parent, a public agency or an eligible student three years from the date they knew about the action behind the complaint, with a longer period where that is reasonable because the violation is continuing. The same statute keeps evidence older than three years admissible where it is relevant to the complaint. The limit does not apply to a parent or an eligible student who was prevented from requesting the hearing by one of three things: the district did not provide prior written notice or the procedural safeguards notice, the district falsely represented that it was resolving the problem, or the district withheld information relevant to the hearing issues. The department's own safeguards notice lists only the two federal grounds, misrepresentation plus withholding, so the statute carries the fuller list. The request goes in writing to the department, which has a model form for it. Hearings follow Kentucky's administrative hearing statute plus the federal rules, in front of a hearing officer who cannot be an employee of the department or of the district involved with the child. Within 15 days of the request the district convenes a resolution meeting with the family plus the committee members who know the facts, unless both sides waive it in writing or agree to mediate. The 45 day clock for the decision starts when the 30 day resolution period ends. Kentucky then runs a second administrative tier, which the federal rules allow without requiring. Either side can appeal a hearing officer's decision to the Exceptional Children Appeals Board by sending a request for appeal to the department by certified mail within 30 calendar days. Board members assigned by the department examine the whole hearing record, can seek more evidence, hear argument from both sides then make an independent decision, normally within 30 days. That decision is final unless a party goes to court. The department's own safeguards notice states that a party then has 30 days from the board's decision to file in a state court of competent jurisdiction or a United States district court, which matches the 30 day window Kentucky sets for judicial review of a final agency order. The hearing, the hearing officer, the facilities plus the decision come at public expense, while each side pays its own attorney.
Source: KRS 157.224(6) (the three year limit, the continuing violation clause, the older evidence rule plus the three grounds that lift it for a parent or eligible student prevented from requesting a hearing, with hearings conducted under KRS Chapter 13B), 707 KAR 1:340, Section 9(2) (right to a hearing), Section 11(1) through (7) (resolution meeting and the 45 day clock), Section 12 (hearing request and rights) plus Section 13(1) and (2) (appeal to the Exceptional Children Appeals Board); the state window is the explicit state time limitation contemplated by 34 CFR 300.511(e), the two federal grounds that lift a filing deadline sit at 34 CFR 300.511(f), the hearing officer standards at 34 CFR 300.511(c), the review duties at 34 CFR 300.514(b) plus the 45 day and 30 day decision clocks at 34 CFR 300.515(a) and (b); the department's Part B Procedural Safeguards Notice states the 30 day civil action window, which matches KRS 13B.140(1) apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=3296
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Who to contact in Kentucky
- The state special education office. Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Learning. This is the office that answers questions about Kentucky rules and receives a state complaint.
- Your rights in writing. Part B Procedural Safeguards Notice, revised September 26, 2008. Every district hands parents this notice at least once a year (34 CFR 300.504). It is the plain summary of what you can ask for at each step.
- Parent training and information center. KY-SPIN, Inc., the Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network. A parent center is free and federally funded under IDEA. Staff there talk families through the process in their own state at no cost.
- The state rules themselves. KRS 157.200 to 157.290, the Special Educational Programs group of sections in KRS Chapter 157, with the program rules at 707 KAR Chapter 1 (707 KAR 1:002 through 707 KAR 1:380) adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education under KRS 157.220 and KRS 157.224. The statutes set Kentucky's frame for special education plus the department's job of coordinating and monitoring it, then hand the Kentucky Board of Education the task of writing the working rules. Those rules sit in 707 KAR Chapter 1 and cover definitions, free appropriate public education, child find, evaluation and reevaluation, eligibility, the IEP, placement, procedural safeguards, state complaints, discipline, confidentiality, students in private schools plus monitoring.
Child Find in Kentucky
Kentucky puts child find on the district for ages three through twenty-one, naming children who attend private schools inside the district boundaries, children who are highly mobile such as migrant children, children who are homeless, children who are wards of the state or in state custody plus students who keep passing from grade to grade while still having a disability. Beside it sits a referral system rule that is unusual for how much it asks before a referral. Prior to or as part of the referral process the district provides research-based instruction plus intervention in regular education settings, collects repeated measures of achievement or behavior at reasonable intervals and gives those results to the family. Where a child has not made adequate progress after an appropriate period, the district considers a referral for evaluation. The department's own guidance on the special education process is direct that a response to intervention process is not required before a referral is made. Children under three go through a different door: the Kentucky Early Intervention System, which the Cabinet for Health and Family Services runs rather than the education department. The department's safeguards notice calls that program First Steps where it describes a child moving from early intervention into preschool.
Source: 707 KAR 1:300, Section 1(1) (child find) plus Section 3(1) through (4) (the referral system and its intervention data), with the department's Special Education Process guidance reviewed April 2025 stating that response to intervention is not required prior to making a referral; the Kentucky Early Intervention System is published by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/707/001/300/
