Maryland IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)

Every Maryland figure, agency and citation on this page is read against a primary source and dated. Last reviewed August 2, 2026. Read against IDEA, 34 CFR Part 300 and Maryland's own special education rules. Jump to sources

Evaluation window: 60 days
The clock starts at: Parental consent
State complaint deadline: One year
Due process deadline: Two years

How long does a school in Maryland have to complete an IEP evaluation?

In Maryland an IEP team completes an initial evaluation within 60 days of the parent's consent for assessments, with a second deadline of 90 days from the day the school system received the written referral. Both counts run in calendar days under the state definitions, so weekends, holidays and school breaks sit inside the count. The two clocks run together, so a referral that waits weeks for consent still carries the 90 day outside limit. A parent and the IEP team can extend either window by mutual written agreement, while the deadline lifts altogether where a child enrolls in a different Maryland school system mid-evaluation or where a child is repeatedly not produced for assessments. Families who disagree with a decision have three routes: a written complaint to the Maryland State Department of Education within a year of the problem, free mediation through the Office of Administrative Hearings, or a due process complaint filed with that same office within two years.

How to use this page. This is general information about the Maryland rules, written for parents. It is not legal or educational advice. Deadlines, agency names and rule numbers change, so confirm anything you plan to rely on with Division of Special Education, Maryland State Department of Education or with your district.

A flat illustration of a consent letter entering a school intake tray with a gold date stamp at its corner

The evaluation timeline in Maryland

The Maryland evaluation clock at a glance. Maryland allows 60 days for an initial evaluation, measured from parental consent to evaluate, with a second clock from written referral. The lighter bar is the federal default at 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1).

Initial evaluation window	60 days from consent, or 90 days from a written referral
The clock starts at	parental consent to evaluate, with a second clock from written referral
Against the federal rule	A timeframe Maryland 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 Maryland has done, so the window above is the one that applies here.

Maryland runs the federal 60 day default from consent but adds a second, stricter 90 day clock measured from the original written referral, which catches delays in getting to consent that the federal rule alone would not reach.

Source: COMAR 13A.05.01.06 mdrules.elaws.us/comar/13a.05.01.06

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 Maryland

Maryland keeps the federal cadence. A reevaluation happens at least once every three years unless the parent and the public agency agree it is unnecessary, no more than once a year unless both agree otherwise, with the IEP team meeting at least annually to review and revise the IEP. Maryland adds one clock of its own to that cycle. After the IEP team reviews existing data and identifies what further assessment is needed, the team uses the results to review and revise the IEP within 90 days of that meeting. Two items also sit inside the Maryland annual review. The team decides at least once a year whether a student needs extended school year services. The team addresses planning for emergency conditions as well, the learning continuity plan Maryland has written into IEPs since October 2021 for stretches of 10 school days or longer when a student cannot be served at school. Maryland also has public agencies consolidate a reevaluation meeting with other IEP team meetings to the extent possible.

Source: COMAR 13A.05.01.06E(2), E(4), E(6) and E(12); COMAR 13A.05.01.08B(1) including B(1)(f), plus B(2)(a); Education Article section 8-405(c) and (d)(1) and (d)(2) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.06

If you disagree in Maryland

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.

Three routes, one disagreement. Who runs each route in Maryland and how long a family has to file, where the Maryland rules set a limit. Each one is written out below with its citation.

The state complaint

Handled by Division of Special Education, Maryland State Department of Education. Time limit to file: One year from the violation the complaint is about.

A state complaint in Maryland is written and signed, goes to the Division of Special Education at the Maryland State Department of Education and reaches the school system in a copy sent at the same time. The department also accepts a signed complaint by email through the address printed in its complaint procedures. The complaint states that a public agency violated a requirement of IDEA, sets out the facts behind that statement, gives contact details for the person filing and, where it concerns one student, the student's name and address, the school attended, a description of the problem plus any resolution the family has in mind. The department can run an independent on-site visit where it decides one is needed to resolve the complaint. It issues a written Letter of Findings within 60 calendar days of receiving the complaint, later only where exceptional circumstances apply to that complaint or where both sides agree to extend the time to try mediation. Maryland writes one more step into its own procedures. A party who disagrees with the conclusions can submit information that was not considered or not available during the investigation, within 15 calendar days of the date of the Letter of Findings, while the school system carries on with any corrective action on the timeline in the letter. Past Letters of Findings are published by fiscal year with identifying details removed, so a family can read how earlier complaints were decided.

Source: COMAR 13A.05.01.15A(1), A(4), A(6) and A(7); Maryland State Department of Education Special Education State Complaint Resolution Procedures Part B, December 2025, sections III.B through III.F and IV.E through IV.H regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.15

Mediation

Maryland runs mediation outside the education department. A parent or a public agency asks for it in writing to the other party and to the Office of Administrative Hearings, the independent state agency that also hears special education cases. The mediator is an employee of that office trained in mediation technique. The State pays, so a session costs a family nothing. Mediation stays voluntary for both sides. It cannot be used to deny or delay a due process hearing. Sessions are closed, so what people say there stays out of any later hearing or civil action. Reasonable efforts go toward scheduling a session within 20 calendar days of the written request, in a location convenient to both sides. An agreement reached there is written, signed and enforceable in a state court or a federal district court. Where the mediator was an administrative law judge, that same judge does not take the later due process hearing. The office takes a mediation request by mail, fax or hand delivery rather than email.

Source: COMAR 13A.05.01.15B(1), B(2), B(3), B(5), B(6) and B(7); 34 CFR 300.506(b)(6) through (b)(8) for the signed agreement, its enforceability plus the bar on using mediation discussions later, which COMAR 13A.05.01.15B(8) adopts; Education Article section 8-413(b)(1), (b)(5) and (b)(6); Parental Rights: Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice, July 2024; Maryland State Department of Education parent guide to frequently asked questions about special education mediation regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.15

A due process hearing

Time limit to file: Two years from the date the filing party knew or should have known about the action the complaint rests on, with exceptions where the public agency misrepresented that it had resolved the problem or withheld information it was required to give the parent.

A due process complaint in Maryland goes to the Office of Administrative Hearings and to the other party. The education department states plainly that it does not forward one, so a complaint that reaches only the department does not start the process. The hearings office appoints one of its administrative law judges, who meets the federal requirements for a hearing officer. A 30 day resolution period comes first, with the school system convening a resolution meeting inside 15 days unless both sides waive it in writing or agree to mediate instead. The decision follows within 45 days of the end of that period, with a specific extension available at a party's request. Expedited cases run faster: a hearing within 20 school days and a decision within 10 school days of the hearing, for a dispute over a manifestation determination or a disciplinary change of placement, or where the child is not enrolled and attending an approved program. The judge can require an independent evaluation or call an impartial expert witness whose cost the State education agency pays. Maryland then gives either party 120 calendar days from the decision to bring a civil action in the federal District Court for Maryland or in the circuit court for the county where the child lives, where the federal default sits at 90 days. Past hearing decisions are published by fiscal year alongside end of year hearing and mediation outcome reports by public agency.

Source: Education Article section 8-413(d)(1) through (d)(5), (e)(1)(iv), (h), (i) and (j); COMAR 13A.05.01.15C(1), C(2), C(11)(a), C(11)(c) through C(11)(e), C(14), C(15) and C(23); 34 CFR 300.516(b); Maryland State Department of Education parent guide to frequently asked questions about special education due process complaints mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=ged&section=8-413&enactments=false

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Who to contact in Maryland

A flat illustration of a desk lamp glowing over a short stack of guide books with a gold bookmark ribbon

The state special education office. Division of Special Education, Maryland State Department of Education. This is the office that answers questions about Maryland rules and receives a state complaint.
Your rights in writing. Parental Rights: Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice, the July 2024 edition published by the Maryland State Department of Education, covering infants and toddlers early intervention, preschool special education and special education in one document. 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. Parents' Place of Maryland. 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. Education Article, Title 8, Subtitle 4 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (sections 8-401 through 8-420), with section 8-405(b)(1)(ii), (e)(1) and (f)(1) plus section 8-413.1(a)(4), (b)(3) and (b)(5); implementing rules at COMAR 13A.05.01. Subtitle 4 is Maryland's own special education statute, covering who counts as a parent, what families receive around IEP meetings, how mediation and due process run, private and nonpublic placements and attorney fees, with the working detail carried in chapter 13A.05.01 of the Code of Maryland Regulations. Two pieces of it shape an ordinary IEP meeting. Section 8-405 has school staff share an accessible copy of each assessment, report, data chart or draft IEP the team plans to discuss at least 5 business days before the meeting, then a copy of the completed IEP within 5 business days after it, with notice of the meeting itself at least 10 calendar days ahead. Section 8-413.1 creates the Access to Attorneys, Advocates and Consultants for Special Education Program, run by the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service for families at or under 150 percent of that service's income guidelines who have already made an attempt to resolve a disagreement. The same section lists seven situations the program covers, a proposed placement change the family disagrees with, a proposed cut in instructional or related services, a removal from school of more than 10 days plus a school filing for due process among them.

Child Find in Maryland

Maryland writes its own steps into the handoff from early intervention to school age. A local infants and toddlers program writes transition outcomes into the plan at the meeting closest to a child's second birthday, then holds a transition planning meeting no fewer than 90 days before the third birthday. The school system decides eligibility for preschool special education before that third birthday, with the child's service coordinator at the table unless the family asks in writing that no early intervention representative attend. A family whose child is found eligible then chooses between a preschool IEP and Maryland's Extended IFSP Option, which keeps early intervention services running with an added educational component covering preliteracy, language and numeracy skills, up to the beginning of the school year following the child's fourth birthday. A family can leave that option at any point by writing to the local lead agency, which passes that decision to the school system. No fresh eligibility decision is needed. The school system convenes an IEP team meeting within 45 days of receiving that notification.

Source: COMAR 13A.13.01.09B(2)(a) and (b), B(9), B(10), B(11), C(2) plus D(1) through D(7); COMAR 13A.05.01.08A(2) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.13.01.09

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Questions parents ask

Does the 60 day clock or the 90 day clock apply to my child's evaluation in Maryland?

Both. Maryland's rule sets one deadline at 60 days from the parent's consent for assessments and a second at 90 days from the day the school system received the written referral, so the earlier of the two is the deadline that applies. Both run in calendar days, since the state definitions treat a day as a calendar day unless the rule says school day or business day. That makes the referral clock the tighter one whenever consent takes more than 30 days to arrange. The parent and the IEP team can extend the time frame by mutual written agreement. Two situations lift the deadline from a school system: a parent who repeatedly does not produce the child for assessments, or a child who enrolls in a different public agency before the first one finished, where the new agency is making enough progress toward a prompt completion and both sides agree on a completion date.

Where do I file a due process complaint or a mediation request in Maryland?

With the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings and with the other party. That office sits outside the Maryland State Department of Education, which says plainly that it does not forward a due process complaint to the hearings office or to the school system. The clerk's office in Hunt Valley takes that first filing by mail, fax or hand delivery rather than email. Once a case is open the office accepts some documents by email, a postponement request or a withdrawal among them. One Request for Mediation and Due Process Complaint form covers both routes. The Maryland State Department of Education publishes that form on its Family Support and Dispute Resolution Branch page, though any written request carrying the required information starts the process. A due process complaint is filed within two years of the date the filing party knew or should have known about the action behind it. Mediation carries no deadline of its own and can be requested at any point, including well before anyone files for a hearing.

Do Maryland schools send IEP paperwork before the meeting?

Maryland state law sets a 5 business day rule running both ways. School staff share an accessible copy of each assessment, report, data chart, draft IEP or other document the team plans to discuss at least 5 business days before the meeting, along with notice of the right to bring anyone who has knowledge or expertise about the student. The completed IEP reaches the parents no later than 5 business days after the meeting, or a draft copy where it is not finished by then. Notice of the meeting itself comes at least 10 calendar days ahead unless the meeting is expedited for a disciplinary issue, for placing a child who is not currently receiving services or for another urgent need. A family that would rather not receive the advance documents can say so. Where a parent's native language is spoken by more than 1 percent of the students in that school system, the parent can ask for a translated copy, which follows within 30 days of the request.

What happens if a Maryland school system does not answer my written request for an evaluation?

Maryland writes a response deadline into its statute. The school system sends a written response approving or denying a written request for an educational evaluation within 30 days of the request. Where nothing arrives in those 30 days, or where the system approves the request but the evaluation meeting does not happen within 60 days of the day the school system received the request through no fault of the parent, the parent can request an independent educational evaluation at public expense under the department's rules. That 60 day figure stretches to 90 days while the State is under a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor. Where the system denies the request outright, it files a due process complaint of its own within 30 days of the denial rather than leaving the disagreement to sit. Two other routes stay open at any point: a written state complaint to the Division of Special Education, which investigates and issues a Letter of Findings within 60 calendar days, or the Special Education Ombudsman that Maryland law places in the Office of the Attorney General, a neutral source of information on evaluations, services and dispute routes that keeps what a family says confidential. Written information about that office is part of what school systems hand parents at the initial evaluation meeting.

Sources

What the facts on this page come from

COMAR 13A.05.01.06 (Evaluation, reevaluation and eligibility, the initial evaluation time frames) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.06
COMAR 13A.05.01.06 on the eLaws copy of the Code of Maryland Regulations mdrules.elaws.us/comar/13a.05.01.06
COMAR 13A.05.01.03 (Definitions, including day, business day and school day) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.03
COMAR 13A.05.01.04 (Referral, including the mutual written agreement to extend) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.04
COMAR 13A.05.01.08 (Individualized education program team responsibilities) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.08
COMAR 13A.05.01.15 (Procedural safeguards, State complaints, mediation and due process) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01.15
COMAR 13A.05.01 (Provision of a free appropriate public education, chapter text and administrative history) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.05.01/index.full.html
COMAR 13A.13.01.09 (Transition from the Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program, the Extended IFSP Option) regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.13.01.09
Education Article section 8-405 (Meetings, information for parents, independent educational evaluations, learning continuity plans) mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=ged&section=8-405&enactments=false
Education Article section 8-413 (Mediation, resolution sessions, due process complaints and hearings) mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=ged&section=8-413&enactments=false
Education Article section 8-413.1 (Access to Attorneys, Advocates and Consultants for Special Education Program) mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=ged&section=8-413.1&enactments=false
State Government Article section 6-502 (Special Education Ombudsman in the Office of the Attorney General) mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gsg&section=6-502&enactments=false
State Government Article section 6-504 (Duties of the Special Education Ombudsman) mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gsg&section=6-504&enactments=false
Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/Special-Education/index.aspx
Maryland State Department of Education, Family Support and Dispute Resolution Branch marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/Special-Education/FSDR/index.aspx
Maryland State Department of Education, Special Education State Complaint Resolution Procedures Part B (December 2025) marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/FSDR/State-Complaint-Procedures-A.pdf
Maryland State Department of Education, parent guide to frequently asked questions about special education mediation marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/FSDR/Mediation-FAQ-A.pdf
Maryland State Department of Education, parent guide to frequently asked questions about special education due process complaints marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/FSDR/Due-Process-FAQ-A.pdf
Maryland State Department of Education, IDEA dispute resolution processes comparison chart marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/FSDR/IDEA%20Dispute%20Resolution%20Process%20Comparison%20Chart.pdf
Parental Rights: Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice (July 2024) marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/MITP/about/Maryland-Procedural-Safeguards-Notice-A.pdf
Maryland State Department of Education, Request for Mediation and Due Process Complaint form marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Documents/Special-Ed/FSDR/Med-DP-RequestForm-SignFillable-A.pdf
Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings oah.maryland.gov/
Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, filing letters, pleadings and documents oah.maryland.gov/pages/fileletters.html
Center for Parent Information and Resources, Maryland parent center listing www.parentcenterhub.org/findurcenter/maryland/
Parents' Place of Maryland www.ppmd.org/
34 CFR 300.301 (Initial evaluations, the federal default) sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.301
34 CFR 300.303 (Reevaluations) sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.303
34 CFR 300.324 (Development, review and revision of the IEP) sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.324
34 CFR 300.516 (Civil action, including the 90 day federal default) sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.516

Last reviewed August 2, 2026. That is the day this page was last read against the sources above, not the day the site was rebuilt. How this library is verified

This page is general educational information for parents, not legal or educational advice. It does not tell any family what to do. Every example here is a starting point to discuss and adapt with your child's IEP or 504 team, which decides what fits your child from the evaluation. Confirm anything time-sensitive with your school or district. For a genuinely contested situation, a special education advocate or an attorney who works in your state is the right person to ask.