Mississippi IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)
- 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 Mississippi have to complete an IEP evaluation?
A Mississippi school district has 60 calendar days from the day it receives signed parental consent to finish an initial evaluation. A shorter clock runs before that one. Once a parent, a teacher or a support team member asks for an evaluation, in writing or in conversation, the multidisciplinary evaluation team meets within 14 calendar days to decide whether to evaluate at all, then written notice of that decision reaches the family within 7 calendar days. After the testing wraps up, the eligibility meeting follows inside another 14 calendar days, with the evaluation report going to the family at least 7 calendar days ahead of it. The Office of Special Education at the Mississippi Department of Education runs all three dispute routes: it investigates written state complaints reaching back one year, assigns mediators from a rotating list at no cost to families and appoints the hearing officer for a due process case filed within two years.
The evaluation timeline in Mississippi
| Initial evaluation window | 60 days |
|---|---|
| The clock starts at | parental consent to evaluate |
| Against the federal rule | The federal default, unchanged |
IDEA sets a default of 60 calendar days from parental consent for an initial evaluation (34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)). Mississippi keeps that default rather than setting a timeframe of its own.
Mississippi follows the federal 60 calendar day default, counted from the day the district receives signed parental consent. A shorter state clock sits in front of it. Once anyone asks for an evaluation, in writing or in conversation, the multidisciplinary evaluation team meets within 14 calendar days to decide whether to evaluate at all.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Section 300.301(c)(1), which states that an initial evaluation must be conducted within sixty (60) calendar days of receiving parental consent, with the state's added fourteen calendar day team meeting at Section 300.301(b)(1), the seven calendar day written notice of that decision at Section 300.301(b)(1)(i)(a), the day one definition at Section 300.301(b)(1)(i)(b), the fourteen calendar day eligibility meeting at Section 300.306(a), the evaluation report to the family at least seven calendar days ahead of that meeting at Section 300.306(a)(2), the two exceptions to the sixty days at Section 300.301(d) plus the written extension for a specific learning disability referral at Section 300.309(c) mdek12.org/sites/default/files/documents/part-34-rule-74-19_20160614161027_365113.pdf
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 Mississippi
Mississippi keeps the federal cadence. A reevaluation happens at least once every three years unless the family and the district agree one is not needed, no more than once in twelve months unless both agree otherwise, with the IEP reviewed at least once a year. Around that cadence the state rule adds steps the federal regulations leave open. Mississippi calls the group the IEP Committee rather than the IEP team. Where the family and the district agree a reevaluation is unnecessary, the continued eligibility ruling is written down. A reevaluation can be a review of existing records plus progress monitoring data, with or without a small amount of new testing, or a full comprehensive reevaluation. The department's manual points to the comprehensive version where major changes are on the table, where committee members disagree about eligibility or the disability category, or where a parent or a teacher asks for one. It also recommends a comprehensive reevaluation at least once every six years. Where anyone is considering ending a related service such as speech, occupational therapy or physical therapy, the manual says a reevaluation should be conducted. Reusing existing data does not require consent, though the department recommends asking for it anyway. New individual testing needs written notice plus signed consent first. Where a family does not answer that request after reasonable attempts to reach them, the district may go ahead with the testing. Where a family refuses, the district may not run new individual assessments, though it can keep using ongoing progress monitoring data. A family can ask for a comprehensive reevaluation even where school staff see no need for one. At the end the committee writes a reevaluation report. The department recommends that the family receives a copy at least 7 calendar days before the meeting that settles continued eligibility, unless the family would rather have it at the meeting.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Section 300.303, whose paragraph (b)(2) states the three year cycle plus the documented continued eligibility ruling, with the once in twelve months limit at paragraph (b)(1) and the annual IEP review at Section 300.324(b)(1)(i); the reevaluation practice detail comes from the department's Procedures for State Board Policy 74.19, Volume I (Child Find, Evaluation and Eligibility) under the headings Reevaluation, Review of Existing Data for Reevaluation, Parental Consent for Reevaluation, Comprehensive Reevaluation plus Reevaluation Report; the same cadence sits at 34 CFR 300.303(b) with 34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(i) mdek12.org/sites/default/files/documents/part-34-rule-74-19_20160614161027_365113.pdf
If you disagree in Mississippi
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 Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Special Education, whose parent engagement staff investigate the complaint. Time limit to file: one year, counted back from the date the complaint is received.
An organization or an individual can file a signed written complaint with the Office of Special Education, sending a copy to the school district or other public agency serving the child at the same moment it is filed. The department posts a model complaint form beside the safeguards notice on its dispute resolution page. The complaint names the requirement it says was broken, the facts behind that, the child's name, home address plus school where it concerns one child, along with a proposed resolution where the family has one in mind. Mississippi counts day one of the 60 calendar day investigation from the day the complaint first arrives, whether it reaches the district or the department first. Investigators work by desk audit or by an on-site visit depending on what is alleged, then a written Findings and Decision letter goes to both sides. The January 2026 procedures spell out what can stretch the 60 days: a natural disaster or another emergency, a key person unavailable for a documented reason, a complaint complex enough to need extra evidence or an expert review, several related complaints folded together, or an agreement between the two sides to try mediation. Where a due process hearing is already running between the same parties on the same issues, the department sets that part aside then finishes the rest inside the 60 days. Where the person filing is not the child's parent, details that identify the child come out of the written decision unless the parent consents to sharing them.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Sections 300.151 through 300.153, with the one year window at Section 300.153(c), the copy to the district at Section 300.153(d), the 60 day investigation limit at Section 300.152(a), the grounds for extending it at Section 300.152(b)(1) plus the set aside for issues already inside a due process hearing at Section 300.152(c)(1), read with the department's Procedures for State Board Policy 74.19, Volume III (Procedural Safeguards, Dispute Resolution, Confidentiality), January 2026, under the headings Formal State Complaints, MDE OSE Response, Complaints Filed by Non-Parent Complainants plus Timeline Extension, Final Decision, Implementation, which state that day one runs from the day the complaint first arrives; the Bureau of Parent Engagement and Support as the investigating unit plus the desk audit or on-site choice come from the department's FAQ for Families page, with the model complaint form posted beside the safeguards notice on the department's dispute resolution page; the model form itself is required at Section 300.509(a); the same one year window sits at 34 CFR 300.153(c) with the 60 day limit at 34 CFR 300.152(a) mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2026/02/Volume-III-Chapter-7-8-9-January-2026.pdf
Mediation
The Office of Special Education runs mediation through the same office that takes state complaints. It is voluntary for both sides, free to the family, led by a mediator the office trains then keeps on a list. Assignments come off that list in rotation, so neither side picks the mediator. A mediator cannot be an employee of the department or of the district involved. One Mississippi step is worth knowing before asking. The written mediation request carries both signatures, the family's plus the district's, before parent engagement staff assign anyone to the case. The department pays the mediator along with the cost of the sessions, which are scheduled promptly at a place convenient to both sides. An agreement signed in mediation binds both sides. It can be enforced in a state court or in a federal district court. What gets said in the session stays confidential, so it cannot be used as evidence in a later hearing or court case. Mississippi also offers a calmer option that sits outside the three federal routes. A facilitated IEP meeting puts a trained neutral person in the IEP Committee meeting itself, paid by the department, with no vote on anything the committee decides. That request also carries both signatures plus reaches parent engagement staff at least 10 days before the meeting.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Section 300.506, whose paragraph (b)(7) states that a written signed mediation agreement is enforceable in any state court of competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States, read with the department's Procedures for State Board Policy 74.19, Volume III (January 2026) under the headings Mediation plus Resolution of Dispute through Mediation, which carry the rotational assignment, the bar on a mediator employed by the department or by the district involved, the department bearing the cost plus the confidentiality of the session; the two signature requirement for a mediation request and the 10 day notice for a facilitated IEP meeting come from the department's FAQ for Families page; the federal counterpart sits at 34 CFR 300.506 mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2026/02/Volume-III-Chapter-7-8-9-January-2026.pdf
A due process hearing
Time limit to file: two years from the date the parent or the public agency knew or should have known about the action the complaint is based on.
Either a parent or a public agency can file. The complaint goes to the other side with a copy to the Office of Special Education, addressed to its parent engagement staff in Jackson. The department posts a model request form for it. Mississippi does not send these cases to a separate hearings office. The Office of Special Education assigns the hearing officer, who cannot work for the department or for the district involved. The case follows the federal pattern: a resolution meeting within 15 calendar days of the complaint, a 30 calendar day resolution period, then a written decision within 45 days of the end of that period. A discipline case runs faster, with the hearing inside 20 school days of the filing plus a decision within 10 school days after it ends. Two Mississippi details sit inside the hearing officer's powers. One is dismissal where the party who asked for the hearing has not moved it forward within six months of the request. The other is the authority to order more testing, including an independent evaluation at public expense, where that is what answers the question in front of them. The department sets recommended hourly rates for hearing officers each year then posts them on the special education site. Mississippi runs one level of hearing rather than two, so the decision is final unless a party brings a civil action in a state or federal court within 90 days of it. Decisions reach the state advisory panel plus the public with identifying details removed. The department then checks that districts carry them out, referring a district that does not to the department's accreditation office. The two year filing limit lifts where the public agency misrepresented that it had resolved the problem or held back information it was required to give the family.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Sections 300.507 through 300.516, with the two year filing limit at Section 300.507(a)(2) restated at Section 300.511(e), its two exceptions at Section 300.511(f), the copy of the complaint to the Office of Special Education in Jackson at Section 300.508(a)(2), which the department's FAQ for Families page addresses to its Bureau of Parent Engagement and Support, the bar on a hearing officer employed by the department or by the district involved at Section 300.511(c)(1)(i)(A), the 15 day resolution meeting at Section 300.510(a)(1) with the 30 day resolution period at Section 300.510(b)(1), the 45 day decision at Section 300.515(a), the transmission of decisions to the state advisory panel plus the public with identifiers removed at Section 300.513(d), the finality of a single tier hearing at Section 300.514(a), where Mississippi left the federal state level review paragraphs out, plus the 90 day civil action window at Section 300.516(b), read with the department's Procedures for State Board Policy 74.19, Volume III (January 2026) under the headings Due Process Complaints, Expedited Due Process Procedures, Hearing Officer, Hearing Officer's Authority and Duties, Hearing Decisions, Assurance of Timely Implementation of Hearing Decisions plus Civil Action; the recommended hearing officer rates come from 7 Miss. Code R. Section 3-74.5 (Hearing Officer Fees), which has the department determine them annually then post them on the Office of Special Education website; the same two year limit sits at 34 CFR 300.507(a)(2) with its exceptions at 34 CFR 300.511(f) plus the 90 day civil action window at 34 CFR 300.516(b) mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2026/02/Volume-III-Chapter-7-8-9-January-2026.pdf
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Who to contact in Mississippi
- The state special education office. Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Special Education. This is the office that answers questions about Mississippi rules and receives a state complaint.
- Your rights in writing. Procedural Safeguards: Your Family's Special Education Rights, the edition the Office of Special Education revised in October 2025. 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. MS Parent Training and Information Center, a project of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. 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. 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, the State Policies Regarding Children with Disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 2004, adopted by the Mississippi State Board of Education as State Board Policy Chapter 74, Rule 74.19; the age boundary sits at Section 300.101(a) with the age 21 exception at Section 300.102(a)(1), the graduation limit plus the standard diploma definition at Section 300.102(a)(3), the summary of academic achievement and functional performance at Section 300.305(e)(3), along with the department's school year continuation policy at Section 300.109. Part 34 is the rulebook behind most of this page: child find, evaluations, the disability categories Mississippi recognizes, eligibility, IEP content plus review, least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, discipline along with the state complaint and hearing procedures. The state law under it is the exceptional children chapter that begins at Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-23-1, which mandates free appropriate public educational services for children in the age range 3 through 20. A separate section of that chapter, Miss. Code Ann. Section 37-23-5, is where the department gets its authority to run the program. The age wording matters in practice. Mississippi's own mandate runs 3 through 20 rather than through 21, though the same rulebook adds a department policy that services carry on through the school year in which a student reaches 21 where that student was enrolled in a public agency and was 20 on or before 1 September.
Child Find in Mississippi
Mississippi puts child find on each public agency for children with disabilities living in the state, reaching children who are homeless, children who are wards of the state plus children attending private schools. The department's manual asks each district to designate a child find coordinator, often with a contact person inside each school. Each district also runs a child find publicity campaign at least once a school year, carrying the coordinator's name with contact details, what the district is responsible for, the timelines involved plus a statement that child find covers children from birth through age 21. A parent, a teacher, the school's Teacher Support Team or the district itself can ask for an evaluation, in writing or in conversation. The rule blocks districts from capping how many requests they accept in a year or restricting requests to certain times of year. Two Mississippi wrinkles sit around eligibility. The state uses the developmental delay category from birth through age 9, with a fresh eligibility decision before the child's tenth birthday. Mississippi also states plainly that a district cannot delay or deny an evaluation because a child has not been through the three tier instructional model, which is the state's response to intervention process.
Source: 7 Miss. Code R. Part 34, Section 300.111, whose paragraph (b)(1) sets the developmental delay age range plus the new determination before the tenth birthday, with the ban on limiting requests at Section 300.301(c)(3); the coordinator structure, the annual publicity campaign plus the response to intervention line come from the department's Procedures for State Board Policy 74.19, Volume I (Child Find, Evaluation and Eligibility), Chapter 1 mdek12.org/sites/default/files/documents/part-34-rule-74-19_20160614161027_365113.pdf
