Missouri IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)
- Evaluation window
- 60 calendar days
- The clock starts at
- Parental consent
- State complaint deadline
- One year
- Due process deadline
- Two years
How long does a school in Missouri have to complete an IEP evaluation?
A Missouri school district has 60 calendar days from the day a parent signs consent to finish an initial evaluation. The eligibility decision falls inside that same window rather than after it, so the meeting where the team decides whether a student qualifies is part of the count. A separate 30 calendar day clock runs before that one, since the district sends a notice of intent to evaluate within 30 calendar days of a referral. Missouri writes one extension into its own rule that the federal regulations leave out, which is a delay for just cause such as a summer or holiday break or a student illness, documented in the student's record. When a family disagrees with a decision, the Office of Special Education at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education investigates written child complaints going back one year then arranges free mediation, while due process hearings are decided by a commissioner of the Administrative Hearing Commission, a separate tribunal that sits outside the education department.
The evaluation timeline in Missouri
| Initial evaluation window | 60 calendar 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)). Missouri keeps that default rather than setting a timeframe of its own.
Missouri follows the federal 60 calendar day default and puts the eligibility decision inside that same window. The rule words the start point as parent consent or notice, whichever applies, so in the ordinary case the count begins at consent. The state rule also allows a delay for just cause, such as a summer or holiday break or a student illness, documented in the student's record.
Source: Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation III (Identification and Evaluation), Section C (Procedures for Evaluation and Determination of Eligibility), under the heading Evaluation Timelines, incorporated by reference at 5 CSR 20-300.110 dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/regulation-iii-identification-and-evaluation-state-plan-special-education-part-b
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 Missouri
Missouri keeps the federal cadence. A reevaluation happens at least once every three years unless the family and the district agree one is not needed. It happens no more than once a year unless both sides agree otherwise. The IEP team reviews the IEP at least once a year. Missouri then closes a gap the federal rules leave open. When a parent or a district asks for a reevaluation, the initial evaluation timelines apply to it, so the district sends a notice of intent to evaluate within 30 calendar days of the request then completes the reevaluation within 60 calendar days of consent. The same just cause allowance for school breaks or student illness carries over, documented in the student's record.
Source: Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation III (Identification and Evaluation), Section C (Procedures for Evaluation and Determination of Eligibility), under the headings Reevaluations and Evaluation Timelines, which states the same three year and annual limits as 34 CFR 300.303(b). The annual IEP review sits in Regulation IV (FAPE/IEP/LRE), Section D (Individualized Education Program Participation), under the heading Review and Revision of IEPs, which states the same requirement as 34 CFR 300.324(b)(1). The Regulation IV document is linked in the Sources block. dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/regulation-iii-identification-and-evaluation-state-plan-special-education-part-b
If you disagree in Missouri
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 Office of Special Education at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, with the decision letter signed by the Commissioner of Education or a designee. Time limit to file: one year from the date of the alleged violation.
Missouri calls this route the child complaint process. Any individual or organization can file a signed written complaint stating that a public agency violated a special education requirement, with a copy going to that agency at the same time it reaches the department. Skipping the copy delays the start of the investigation clock to the day the department sends the agency its own copy. The one year runs back from the date the complaint reaches the department. The department then has 60 calendar days from the arrival of the completed complaint to investigate and resolve it, with an on-site visit where staff decide one is needed. The Commissioner of Education or a designee can extend that window for exceptional circumstances or when both sides agree in writing to try mediation, which adds up to 30 days. Resolution comes as a decision letter carrying findings of fact, conclusions and the reasons behind them, ordering corrective action where it finds a public agency out of compliance. Those findings are the department's final decision. The rule states that no further appeal is available. Where the same issue is already before a hearing, the department sets that part aside until the hearing ends. The department publishes a model child complaint form numbered MO 500-3157.
Source: Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation V (Procedural Safeguards/Discipline), Section F (Child Complaint Process), with the one year limit and the copy to the agency under Filing a Complaint, the 60 calendar day investigation, the extension grounds and the 30 day mediation extension under Investigation Timelines, the decision letter under Resolution of the Complaint then the finality under Final Decision, with the set-aside under Complaints Filed Under This Section and Due Process Hearings; the model form number from the department's dispute resolution page; the same one year window sits at 34 CFR 300.153(c) with the 60 day decision at 34 CFR 300.152(a) dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/regulation-v-procedural-safeguardsdiscipline-state-plan-special-education-part-b
Mediation
Missouri law keeps lawyers out of the mediation room. No attorney may attend or participate on behalf of any party at a special education mediation session, though a parent may be accompanied by a lay advocate. Both sides have to agree to mediate before it starts. The Office of Special Education keeps a trained mediator list, assigns a mediator on a rotational basis then sends a letter empowering that person to proceed. The statute puts the department in charge of making mediation available at no cost, so it costs the family nothing and it costs the district nothing. The clock is short: a session is scheduled within 15 days of the assignment then completed within 30 days of it, with an extension only for exceptional circumstances or by written agreement. No more than three people can accompany each side unless both agree to more. Any agreement is written, signed by both sides then enforceable in a state or federal court. What was said in the session stays confidential. Mediation never delays or denies a family's right to a due process hearing. A family already in the complaint process can ask for mediation by email. The department publishes a mediation request form numbered MO 500-3161. It also offers a facilitated IEP meeting at no cost, where a neutral facilitator helps the team work through a disagreement, with its own model form.
Source: Missouri Revised Statutes section 162.959 (mediation of dispute available, when; agreement to be in writing; attorney not permitted, when) for the attorney bar, the three person limit, the written agreement then the department's duty to make mediation available at no cost to parents or guardians and the participating school district, with the process detail in the Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation V (Procedural Safeguards/Discipline), Section G (Mediation), covering the rotational assignment, the 15 day scheduling step, the 30 day completion step, confidentiality then enforceability; the request routes, the facilitated IEP option and the model form number from the department's dispute resolution page; the federal baseline sits at 34 CFR 300.506 revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=162.959
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 about.
Missouri splits the filing desk from the hearing room. A due process complaint goes to the Office of Special Education at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which forwards it within two business days to the Administrative Hearing Commission, a separate tribunal that state law assigns to the Office of Administration. The commission says on its own site that it cannot take a complaint directly. A complaint counts as filed on the day it reaches the department inside the Office of Special Education's business hours, posted as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., so one that lands after that opens the next business day. Everything after the handoff, from sufficiency challenges to the final decision, is handled by a commissioner of that body rather than by the education department. A hearing commissioner cannot have worked for the department, the State Board of Education, a public agency or a special education advocacy organization in the past five years. That person takes at least 10 hours of initial special education training plus 5 hours a year after that. The hearing is closed unless the family opens it. A written decision follows within 45 days of the end of the 30 day resolution period. The hearing commissioner can extend that only when a party asks. Once a decision is final, no motion for reconsideration is available, though a party can ask to fix a technical or typographical error that does not change the outcome. Either side can then appeal within 45 days to a state court under Chapter 536 of the Missouri statutes or file in federal court. The statute measures those 45 days from receipt of the notice of the final decision. The court receives the administrative record, hears additional evidence at a party's request then decides on the preponderance of the evidence. The two year filing limit lifts where a public agency misrepresented that it had resolved the issue or held back information it was required to give the family. The department publishes a model due process form numbered MO 500-3156. The commission notes that these hearings cover disputes under the federal special education law rather than Section 504 or ADA claims.
Source: Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation V (Procedural Safeguards/Discipline), Section H (Due Process Complaint), which states the two year limit and its two exceptions under Filing a Due Process Complaint, the filing-date rule in the same section then the two business day forwarding under Administrative Hearing Commission to Process and Hear the Complaints; Section J (State-Level Due Process Hearings) for the commissioner qualifications, the closed hearing, the 45 day decision under Timelines and Convenience, the finality under Finality of Decision then the court routes under Civil Proceedings; Missouri Revised Statutes section 162.961 (due process hearing before administrative hearing commission) with section 162.962 (decision subject to review, when, procedure) for the 45 day appeal measured from receipt of the notice of the final decision and section 621.015 for the commission being assigned to the office of administration; the posted business hours and the model form number from the department's dispute resolution page; the federal deadline in the form used here sits at 34 CFR 300.511(e), with Missouri's own wording tracking 34 CFR 300.507(a)(2) and the decision timeline at 34 CFR 300.515 dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/regulation-v-procedural-safeguardsdiscipline-state-plan-special-education-part-b
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Who to contact in Missouri
- The state special education office. Office of Special Education, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This is the office that answers questions about Missouri rules and receives a state complaint.
- Your rights in writing. Procedural Safeguards Notice, Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, published by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and carrying an August 2009 date, posted with more than forty translations plus an American Sign Language version. 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. Missouri Parents Act, known as MPACT. 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. Missouri Revised Statutes sections 162.670 to 162.999 (special education for children with disabilities), with the operating rules held in the Missouri State Plan for Special Education, incorporated by reference at 5 CSR 20-300.110. These statute sections sit under the chapter heading Special Educational Services and carry Missouri's own special education law, from the policy statement at 162.670 through evaluation and notice duties, mediation at 162.959, due process hearings at 162.961, court review at 162.962 then educational surrogates at 162.999. The working detail sits in the Missouri State Plan for Special Education, a set of sixteen numbered regulations the department publishes for families and schools, which a single administrative rule adopts by reference so the plan carries the force of a state regulation.
Child Find in Missouri
Missouri writes an annual public notice duty into child find that most states leave to local practice. Before November 1 each year, every local education agency publishes one notice in a local newspaper or on its own website, airs one notice on local radio or television during general viewing hours, posts notices in the administrative office of every building it operates then sends written information to the families of the students it enrolls. Each notice describes the agency's responsibility to provide special education and related services to students ages 3 to 21. The newspaper or website version also describes the duty to refer infants and toddlers who may have a disability to the state early intervention system. The department coordinates child find from birth through age 21 and is also the lead agency for the early intervention system, First Steps, which serves infants and toddlers from birth to age 3, so both age bands sit inside the same state agency. Four other state departments take part. Mental Health, Health and Senior Services then the Children's Division and Rehabilitation Services for the Blind inside Social Services refer the children they identify to local public agencies or to the early intervention system. Two other units, the Division of Youth Services inside Social Services and the Department of Corrections, identify students in their own facilities then provide special education there.
Source: Missouri State Plan for Special Education, Regulation III (Identification and Evaluation), Section A, with the four annual notice activities and the November 1 date under Child Find for Public Agencies, the birth to 21 coordination in the opening paragraphs then the participating departments under Child Find for State Agencies; First Steps is named as the Part C system in Regulation IV (FAPE/IEP/LRE), Section D (Individualized Education Program Participation); the department's own First Steps page names it the lead state agency for Part C, birth to age 3 dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/regulation-iii-identification-and-evaluation-state-plan-special-education-part-b
