Pennsylvania IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)
- Evaluation window
- 60 calendar days
- The clock starts at
- Written parental consent
- State complaint deadline
- One year
- Due process deadline
- Two years
How long does a school in Pennsylvania have to complete an IEP evaluation?
A Pennsylvania school district has 60 calendar days from the day it receives written parental consent to finish an initial evaluation and hand the parents a copy of the evaluation report. The count skips the summer break, from the day after the last day of the spring term through the day before the first day of the fall term, so consent signed in June produces a deadline that lands well into the following school year. A parent who asks verbally receives the permission to evaluate form within 10 calendar days, then the 60 day count begins when the district gets that form back signed. Copies of the evaluation report reach parents at least 10 school days before the IEP team meets unless a parent waives that in writing. A family that disagrees with what the district decides has three routes split between two bodies: a written state complaint to the Bureau of Special Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, with mediation and due process hearings going instead to the Office for Dispute Resolution, a separate office that also covers gifted education and early intervention.
The evaluation timeline in Pennsylvania
| Initial evaluation window | 60 calendar days (summer break excluded from the count) |
|---|---|
| The clock starts at | receipt of written parental consent |
| Against the federal rule | A timeframe Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania has done, so the window above is the one that applies here.
Pennsylvania keeps the federal 60 calendar day number but excludes the entire summer break from the count, from the day after the spring term ends through the day before the fall term begins, which can extend the real-world window well past 60 days for a summer referral.
Source: 22 Pa. Code Section 14.123(b) www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter14/s14.123.html&d=reduce
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 Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania keeps the federal three year outer limit for most students. It then writes two shorter cycles of its own. A student identified with an intellectual disability is reevaluated at least once every 2 years. A child in preschool early intervention is reevaluated at least every 2 years as well. Pennsylvania also sets a completion clock that the federal rules leave open: a reevaluation report is finished within 60 calendar days, with the days from the day after the last day of the spring term through the day before the first day of the fall term left out of that count for school age students. The preschool early intervention timeline runs 60 calendar days from written parental consent. The preschool rule does not write the summer exclusion into that timeline. Copies of the reevaluation report reach parents at least 10 school days before the IEP team meets, unless a parent waives that in writing. Annual IEP review follows the federal cadence, because Pennsylvania incorporates the federal review and revision rule by reference rather than writing a review interval of its own.
Source: 22 Pa. Code Sections 14.124(b), 14.124(c) and 14.124(d); preschool early intervention at 22 Pa. Code Section 14.153(4)(i) through (iii); the three year outer limit at 34 CFR 300.303(b)(2) and the annual review at 34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)(i), each incorporated by reference at 22 Pa. Code Section 14.102(a)(2) www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter14/s14.124.html&d=reduce
If you disagree in Pennsylvania
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 Bureau of Special Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Time limit to file: One year, measured from the violation to the date the Bureau of Special Education receives the complaint.
A state complaint is written, signed by the person filing it and sent to the Bureau of Special Education in Harrisburg, with a copy going to the school district or other public agency serving the child at the same time. Pennsylvania lets this route reach further than IDEA alone. The department's own complaint procedures take allegations under IDEA or under 22 Pa. Code Chapters 14, 15 or 711, so a Section 504 service agreement question under Chapter 15 or a charter school question under Chapter 711 fits the same complaint. The bureau interviews the person who filed, can carry out an independent on-site review when it decides one is needed and issues a written complaint investigation report within 60 calendar days of receiving the complaint. That 60 day count runs longer where exceptional circumstances apply to a particular complaint or where both sides agree to more time so they can try mediation or another route. The bureau notifies both sides in writing when it extends. Where the report finds a violation it sets corrective actions with a completion date no later than one year from the day the report issues. A complaint about a preschool early intervention program is forwarded to the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, which resolves that class of complaint instead. The department's dispute resolution page carries the current filing address, which routes a complaint to the Bureau of Special Education at 607 South Drive in Harrisburg for the attention of the Division of Compliance Monitoring and Planning East.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Special Education State Complaint Resolution Procedures, Spring 2025, sections IV.F on the one year window, VI.A and VI.E and VI.F on the investigation, VI.G.5.c on corrective action deadlines, VI.H on the 60 day report and its extensions plus VII on preschool early intervention; the procedure itself required by 22 Pa. Code Section 14.107, which has the Department establish a complaint procedure consistent with 34 CFR 300.151 through 300.153 www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/education/documents/instruction/special-education/compliance/state%20complaint%20resolution%20procedures.pdf
Mediation
Mediation is arranged by the Office for Dispute Resolution rather than by the education department directly. ODR is the office through which the Pennsylvania Department of Education meets its duty to maintain a special education due process system. The department contracts with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit for fiscal support and certain management support of that office, without taking part in its substantive work. Mediation is voluntary on both sides. It can be requested at any point, including after a due process complaint is already filed, without giving up the right to a hearing. ODR contracts with mediators who are trained in mediation and who know special education. ODR pays the mediator cost for a mediation about a student with a disability, while a family that invites extra participants covers those costs. Two styles are offered, facilitative and evaluative. Where the parties find agreement the mediator writes it up as a binding mediation agreement. One request form covers school age children as well as children in early intervention. While a mediation is under way the child stays in the current educational placement unless the school entity and the parents agree otherwise.
Source: Office for Dispute Resolution mediation page for the request timing, the mediator contracts, the two styles, the binding agreement and the cost rule; 34 CFR 300.506(b)(1)(i) on mediation being voluntary and 34 CFR 300.506(b)(4) on the State bearing the cost of the mediation process, each incorporated by reference at 22 Pa. Code Section 14.102(a)(2); 22 Pa. Code Section 14.162(s) on placement during mediation; Office for Dispute Resolution Annual Report, fiscal year 2024, page 2 on the department contract odr-pa.org/mediation/
A due process hearing
Time limit to file: Two years from the date the parent or the agency knew or should have known about the action the complaint is about.
Pennsylvania runs a one level hearing system. A written due process complaint reaches the Office for Dispute Resolution at the same time it reaches the other party, then a hearing officer decides the case. The state's own procedural safeguards notice states that in Pennsylvania the due process system is administered by ODR. ODR gives hearing officers administrative support and collects their data for state and federal reporting, while the hearing officers decide their cases independently. A hearing for a school age child is held in the school district at a place and time reasonably convenient for the parents and the child. It is closed to the public unless the parents ask for an open hearing. When a hearing is open the decision itself becomes public, which is how ODR publishes hearing officer decisions. A party can keep out evidence that was not disclosed at least 5 business days before the hearing. The decision issues within 45 days after the resolution period or mediation ends without agreement, with specific extensions available at a party's request, while an expedited discipline hearing decision is mailed within 30 school days of the request. Pennsylvania has no state level appeals panel: ODR states that either side may take a decision to state court within 30 calendar days or to federal court within 90 calendar days. The two year filing limit lifts where the school district misrepresented that it had resolved the problem or held back information it was required to give the parent. Gifted education disputes use the same office under 22 Pa. Code Chapter 16, with the school district carrying the procedural cost. A hearing that raises only Chapter 15 or Section 504 issues sits outside ODR's federally funded work, so the school district arranges it and carries the cost.
Source: The two year limit at 34 CFR 300.511(e) with its exceptions at 34 CFR 300.511(f) and the 90 day civil action window at 34 CFR 300.516(b), each incorporated by reference at 22 Pa. Code Section 14.102(a)(2), which takes in 34 CFR 300.501 through 300.508 and 34 CFR 300.510 through 300.516; 22 Pa. Code Sections 14.162(d), (e), (k), (o), (p) and (q) for the Pennsylvania hearing procedure; Pennsylvania Procedural Safeguards Notice, the edition effective March 1 2026, its Due Process Complaint section on the two year limit and its Impartial Due Process Hearing section on the system being administered by the Office for Dispute Resolution; Office for Dispute Resolution due process and appeals pages www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter14/s14.162.html&d=reduce
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Who to contact in Pennsylvania
- The state special education office. Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. This is the office that answers questions about Pennsylvania rules and receives a state complaint.
- Your rights in writing. Procedural Safeguards Notice, the model notice the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network posts for the Pennsylvania Department of Education with an effective date of March 1 2026, with translated editions on the same forms site. 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. PEAL Center (Parent Education and Advocacy Leadership Center). 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. 22 Pa. Code Chapter 14 (Special Education Services and Programs); chapter authority note running to the Public School Code of 1949 at sections 1371 through 1382 and 2601-B through 2606-B among others (24 P.S. Sections 13-1371 through 13-1382 and 26-2601-B through 26-2606-B); each section used on this page carrying its own authority note at sections 1372 and 2603-B. Chapter 14 is Pennsylvania's own special education rule book for school districts and other school entities, covering child find, screening, evaluation and reevaluation, the IEP and its named support types, placement, discipline, preschool early intervention and due process hearings, with charter schools and cyber charter schools under Chapter 711, Section 504 service agreements under Chapter 15 and gifted education under Chapter 16.
Child Find in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania splits child find by age. A school district runs child find for school age children through a public outreach awareness system, information in the district handbook and on the district website, plus annual public notification carried in newspapers and electronic media, with potential signs of developmental delay named in what it publishes. A child who is at least 3 and below the district's age of beginners sits in preschool early intervention instead, where child find belongs to an early intervention agency: a school entity or licensed provider holding a mutually agreed upon written arrangement with the state education department. That agency evaluates the child rather than the school district. Its clock runs 60 calendar days from written parental consent. The preschool rule does not write the summer exclusion into that clock. Intermediate units carry child find for children whose parents enrolled them in private schools.
Source: 22 Pa. Code Sections 14.121(a) through (d); definitions of early intervention agency, eligible young child and age of beginners at 22 Pa. Code Section 14.101; 22 Pa. Code Sections 14.151(b)(2), 14.152(a) and 14.153(1) and (4)(i) www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter14/s14.121.html&d=reduce
