Wyoming IEP Evaluation Timeline, Dispute Routes and Parent Resources (2026)
- Evaluation window
- 60 calendar days
- The clock starts at
- Parental consent
- State complaint deadline
- Within one year
- Due process deadline
- Two years
How long does a school in Wyoming have to complete an IEP evaluation?
Wyoming keeps the federal clock for an initial special education evaluation: 60 calendar days from the day a parent gives written consent for the evaluation. The state sets no separate day count, because its Chapter 7 rules adopt the federal evaluation regulations at 34 CFR 300.301 through 300.311 by reference. Age shapes where that evaluation happens more here than in most states. Children three through five are commonly served through a regional developmental preschool contracted with the Wyoming Department of Health, so a preschool evaluation often begins at a child development center rather than the local district office. When a family and a school district disagree, the Wyoming Department of Education Special Education Programs Division administers all three routes: a state complaint about something that happened in the past year, voluntary mediation the state pays for or a due process hearing that reaches back two years.
The evaluation timeline in Wyoming
| 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)). Wyoming keeps that default rather than setting a timeframe of its own.
Wyoming follows the federal 60 calendar day default for the initial comprehensive evaluation.
Source: Wyoming Chapter 7 Rules, Section 7-4 edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/WY-Chapter-7-Rules-Students-with-Disabilities-Susan-Shipley.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 Wyoming
Wyoming does not set its own cadence here, so the federal defaults are what apply. A reevaluation happens at least once every three years unless the parent and the school agree one is not needed. It happens no more often than once a year unless they agree otherwise (34 CFR 300.303(b)). The IEP team reviews the IEP at least once a year to check progress against the annual goals (34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)).
If you disagree in Wyoming
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 Wyoming Department of Education, Special Education Programs Division. Time limit to file: Within one year of the alleged violation.
A signed written state complaint goes to the Special Education Programs Division at the Wyoming Department of Education, which investigates and issues a written decision with findings of fact within 60 calendar days. The complaint can allege a violation that happened no more than one year before the department receives it. Wyoming's own rule has the department resolving any state complaint alleging a violation of Wyoming or federal law and its comparison chart names the Wyoming Chapter 7 rules alongside IDEA, so a state rule breach counts as well as a federal one. Whoever files sends a copy to the school district or public agency serving the child at the same time.
Source: Wyoming Notice of Procedural Safeguards (May 2025), Filing a Complaint, which carries the one year window at 34 CFR 300.153(c), the copy-to-district step at 300.153(d) and the 60 calendar day decision limit at 300.152(a); 206-7 Wyo. Code R. Section 7-7(b), which adopts 34 CFR 300.151 through 300.153 by reference rather than restating the window; WDE Dispute Resolution Chart edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/WDE-Procedural-Safeguards-2025.pdf
Mediation
Mediation is voluntary for the family and for the school district, with no filing deadline attached to it. The Wyoming Department of Education keeps a list of qualified mediators, picks them on a random, rotational or other impartial basis and pays the cost of the mediation process, including the cost of the meetings. A mediator cannot be an employee of the department or of the district involved with the child. An agreement reached in mediation is written down, signed by both sides and enforceable in a state or federal court. What people say during mediation stays confidential.
Source: Wyoming Notice of Procedural Safeguards (May 2025), Mediation, which carries the qualified mediator list and impartial selection at 34 CFR 300.506(b)(3) and the state paying the cost at 300.506(b)(4); 206-7 Wyo. Code R. Section 7-7(a), which adopts 34 CFR 300.506 by reference rather than restating those terms; WDE Dispute Resolution Chart edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/WDE-Procedural-Safeguards-2025.pdf
A due process hearing
Time limit to file: Two years from when the party knew or should have known about the alleged violation.
A due process complaint can raise identification, evaluation, educational placement or the provision of a free appropriate public education. The two year lookback drops away where a district misrepresented that it had resolved the issue or withheld information IDEA required it to give the parent. An impartial hearing officer who is not an employee of the department or of the district hears the case. The Wyoming Department of Education keeps the list of hearing officers together with their qualifications. Wyoming's chart puts the whole process at 75 calendar days: a resolution meeting within 15 days of the complaint, a resolution period of up to 30 days, then a written decision within 45 days after that. Either side can appeal a hearing officer's decision by bringing a civil action in a state or federal court within 90 days. Wyoming sets no window of its own, so the federal measure runs from the date of the decision. The state's own safeguards notice words that same window as running from the day the decision is mailed.
Source: Wyoming Notice of Procedural Safeguards (May 2025), Filing a Request for a Due Process Hearing, which carries the two year lookback and its exceptions at 34 CFR 300.507(a)(2), the hearing officer terms at 300.511(c) and the 90 day civil action window at 300.516(b); 206-7 Wyo. Code R. Section 7-7(c), which adopts 34 CFR 300.507 through 300.518 and 300.532 by reference rather than restating the two year limit; WDE Dispute Resolution Chart edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/WDE-Procedural-Safeguards-2025.pdf
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Who to contact in Wyoming
- The state special education office. Wyoming Department of Education, Special Education Programs Division. This is the office that answers questions about Wyoming rules and receives a state complaint.
- Your rights in writing. Notice of Procedural Safeguards, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (May 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. Parent Information Center, run by Parents Helping Parents of Wyoming. 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. Wyoming Department of Education Rules, Chapter 7, Services for Children with Disabilities (206-7 Wyo. Code R.). Chapter 7 is Wyoming's special education rule chapter, covering child find, evaluation and eligibility, the IEP process, placement, discipline, dispute resolution and state monitoring for children age three through the end of the school year in which they turn twenty-one.
Child Find in Wyoming
School districts and public agencies carry the child find duty in Wyoming under the federal standard, with two age related wrinkles families notice. For children birth through two, districts coordinate child find with the early intervention providers rather than running it alone. For children three through five, state law hands responsibility for a free appropriate public education to a division of the Wyoming Department of Health, which contracts with a regional developmental preschool system, so a family with a preschooler is often pointed to a child development center first. A school district takes on that responsibility for a child who is already receiving services from that district and who turns five on or before August 1 of the year the child may register for kindergarten. The statute allows September 15 instead under an approved request. Wyoming's Chapter 7 rules state the same shift using the September 15 date.
Source: 206-7 Wyo. Code R. Sections 7-4(a) and 7-9(b); W.S. 21-2-701 through 21-2-704 edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/WY-Chapter-7-Rules-Students-with-Disabilities-Susan-Shipley.pdf
