The IEP Toolkit

Maine IEP evaluation deadline: how long does the school have?

You made the referral. Here is exactly what Maine law requires next, and what to do if the date passes.

45 school days

From the day the school receives the referral — not from your consent — the IEP team must meet to review the completed initial evaluation.

Day type
School days
Clock starts at
Receipt of the referral
What the deadline covers
The completed initial evaluation and the IEP team meeting to review it
Legal citation
MUSER, 05-071 CMR ch. 101

The part most parents miss: Maine starts the clock at referral

In most states the clock does not start until you sign consent — which means a district can spend weeks getting you the consent form, and none of that time counts against it.

Maine is different, and it is better for parents. The 45 school days run from the day the school receives the referral. Delay in producing paperwork eats the district's own time, not yours.

So the single most important thing you can do is make the referral in writing and keep proof of the date it was received. That date is your deadline anchor.

There is an earlier deadline too. The consent-to-evaluate form must be sent to you within 15 school days of the referral. If three school weeks have gone by and no consent form has arrived, that is its own problem — raise it in writing without waiting for the 45-day date.

School days mean summer does not count

Maine counts school days. Days when students are not in attendance for instruction never count toward the 45 — weekends, holidays, breaks, and summer all pause the count on their own. Forty-five school days is roughly nine weeks of actual school.

How to count your deadline

  1. Find the date the school received the referral. Not the date you wrote it — the date it arrived.
  2. Count forward 45 school days using your district's calendar.
  3. Skip every non-school day — weekends, holidays, breaks, summer.
  4. That date is the deadline for the IEP team to meet and review the completed initial evaluation.
  5. Separately, count 15 school days from the referral. That is when the consent-to-evaluate form was due to you.

What to do if the deadline passes

  1. Put it in writing the same week. Email the case manager and the special education director. State the referral date, the deadline date, and that it has passed. A phone call creates no record.
  2. Ask for prior written notice. If the school refuses or delays, you are entitled to a written explanation of what it is doing and why.
  3. File a state complaint. A missed timeline is a straightforward compliance violation. In Maine this goes to the Maine Department of Education. It is free and does not require a lawyer.
  4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.

Free: IEP evaluation deadlines for all 51 jurisdictions

A one-page chart of every state's deadline, day type, and when the clock starts — plus a playbook for when a district blows the date.

Get the free cheat sheet

Need the letters too? The Evaluation Request Kit has fill-in templates for the request, the follow-up, and the complaint.

Sources

Verified July 2026. State rules change — confirm against the current code before relying on a date.