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

You signed the consent form. Here is exactly what Texas law requires next, and what to do if the date passes.

The part most parents miss: these are school days, and there are two carve-outs

School days only count days students are in attendance for instruction. Texas says this plainly: a "school day" does not include days after the last instructional day of the spring term and before the first instructional day of the fall term (Tex. Educ. Code § 29.004(a-1)). Summer does not count. A 45-school-day clock signed in May does not mean a report in June.

On top of that, two carve-outs can move your date:

1. Absences. If your child is absent 3 or more school days during the evaluation window, the deadline extends day for day.
2. Late-in-the-year consent. If the district receives your consent 35 to 44 school days before the last instructional day of the year, the report is instead due by June 30, and the ARD committee must meet by the 15th school day of the following school year.

How to count your deadline

1. Find the date the district received your signed written consent. Not the date you mailed it — the date they got it.
2. Count forward 45 school days using the district's instructional calendar. Skip weekends, holidays, and any day school is not in session.
3. Add a day for each school day your child was absent, if the absences totaled 3 or more school days.
4. If you signed 35 to 44 school days before the last instructional day, use June 30 instead — and expect the ARD by the 15th school day of the next year.
5. That date is the deadline for the written FIE report. Then add 30 calendar days for the ARD meeting.

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 consent date, the deadline date, and that it has passed. A phone call creates no record.
2. Ask for prior written notice. If the district 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 Texas this goes to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). It is free and does not require a lawyer.
4. Keep the paper trail. Every date, every email, every response.