Understand each step from evaluation request to IEP.

What this guide covers

This is a general overview of the initial public-agency special education evaluation and IEP process, based on 6.31.2 NMAC and federal IDEA regulations. It is not an individualized legal opinion or a deadline calculator.

Preschool transitions, transfers, parentally placed private-school and homeschool circumstances can involve additional requirements. Ask the responsible agency which rules apply to your situation. A clinical diagnosis, tutoring observation or school screening is not by itself the full school eligibility determination.

1. Request and school response

Under 6.31.2.10(D), a parent may request an initial evaluation orally or in writing to licensed personnel at the school the student attends. The request must be forwarded or communicated to the appropriate school or district special education director or administrator as soon as possible.

The usual response deadline is 15 school days after receipt. If the request arrives within 15 school days before a scheduled period with no required student attendance lasting at least 14 calendar days, the rule instead specifies a response within 30 calendar days of the request.

The response is prior written notice proposing the evaluation and seeking consent, or prior written notice refusing it; a procedural safeguards notice accompanies either response. A request does not guarantee eligibility or mean evaluation consent has already been received.

2. Consent and initial evaluation

Section 6.31.2.10(E) addresses written informed parental consent. Under subsection (F), the initial evaluation and its written report must ordinarily be completed within 60 calendar days after the agency receives parental consent for evaluation.

The 60-day rule has specified exceptions: repeated parent failure or refusal to produce the child for evaluation; or a transfer to another public agency during the evaluation period before eligibility is determined. The transfer exception requires sufficient progress toward prompt completion and agreement between the parent and new agency on a specific completion time.

Do not start this evaluation clock from the first conversation or assume summer automatically pauses calendar days. Keep the consent-receipt date and ask the agency to explain any exception it believes applies.

3. Report and eligibility meeting

Under 6.31.2.10(G)(4), parents receive the written evaluation or reevaluation report at least two calendar days before the eligibility determination team meeting. Subsection (J) ordinarily requires that meeting within 15 school days after completion of the evaluation and written report.

If the evaluation is completed during a scheduled period with no required attendance for at least 14 calendar days, subsection (J) requires both eligibility and, if eligible, IEP development or revision meetings no later than 15 school days after attendance resumes.

The eligibility team includes the parent and qualified professionals. It considers whether the child has a disability and needs special education and related services. An assessment score or diagnosis should not be treated as the sole decision.

4. Initial IEP and services

Federal IDEA regulation §300.323(c) requires an initial IEP-development meeting within 30 days after determining that a child needs special education and related services. Services must be made available as soon as possible after IEP development in accordance with the plan.

Read this alongside the New Mexico school-break provision above and applicable preschool-transition requirements. Under §300.101(b), an eligible child must have an IEP or qualifying IFSP in effect by the third birthday. For a summer birthday, the IEP team determines when services begin; that exception does not waive the plan requirement. Do not add every general timeline together as an automatic entitlement to delay the transition.

Ask when the meeting will occur, what documents will be available and how the start of services will be communicated. This guide does not resolve competing timing requirements for an individual case.

• IDEA third-birthday and summer service-start rule
• Plan the preschool-to-school handoff

Keep a process record

An optional record can help keep the stages clear. It is not an official form. Record actual dates and retain the original notices rather than filling in assumed dates.

• Request: when, how and to whom it was made.
• Response: proposal or refusal, and safeguards received.
• Consent: what was signed and when the agency received it.
• Evaluation: report completion and when you received a copy.
• Meetings: eligibility decision and initial IEP meeting dates.
• Services: the plan’s stated arrangements and questions still open.

Where tutoring and parent guidance fit

Private tutoring provides academic instruction; it does not conduct the school’s eligibility decision or create an official school IEP. You do not need to buy tutoring before asking the school for an evaluation.

For questions or disagreements, use NMPED’s procedural resources and appropriate qualified advice. Our separate IEP support page explains parent guidance options, including the $29.95, 30-minute phone consultation and IEP Momentum membership. Neither is required to contact the school or public resources.