How California IEP Timelines Work

The district has 60 calendar days from the date it receives signed parent consent for assessment to complete the assessment and hold the IEP meeting. Days between regular school sessions or terms, and school vacations longer than five schooldays, are not counted. CA Ed Code §56043(f)(1) and §56344(a).

No. The day the district receives the signed consent, the referral, or the parent's written request is Day 0, and Day 1 is the next calendar day. The Education Code counts from the date of receipt without saying which day is Day 1, so Timly applies California's general rule for computing time: exclude the first day and include the last (Code of Civil Procedure §12). A district that counts the day of receipt as Day 1 reaches the counted day before Timly's date, which still meets the timeline. You can set Timly to count that way under the date field in the calculator. The end-of-year rules work differently. When the IEP is due within 30 days after the next school year begins, or the assessment plan within its first 10 days, Timly counts the first day of school as Day 1, which is one day earlier than the general rule. This does not change when the day of receipt is counted as Day 1.

See a day-by-day example

A break of five schooldays or fewer, like most Thanksgiving weeks, still counts toward the timeline. Only breaks of more than five schooldays stop the clock. The days between school sessions, such as summer, do not count either. This applies to the 60-day, 15-day, and 30-day timelines. For the 60-day and 15-day timelines, the count resumes on the day school returns, so a weekend between a break and the first day back is not counted either. The 30-day timeline has no such rule, so that weekend counts toward it. CA Ed Code §56344(a), §56321(a), and §56343.5. Enter your district's first and last day of school and every break, using the exact start and end dates on your district calendar. Timly decides which breaks stop the clock. Timly excludes the break dates as you enter them, treats two breaks separated only by a weekend as one break, and resumes the count as described above.

When a referral is made 30 days or less before the end of the regular school year, the IEP is developed within 30 days after the next school year begins. Timly applies this rule using the consent date you enter. CA Ed Code §56344(a).

Within 15 calendar days of the referral, not counting days between school sessions or vacations longer than five schooldays. When a referral is made 10 days or less before the end of the school year, the plan is due within the first 10 days of the next school year. CA Ed Code §56321(a).

30 days from the date the district receives the parent's written request, not counting days between school sessions or vacations longer than five schooldays. If the request is made orally, the district tells the parent a written request is needed. CA Ed Code §56343.5.

By the child's third birthday. For a child moving from early intervention (Part C) to preschool special education (Part B), the district ensures an IEP has been developed and is being implemented by that date. If the birthday falls during the summer, the IEP team decides when services begin. CA Ed Code §56426.9; 34 CFR §300.124(b).

Subtract the date of birth from the test date and express the result in years, months, and days. Timly's age calculator does this and formats it for a report.

No. The break exclusion and end-of-year rules are California's, and many states count in school days or business days. A California calculation would give the wrong date elsewhere, so Timly does not offer one.

Included for everyone: all four timeline calculators, the age calculator, your district calendar, the citation, and the full calculation breakdown. Pro is $79 per year and adds the full-year deadline chart, the audit PDF, and unlimited saved cases.

Not on any server. Timly runs in your browser with no account. The dates you enter, your school calendar, and any saved cases stay on your device.

Every timeline is tested for every day of the school year, including dates that cross breaks, the end of the year, and summer. Each result shows the rule applied and the Education Code section behind it. Always confirm deadlines against your own district's calendar and procedures.