California IEP Timeline Cheat Sheet

    Timly Pro

    The three timelines

    15-day assessment plan. 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).

    60-day assessment and IEP meeting. 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).

    30-day parent-requested IEP meeting. 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.

    Counting rules

    • The day of receipt is Day 0 and Day 1 is the next calendar day (Code of Civil Procedure §12). A district that counts the day of receipt as Day 1 can set Timly to count that way; deadlines then fall one counted day earlier.
    • 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).

    Worked example

    Example only. This uses a sample 2026-27 calendar: first day of school August 12, 2026, last day June 3, 2027, winter break December 21, 2026 through January 1, 2027, and spring break March 29 through April 9, 2027. District calendars vary, so enter your district's dates at usetimly.com for an exact deadline.

    • Signed consent received: Monday, November 30, 2026 (Day 0)
    • 60 calendar days with nothing excluded would land on Friday, January 29, 2027.
    • Winter break, December 21, 2026 through January 1, 2027, is longer than five schooldays. The count stops for the break and resumes on Monday, January 4, 2027, as Day 21, when school returns, so the 14 calendar days from December 21 through January 3 are not counted.
    • 60-day deadline: Friday, February 12, 2027. CA Ed Code §56344(a).
    • Day-by-day calendar for this example: usetimly.com/60-day-iep-timeline-calculator
    QR code linking to usetimly.com

    Calculate any deadline at usetimly.com.

    Confirm every deadline against your district's calendar and procedures.