Delaware Administrative Code 925 and 926: The Rules Behind Every IEP Decision

Every time a Delaware school district evaluates a child, develops an IEP, or denies a parent's request, it is operating under specific state regulations. Knowing those regulations by name gives you leverage that citing federal law alone does not — because districts answer to Delaware's DDOE, not just to the U.S. Department of Education.

Delaware's special education regulations live in Title 14 of the Delaware Administrative Code. Special education is governed primarily by Chapters 922 through 929. Of these, Sections 925 and 926 are the two you will need to reference most often: 925 governs evaluations and IEP development; 926 governs procedural safeguards and parent rights.

Title 14, Section 925: Evaluations, Eligibility, and IEPs

Section 925 is the regulatory backbone for the evaluation and IEP process. Its key provisions include:

Evaluation timelines. Under 925-2.0, once a parent provides signed written consent for an initial evaluation, the district must complete the evaluation and determine eligibility within 45 school days or 90 calendar days — whichever is shorter. This dual-metric timeline is stricter than many other states and means that evaluations cannot simply be pushed into summer indefinitely. The clock runs on both metrics simultaneously from the day you sign consent.

MTSS cannot delay evaluation. The regulations explicitly state that a child's participation in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation for a child suspected of having a disability. If the school is telling you they need to go through "more intervention tiers" before they can evaluate, and a disability is already suspected, cite Section 925 directly. Request the evaluation in writing regardless of where the MTSS process stands.

Child Find obligations. Delaware's Child Find mandate, codified under Title 14 and aligned with IDEA, requires every district to actively identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities residing in the district who need special education services — including children in private schools, charter schools, and home settings. If you suspect your child has a disability and the school has not initiated evaluation, Child Find is the legal obligation you are invoking when you submit a written request.

IEP team composition. Section 925 specifies who must be present at an IEP team meeting. For initial eligibility determinations, a certified school psychologist must attend. If oral expression or listening comprehension is at issue, a licensed speech-language pathologist is also required. At any IEP meeting, the required members include the parent, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a district representative authorized to commit resources, and someone capable of interpreting the evaluation results. If a meeting occurs without required members present, the resulting decisions may be procedurally deficient.

Developmental Delay as an eligibility category. Delaware recognizes Developmental Delay as an eligibility category for children up to their ninth birthday. This matters for young children whose specific disability may not yet be formally diagnosable. A child who does not meet the criteria for a named IDEA category can still qualify for services under the Developmental Delay category if they meet the applicable criteria.

Transition services start at 14 — or 8th grade. Federal law requires transition planning by age 16. Delaware's Section 925 is more proactive: transition services must be included in the first IEP to be in effect when a student turns 14, or enters the 8th grade, whichever is earlier. If your child is approaching 8th grade and transition planning has not been discussed, raise it at the next IEP meeting.

IEP standards alignment. Delaware requires IEPs to be standards-based, aligned with the Common Core State Standards through the state's WRITES initiative. Goals should connect to the standards the student is working toward, not be written in isolation from the general education curriculum.

Title 14, Section 926: Procedural Safeguards and Parent Rights

Section 926 is the parent rights section. It spells out what the district must tell you, what rights you have at each stage, and how to enforce those rights.

Prior Written Notice. Every time the district proposes to initiate or change — or refuses to initiate or change — your child's identification, evaluation, placement, or provision of FAPE, it must issue a Prior Written Notice (PWN). The PWN must describe the action, explain the reasons for it, identify the data the district relied on, list the options considered and the reasons they were rejected, and describe any other relevant factors. If a district is denying your request verbally without issuing a PWN, it is violating Section 926. Request the PWN in writing; the existence of that obligation is what forces districts to document their refusals.

Independent Educational Evaluations at public expense. Under 926, if you disagree with an evaluation conducted by the district, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense. Upon that request, the district must either agree to fund the IEE promptly or file a due process complaint to prove its own evaluation was appropriate. The district cannot simply deny the request and do nothing. While the district may establish criteria for IEEs (including geographic limits and evaluator qualifications), it cannot impose cost caps so restrictive that they effectively prevent a parent from obtaining a qualified evaluator. Past Delaware administrative complaints — including DE AC 16-13 against the Red Clay Consolidated School District — have scrutinized exactly this kind of restrictive IEE cost criterion.

Stay-put rights. Under 926, if a parent files a due process complaint, the child must remain in their current educational placement pending the outcome of all proceedings, unless both parties agree to a different arrangement. This is a critical protection against unilateral placement changes while a dispute is in progress.

Evaluation timeline for records access. Parents have the right to review all educational records relevant to the IEP process. Under Delaware law, the district must provide access to records promptly and no later than 45 calendar days after a request. Before any IEP meeting, request the evaluation reports, progress notes, and any documents that will be discussed.

Recording IEP meetings. Section 926 does not explicitly address audio recording of meetings, but Delaware's wiretapping statutes create a conflict. Delaware's one-party consent statute (11 Del. C. § 2402) permits recording by a single party. However, Delaware's privacy law (11 Del. C. § 1335) criminalizes interception of private communications without all-party consent. Advocates universally recommend operating under the stricter all-party rule: request permission to record the meeting in advance, and document that consent on the record.

FAPE in Delaware

Free Appropriate Public Education is the foundational guarantee underlying all of Title 14. Under 14 DE Admin. Code 923, FAPE must be available to all children with disabilities in Delaware from their third birthday until receipt of a regular high school diploma or August 31st of the school year in which the student turns 22.

FAPE does not mean the best possible education. It means an education that is appropriate — tailored to the child's individual needs, delivered in the least restrictive environment, and sufficient to allow the child to make meaningful educational progress. Districts frequently argue that their program provides FAPE even when it falls short of what parents believe the child needs. Understanding that FAPE is a legal floor, not a ceiling, helps clarify when a district's offer is legally defensible and when it is not.

If you are citing Delaware regulations in a letter to the district, reference them precisely: "14 DE Admin. Code 925, Section 2.0" or "14 DE Admin. Code 926." This specificity signals that you know the regulatory framework and are not relying on general impressions of the law.

The Delaware IEP & 504 Blueprint includes the full regulatory timeline under Section 925, a Prior Written Notice request template citing Section 926, and a checklist for verifying that the district's evaluation met all Section 925 team composition requirements.

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