How to Request a Special Education Evaluation in Montana

Parents often wait too long to request a special education evaluation. They assume the school will flag the problem. They try tutoring, then a 504 plan, then more tutoring. By the time they finally request an evaluation, a year or two of educational loss has accumulated. In Montana, you can request a special education evaluation at any time — there is no waiting period, no prerequisite, and no requirement to have tried everything else first. Knowing how the process works makes it easier to start it.

Who Can Request an Evaluation

Any parent can request a special education evaluation, at any time, for any child they believe may have a disability affecting their education. You do not need the teacher's agreement. You do not need a doctor's note. You do not need a formal diagnosis. You do not need to have tried a multi-tiered support system first, though many districts will mention those supports as a reason to wait — they are not a legal prerequisite to an evaluation request.

If you have concerns about how your child is accessing or progressing in their education, you have the right to request an evaluation.

Put It in Writing

Oral requests for evaluations are easily lost or misremembered. An email is sufficient — it does not need to be a formal letter — but it needs to be in writing and needs to be sent to someone at the school who has authority to act on it: the special education coordinator, the principal, or the district's special education director.

Your written request creates a paper trail and starts the legal clock. Montana has a 60 calendar day timeline from the date of written consent (not from the date of the request) — but your written request is the record of when the process began.

What to include in the request:

• Your child's full name, date of birth, and school
• A description of your concerns — what you are observing at home, what teachers have reported, what you have noticed academically or behaviorally
• The specific areas you want evaluated: academic achievement, cognitive ability, language, attention, behavior, social-emotional functioning, motor skills — whatever is relevant to what you are seeing
• A request that the district evaluate in all areas related to the suspected disability

Here is an example of language that works:

"I am writing to request a full special education evaluation for [child's name], who is currently in [grade] at [school]. I am concerned about [briefly describe the concerns — reading difficulties, behavioral challenges, attention issues, school refusal, etc.]. I am requesting evaluation in all areas related to the suspected disability, including [academic achievement, cognitive ability, speech/language, behavioral/social-emotional, etc.]. Please let me know the next steps and the timeline for completing this evaluation."

Send it to the school's special education contact by email so you have a record with a date and time stamp. If you are unsure who to address it to, send it to the principal with a note asking them to forward it to the appropriate person.

What Happens After You Submit the Request

The district must respond. After receiving your request, the district will contact you to discuss the evaluation. They will outline what they propose to assess and ask for your written consent to evaluate.

Consent starts the clock. Once you provide written consent for the evaluation, Montana's 60 calendar day timeline begins. The district has 60 calendar days — not school days — to complete the evaluation and convene an eligibility meeting where they share the results and determine whether your child qualifies for special education services.

The calendar day requirement is important: holidays, winter break, spring break, and summer days all count. A consent signed in April means the evaluation must be complete by early June, even if most of that window spans the end of the school year. Districts cannot use "it's the end of the school year" as a reason to push the evaluation to fall.

The evaluation must be comprehensive. The district must evaluate your child in all areas related to the suspected disability, using a variety of assessment tools and methods. The evaluation cannot be limited to a single test. It must be conducted by qualified personnel and must include:

• Review of existing records and data
• Observations in multiple settings
• Standardized assessments in relevant areas
• Input from parents (you can provide a written parent input statement)

The district pays for the evaluation. You do not.

After the evaluation: the eligibility meeting. Within the 60-calendar-day window, the district convenes an eligibility meeting — an IEP team meeting at which the evaluation results are presented and the team determines whether your child meets eligibility for special education under one or more disability categories. You are a required member of this team.

If your child is found eligible, the team proceeds to develop an IEP. The IEP must be developed within 30 days of the eligibility determination.

If your child is found ineligible, the district must provide you with a written explanation of the eligibility decision and the data supporting it. You have the right to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense if you disagree with the district's evaluation.

If the District Refuses to Evaluate

The district can refuse to conduct the evaluation — but if they do, they must issue a Prior Written Notice (PWN) explaining, in writing, why they are refusing and what data they relied on to make that decision.

A verbal "we don't think an evaluation is needed" is not legally sufficient. You are entitled to a written notice. If the district refuses without issuing PWN, that is itself a procedural violation you can raise with Montana OPI.

If you receive a PWN refusing the evaluation and you disagree:

Option 1: File a state complaint with Montana OPI. If the district refused without proper basis or without following required procedures, a state complaint can compel them to evaluate. OPI must complete its investigation within 60 days.

Option 2: Request due process. Filing a due process complaint puts the dispute before an impartial hearing officer who reviews the evidence and can order the district to evaluate. This is more adversarial than a state complaint and takes longer, but it is an option if the state complaint does not resolve the issue.

Option 3: Get an independent evaluation first. If you have the means, having an outside psychologist or evaluation team conduct a private evaluation gives you a report the school team must consider. If the outside evaluation supports eligibility and the school still refuses to evaluate or find your child eligible, that evidence strengthens a state complaint or due process case considerably.

Child Find: The School's Obligation Runs the Other Way Too

While you are waiting to decide whether to request an evaluation, it is worth knowing that Montana school districts have an affirmative obligation under IDEA's Child Find requirements to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities within their jurisdiction — even children who are attending public schools and have not been referred by anyone.

This means the school should already be looking. If your child has visible, persistent educational difficulties and the school has not raised the possibility of an evaluation, you can point out this Child Find obligation in your written request. It signals that you know the law and that you understand the district has a duty, not just a right, to evaluate students who may have disabilities.

Montana's Child Find obligation covers children ages 3 through 20, including children in private schools within the district's geographic boundaries.

The Montana IEP Guide includes a sample evaluation request letter, a timeline tracker, and guidance on what to do if the district refuses or delays — built specifically for Montana's 60-calendar-day evaluation standard.

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