The Montana IEP Process: Step-by-Step Under ARM Title 10, Chapter 16

If your child was just referred for special education in Montana, you are about to encounter a process that has specific timelines, required participants, and legal obligations that the school must meet — regardless of whether you're in Billings or a small district in eastern Montana that relies on a cooperative specialist who comes through once a month. The process looks the same on paper everywhere. How it actually runs depends a great deal on where you live and what you know to ask for.

Step 1: Referral

The IEP process begins with a referral — a formal communication that a specific student may have a disability and need special education. Referrals can come from:

• A parent (this is the most direct starting point — a written request is dated and documented)
• A teacher, administrator, or other school staff member
• The district itself

You do not need a specific form to make a referral as a parent. An email to the special education director or principal stating "I am requesting a special education evaluation for [child's name] due to concerns about [area of concern]" is sufficient. Email is better than phone because it creates a date-stamped record, and the date matters — it starts the clock on the district's obligation to respond.

If the district declines to evaluate, it must provide written prior written notice (PWN) explaining its reasons and informing you of your right to dispute the decision, including requesting an independent educational evaluation (IEE) at district expense.

Step 2: Evaluation Consent

After a referral is accepted, the district develops a written evaluation plan — describing what areas will be assessed, by whom, and using what methods. You review this plan and provide written consent before any testing begins.

Common areas of assessment in a comprehensive evaluation:

• Cognitive ability
• Academic achievement (reading, writing, math)
• Language and communication
• Social-emotional functioning and behavior
• Adaptive behavior (daily living skills)
• Motor skills (fine and gross, if relevant)

Read the evaluation plan carefully. If you have concerns the plan doesn't cover — for example, you see signs of autism but the plan only addresses academic achievement — raise them in writing before signing and request that those areas be added. This is your window to shape the scope of the evaluation.

Signing the evaluation consent form starts the clock. Montana's evaluation timeline is 60 calendar days from your written consent — one of the key Montana-specific elements to understand. This is calendar days, not school days. Weekends and school breaks count.

Step 3: Evaluation

The district conducts assessments across the areas identified in the evaluation plan. Under ARM 10.16.3142, evaluations must be:

• Non-discriminatory and not culturally or linguistically biased
• Comprehensive — covering all areas of suspected disability
• Conducted by qualified personnel
• Not based on any single measure as the sole criterion for eligibility

In Montana, smaller districts often rely on psychologists and specialists from a Special Education Cooperative. There are 21 cooperatives statewide that pool resources to serve rural districts. A cooperative-based evaluator may travel to your child's school for a scheduled assessment visit, then return to the cooperative to write the report. This is normal and compliant — but it means you should be proactive about getting the report before the eligibility meeting. Request it in writing as soon as evaluation activities are complete.

You are entitled to receive all evaluation results before the eligibility meeting. Do not wait until the meeting to see the report for the first time. Review it in advance, note your questions, and ask for clarification on anything that seems incomplete.

Step 4: Eligibility Determination

Within the 60-calendar-day window, the IEP team meets to review evaluation results and determine whether the student qualifies for special education. You are a required member of this team.

Montana follows the same IDEA eligibility categories as federal law. The team must find:

1. The student has one of the recognized disability categories under ARM 10.16.3132, AND
2. The disability adversely affects educational performance in a way that requires specially designed instruction

If the team determines the student is not eligible, you receive PWN explaining the decision and your right to dispute it, including requesting an IEE at district expense if you disagree with the evaluation's findings.

Step 5: IEP Development

Once a student is found eligible, the IEP must be developed. Federal IDEA requires the IEP to be in place before services begin. Montana practice is to develop the IEP at the eligibility meeting or schedule a separate IEP development meeting promptly after.

The IEP team must include:

• At least one general education teacher (if the student is or may be in general education)
• At least one special education teacher or special education provider
• A district representative who can commit district resources
• Someone who can interpret evaluation results
• You, as the parent
• The student (required for transition planning, appropriate when younger)
• Related service providers as relevant (SLP, OT, PT, etc.)

For families in rural Montana, IEP meetings can be attended by phone or video conferencing. A team member can participate remotely, including the parent, with the consent of the parents and district. If attending in person requires significant travel, ask about participating by teleconference.

The IEP document must include, under ARM 10.16.3245:

• Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) with current data
• Annual measurable goals
• Special education services, related services, supplementary aids and supports
• Participation in general education and justification for any removal
• Accommodations for state assessments (Montana's MontCAS)
• Secondary transition plan beginning at age 16 (can begin at 14)

Step 6: Placement Decision

Placement — where services will be delivered — is determined after the IEP is written, not before. The least restrictive environment (LRE) requirement under IDEA and ARM 10.16.3321 means the district must educate your child with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, with removal to more restrictive settings only when the nature or severity of the disability requires it.

LRE in rural Montana is a genuine challenge. If the only special education teacher is a traveling itinerant serving multiple schools, your child's placement options may be limited by practical staffing realities. That constraint is real — but it does not override the legal obligation. If a more inclusive placement would be appropriate but the district is offering a more restrictive one due to staffing, the justification in the IEP must reflect genuine educational need, not administrative convenience.

Step 7: Implementation

Once you consent to the initial placement and services begin, implementation is the district's obligation. Services listed in the IEP are legally required — they are not goals or aspirations.

In Montana, related services including speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy are often delivered by itinerant providers who travel between schools, sometimes covering 100 miles or more. Teletherapy is also used for SLP, OT, and PT in more remote areas. The delivery mechanism does not reduce the district's obligation to provide the services — if an itinerant SLP misses scheduled sessions due to weather or travel, those sessions must be rescheduled or otherwise addressed.

Keep a record of the services your child is actually receiving. If sessions are being missed regularly, document it and raise it at the next IEP meeting or in writing.

Step 8: Annual Review

The IEP must be reviewed at least annually. The annual review functions like the original development meeting — the team reviews progress toward goals, updates present levels, revises goals, and adjusts services and placement as needed.

You have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time — you do not need to wait for the annual review. If your child's needs have changed significantly, goals aren't being met, or services aren't being delivered, a written request for an IEP meeting triggers the district's obligation to schedule one within a reasonable time.

Step 9: Triennial Re-evaluation

At least every three years, the district must conduct a re-evaluation to determine whether the student still qualifies and what their current educational needs are. You can consent to skip the triennial if the team agrees that existing data is sufficient to make that determination — but the district must still review current data and document that decision. If you believe your child's needs have changed significantly, you can request a re-evaluation earlier than three years.

Montana's IEP process is governed by ARM Title 10, Chapter 16 at the state level and MCA Title 20, Chapter 7, Part 4. Students are eligible for services from age 3 through age 20.

The Montana IEP & 504 Guide walks through each stage of the process with specific questions to ask, rights to assert, and Montana-specific context — including cooperative involvement and dispute resolution options through the Montana OPI Division of Special Education.

For a broader overview of the federal IEP process, see our guide to the IEP process.

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