Special Education Evaluation in Montana: Timeline, Process, and What to Do If School Refuses

If you're worried that your child might have a disability affecting their education, the evaluation is the starting point for everything else. In Montana, the evaluation timeline is 60 calendar days from your written consent — and that timeline applies whether your child attends school in Missoula or a small rural district served by a traveling cooperative psychologist. Knowing how to request an evaluation, what it must cover, and what to do if the school pushes back is the practical foundation before anything else can happen.

Who Can Refer a Child for Evaluation

Under IDEA and ARM 10.16.3142, a special education evaluation can be initiated by:

• A parent or legal guardian
• A teacher or other school staff member
• The district itself
• Any other person with knowledge of the child — in some cases a therapist, pediatrician, or childcare provider

There is no form required. The most effective approach is a written request directly from you as the parent — sent by email to the special education director or the building principal. Written requests are dated, create a record, and put the district on notice of its obligation to respond.

Your request does not need to identify a specific disability. It does not need to cite regulations. "I am requesting a special education evaluation for [child's name]. I have concerns about [brief description of concerns — academic, behavioral, communication, social, motor, or a combination]. Please let me know how to proceed." That is sufficient.

Getting the Request in Writing — and Why It Matters

Verbal conversations about special education evaluation are common and regularly go nowhere. A teacher mentions at a conference that your child might benefit from an evaluation. You follow up, but nothing happens. There's no paper trail, no date stamp, no obligation triggered.

A written request changes that. From the moment the district receives your written request, it has obligations — to respond, to develop an evaluation plan, and ultimately to complete the evaluation within 60 calendar days of your consent. Without a written request, none of those timelines are running.

If you've been having verbal discussions about evaluation for months and nothing has happened, send an email now: "This confirms my request, as discussed with [name], that [child's name] receive a special education evaluation. I am requesting this in writing to ensure the formal process begins." That email starts the clock.

Montana's 60-Calendar-Day Evaluation Timeline

Montana's evaluation timeline is 60 calendar days from the date you sign the written evaluation consent form. This is one of Montana's most important state-specific rules — and a source of confusion because federal IDEA sets a 60-school-day default, while many states have adopted school-day timelines. Montana runs on calendar days.

Calendar days means weekends count. School breaks count. The clock doesn't stop for winter break, spring break, or teacher in-service days. A consent form signed on January 5 requires the evaluation to be complete by March 6 regardless of what the school calendar looks like in that window.

The 60-calendar-day window covers:

• Completing all assessments
• Writing and providing the evaluation report
• Holding the eligibility determination meeting

If the district misses this timeline, it is in violation of ARM 10.16.3142 and ARM 10.16.3143. You can file a state complaint with the Montana OPI Division of Special Education, which has 60 calendar days to investigate and issue a decision.

The Evaluation Plan: Your Window to Shape the Scope

Before any testing happens, the district must develop a written evaluation plan and get your consent. The plan describes which areas will be assessed, who will conduct the assessments, and what instruments will be used.

Review this plan carefully. If you have concerns the plan doesn't cover, raise them in writing before signing. For example:

• If the plan only covers academic achievement but you also have concerns about communication and social functioning, request those areas be added
• If your child shows signs of autism and the plan doesn't include an autism evaluation, ask why and request it
• If you have an outside evaluation that identified specific areas of concern, confirm those areas are covered in the school's plan

Once you sign consent, the assessment proceeds as described. Asking for additional areas to be included is easier before signing than after, when it requires a separate consent and potentially re-starts the timeline.

What a Comprehensive Evaluation Covers

The evaluation must assess all areas of suspected disability — not just the areas the school considers most likely. Common components in a thorough evaluation:

Cognitive ability. Intelligence testing, typically with a standardized instrument (Wechsler scales, Woodcock-Johnson, or similar). Provides information about processing strengths and weaknesses.

Academic achievement. Standardized reading, writing, and math assessments that compare the student's performance to grade-level peers. This identifies specific skill gaps and the severity of any academic underperformance.

Language and communication. Administered by a speech-language pathologist. Covers expressive language, receptive language, phonological processing, pragmatic communication, and articulation as relevant.

Social-emotional functioning. Behavior rating scales completed by teachers and parents (such as the BASC or Conners), clinical interview, and review of discipline records and teacher reports. Required when behavioral or emotional concerns are part of the referral.

Adaptive behavior. How the student functions in daily living tasks — personal care, communication in real settings, social interaction, community navigation. Particularly important for students with intellectual disabilities, autism, or significant developmental delays.

Motor skills. Fine and gross motor assessment, typically conducted by an OT or PT, when there are concerns about handwriting, physical education participation, or daily living skills involving motor function.

Functional behavioral assessment. When behavioral concerns are a significant part of the referral, the FBA identifies the function of specific problem behaviors — why they occur and what needs they serve. This is the foundation for any subsequent behavior intervention plan.

Autism-specific assessment. When autism is suspected, the evaluation should include structured observation (such as the ADOS-2) and parent interview (ADI-R or similar), not just teacher rating scales.

Montana's Cooperative Psychologists

In smaller Montana districts, psychologists and specialists are not district employees — they are provided through one of Montana's 21 Special Education Cooperatives. A cooperative-based psychologist typically visits member schools on a scheduled basis. They administer testing, return to the cooperative to write the report, and then return to the school for the eligibility meeting.

This is how the system is designed to work, and it is legal and common. But it creates a practical challenge: the evaluator may have limited observation time at your child's school, and may be working from a brief visit rather than extended in-school observation. If the evaluation report feels thin on observational data — if the psychologist didn't have an opportunity to observe your child in the classroom, during lunch, or during transitions — that is worth noting at the eligibility meeting.

If you have concerns about the completeness of the evaluation, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at district expense if you disagree with the district's evaluation. This right exists regardless of the reason for your disagreement.

What Happens After the Evaluation

Before the eligibility meeting, request a copy of the full evaluation report. You are entitled to it, and reviewing it in advance allows you to prepare meaningful questions and identify gaps.

At the eligibility meeting, the IEP team reviews the evaluation and determines:

1. Does the student have one of the recognized disability categories under ARM 10.16.3132?
2. Does the disability adversely affect educational performance in a way that requires specially designed instruction?

Both prongs must be met. If eligible, the IEP development process begins. If not eligible, the district must provide written prior written notice explaining the decision and your right to dispute it.

Triennial Re-evaluation

Once enrolled in special education, your child must be re-evaluated at least every three years. The triennial re-evaluation determines whether the student still qualifies and identifies current educational needs. You can consent to waive parts of the triennial if the team agrees that existing data is sufficient — but you cannot be pressured to waive testing you believe is needed. You can also request a re-evaluation sooner than three years if you believe your child's needs have changed significantly.

What If the School Refuses to Evaluate

If the district receives a written referral and declines to evaluate, it must provide written prior written notice (PWN) explaining its reasons. The PWN must describe what it considered, why it declined, and what you can do to dispute the decision — including requesting an IEE or filing a state complaint.

"The teacher says she's doing fine" is not a sufficient basis for refusal if you have documented concerns. If you receive a refusal PWN, you can:

• File a state complaint with the OPI Division of Special Education (resolved within 60 calendar days)
• Request an IEE from an outside evaluator at district expense if you disagree with the district's conclusion that evaluation is unnecessary
• Request IEP Facilitation or mediation to discuss the district's reasons

A district that fails to respond at all to a written evaluation request — no PWN, no evaluation plan, no meeting — is in violation of IDEA and ARM 10.16.3142.

The Montana IEP & 504 Guide includes an evaluation request template, a guide to reviewing evaluation reports, and an overview of Montana's timeline and dispute resolution options when evaluation is delayed or refused.

For a broader overview of the special education evaluation process under federal law, see our guide to special education evaluations.

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