Special Education Evaluation in New Hampshire: Timelines, Rights, and How to Request One

The special education evaluation is the gateway to every service, every IEP, and every legal protection your child is entitled to. New Hampshire's Ed 1107 rules govern this process with strict timelines—but the clock doesn't start until you know how to start it.

Who Can Request an Evaluation

A formal special education evaluation can be initiated by:

• A parent or guardian
• A teacher
• A physician or healthcare provider
• An early intervention specialist (for children transitioning from early supports)
• Any other professional involved with the child

The trigger that matters most is a written request from the parent. A verbal conversation with a teacher, a comment at a conference, or a note to the classroom assistant does not start any legal clock. Your written request, addressed to the SAU's Special Education Director, is what activates New Hampshire's mandatory timeline.

What New Hampshire's Timeline Requires

After the written referral is received: The SAU has 15 business days to convene a meeting and determine the disposition of the referral. At this meeting, the team decides whether there is sufficient reason to conduct a formal evaluation. They cannot simply ignore the referral or table it indefinitely.

After written parental consent is returned: The SAU has 60 calendar days to complete a comprehensive evaluation. This is a hard deadline under Ed 1107. Districts cannot toll this timeline by waiting for information from outside providers or scheduling around staff availability.

Before the eligibility meeting: At least 5 days before the team convenes to discuss eligibility, you must receive copies of the evaluation results. This is not a courtesy—it is a procedural requirement designed to give you time to review the data and prepare to participate meaningfully.

What the Evaluation Must Cover

A comprehensive evaluation must assess all areas of suspected disability. For most children, this includes some combination of:

• Cognitive and intellectual assessment (conducted by a school psychologist holding the SAIF credential in New Hampshire)
• Academic achievement testing (reading, writing, mathematics)
• Speech and language assessment if communication is a concern
• Occupational therapy assessment if fine motor, sensory, or adaptive skills are implicated
• Social-emotional and behavioral assessment if emotional, behavioral, or social difficulties are observed
• Adaptive behavior assessment for students suspected of intellectual disability or developmental delay

The evaluation team cannot use a single test as the sole basis for determining eligibility. Multiple measures across multiple settings are required. The assessment tools must be technically sound, non-discriminatory, and appropriate for the student's age and developmental level.

The MTSS Delay Problem

Many New Hampshire families encounter resistance when requesting an evaluation: "We need to complete RTI tiers first" or "The MTSS process needs more time." This is a legally problematic response.

Under New Hampshire law and federal IDEA regulations, a school district cannot use MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) protocols to delay or deny a formal special education evaluation. If a parent has submitted a written evaluation request and there is a reasonable suspicion of disability, the 15-day clock is running—regardless of where the child is in the tiered intervention system.

MTSS data can be useful input for the evaluation, but it cannot replace the evaluation or delay it when a parent has formally requested one.

How to Write Your Evaluation Request

Your request does not need to be a formal legal document. It does need to be in writing, addressed to the right person, and clear in its intent. Address it to the SAU's Special Education Director or Director of Student Services—not just the classroom teacher or building principal.

Include:

• Your child's name, school, and grade
• A description of the concerns that lead you to suspect a disability (academic struggles, behavioral difficulties, language delays, etc.)
• An explicit statement that you are formally requesting a comprehensive special education evaluation
• A request for the district's written response with their evaluation plan

Send it by email (with receipt confirmation) or certified mail so you have a record of when the request was received. That date is when the 15-day clock starts.

After the Evaluation: Understanding the Report

Once the evaluation is complete, you receive the reports at least 5 days before the eligibility meeting. Review each section carefully:

• Do the scores match what you observe at home and what teachers have reported?
• Are the evaluator's observations consistent with the child's actual behavior in school?
• Does the report address all areas of suspected disability, or are some concerns minimized or omitted?
• Do the conclusions follow logically from the data, or do they seem to reach for a predetermined result?

If the report seems incomplete, biased, or inconsistent with your child's real-world performance, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense. The district has only two options: fund the IEE or file for due process to defend their evaluation. They cannot simply ignore an IEE request.

When to Request an Independent Evaluation Alongside the District's

In small SAUs where the same professional conducts evaluations, provides services, and chairs IEP meetings, there is a documented conflict of interest that may reduce the objectivity of the district's evaluation. The NHDOE's own research acknowledges this as a systemic pattern in the North Country and other rural cooperative SAUs.

If you're in a small SAU and the district evaluator will also be your child's case manager and service provider, consider requesting an IEE proactively—not as a challenge to the district's evaluation, but as additional data from an evaluator with no stake in the outcome.

New Hampshire Child Find

Under both IDEA and New Hampshire law, school districts have an affirmative obligation to identify, locate, and evaluate any child within their jurisdiction who may have a disability and need special education services. This obligation extends to:

• Children not yet enrolled in school
• Children in private schools within the district's geographic area
• Children who are home-schooled (though the district's obligation to provide services to home-schooled students is significantly more limited)

If you suspect your child has a disability and the school has not initiated an evaluation, you don't have to wait for them to identify the problem. Exercise your right to request an evaluation in writing.

The New Hampshire IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a template evaluation request letter, a checklist for reviewing evaluation reports, and guidance on what to do if the district refuses to evaluate or if the evaluation results don't match your child's real-world needs.

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