Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bipartisan law that gives parents more time to review evaluation reports before a school determines their child’s eligibility for special education. School districts must now provide parents or guardians at least five days to review a child’s evaluation report before the meeting to discuss eligibility.
The bill was sponsored by Rachel Miller, the mother of two children with disabilities, who encountered difficulties obtaining a complete evaluation of her son. She emphasized that it is a reasonable, low-cost requirement that should improve collaboration between families and schools.
Currently, when a parent requests an evaluation for special education, the district has 25 school days to decide whether to conduct it, and then 35 school days to complete the evaluation after consent is received. Washington’s education system, like those of other U.S. states, measures these timeframes in actual school days, excluding weekends, holidays and breaks, which allows flexible scheduling of instruction but can stretch procedures into months compared with using calendar days. The new law takes effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
Parents and advocates for children with special needs have noted that families often do not have enough time to review the report or get advice about it. The report can include academic measures, medical records, teacher observations and diagnoses, and some parents saw it for the first time at the eligibility meeting.
The state’s largest teachers’ union, the Washington Education Association, which actively influences education policy through lobbying, initially expressed concern that earlier provision of reports would reduce time for evaluation. However, the group supported the final version of the law, which gives school administrators up to 40 school days to hold the eligibility meeting.
Still, some advocates, such as former president of the Seattle Special Education PTSA, Yana Parker, say the 25-day deadline to decide on an evaluation is still too long. Unlike general parent-teacher associations, this organization focuses exclusively on special education issues, advocating for and supporting families. Parker notes that in some states the deadline is as short as 10 days.
The new law is expected to reduce potential conflicts and allow parents to participate more meaningfully in creating educational plans for their children, ultimately leading to better support for students found eligible for special education.
Based on: Parents get more time to review special ed evaluations with new law