How to Request a Special Education Evaluation in Georgia

In Georgia, once the school district receives your signed consent for a special education evaluation, it must complete the evaluation within 60 calendar days (GaDOE Rule 160-4-7-.04). Two things make Georgia's version of that clock different from what most parent guides describe: it pauses during holiday breaks of 5 or more school days (plus attached weekends) and during most of summer vacation — and Georgia's Student Support Team (SST) process runs alongside the evaluation, not before it. A parent request for evaluation cannot be parked behind months of "interventions first."

Here's the sequence, with the actual rules.

Step 1: Request the evaluation in writing

A referral for evaluation in Georgia can come from you as the parent or from the school's Student Support Team (160-4-7-.04(1)(b)). Federal law lets a parent request an initial evaluation at any time (34 CFR 300.301(b)), and the federal Child Find duty — the school's affirmative obligation to identify children who may have disabilities — applies even when a child is passing from grade to grade (34 CFR 300.111(c)). Put the request in writing, address it to the principal or the district special education director, date it, and keep proof of delivery. One sentence:

"I am requesting a full special education evaluation of my child under the IDEA. Please treat this as my formal written request and provide a consent form."

Step 2: Understand how the SST/MTSS process fits — and where it can't block you

Georgia requires a Student Support Team in every school, and GaDOE's guidance tells districts that a parent's evaluation request "is not sufficient reason for bypassing interventions." Here's what that actually means in practice — and what it doesn't:

  • What it means: the district will usually run tiered interventions concurrently — inside the 60-day evaluation window — and gather progress data during that time.
  • What it does NOT mean: the district may not use interventions to delay or deny the evaluation itself. GaDOE's own implementation guidance quotes the U.S. Department of Education: "MTSS/RTI may not be used to delay or deny a full and individual evaluation… for a child suspected of having a disability" (OSEP Memo 11-07).
  • The one real consequence: if interventions weren't provided for an appropriate period, the Specific Learning Disability category specifically can't be decided at that eligibility meeting. If SLD (for example, dyslexia) is what you suspect, expect intervention data to be gathered during the 60 calendar days — that’s lawful. Months of intervention before the clock even starts is not. One gap to watch: Georgia sets no fixed deadline for handing you the consent form after your request — if weeks pass between your written request and a consent form, that gap is itself the delay federal guidance prohibits; say so in writing.

Step 3: The 60-calendar-day clock — and its pauses

The evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of the district receiving your signed consent (160-4-7-.04(1)(b)1). The pauses, as the rule lays them out:

  • Holiday periods when children are out of school 5 or more consecutive school days don't count — including contiguous weekend days.
  • Summer vacation doesn't count — with one important exception: if the district received your consent 30 or more calendar days before the end of the school year, it must still complete the evaluation within the 60-calendar-day frame. Hold them to that.

Practical move: if it's spring and you want answers before fall, get your written request in — and the consent form signed and returned — more than 30 calendar days before the last day of school.

Step 4: Eligibility and the IEP meeting

After the evaluation, an eligibility team that includes you reviews the results, and the district must give you a copy of the evaluation report and eligibility documentation at no cost (160-4-7-.04(6)(a)). If your child is found eligible, the IEP meeting must happen within 30 calendar days of that determination (160-4-7-.06(13)).

If the school refuses: get it in writing

A refusal to evaluate triggers prior written notice: a written statement of what the district is refusing, why, what data it relied on, and what options it considered (160-4-7-.09(5)). Ask for it explicitly. Georgia's rule even lets districts satisfy PWN with existing documents — but if none exist, they must respond by letter with all the required elements. A refusal that has to be defended on paper is a very different thing from a hallway "we don't think testing is needed."

Escalation options in Georgia

  • State complaint to GaDOE — written complaint, 1-year lookback, GaDOE must investigate and act within 60 calendar days (160-4-7-.12(1)). Free, no lawyer needed.
  • Mediation — voluntary and free.
  • Due process hearing — conducted by an administrative law judge at Georgia's Office of State Administrative Hearings; 2-year filing window from when you knew or should have known (160-4-7-.12(3)). One Georgia-specific caution: if you lose and want to appeal to court, the window is only 90 calendar days from the decision.

Georgia-specific note on representation: at a due process hearing, only a licensed attorney — generally an active member of the State Bar of Georgia — may represent you (OSAH Rule 616-1-2-.34(1)). A non-attorney advocate — or a tool like ours — may help you prepare, and may accompany and advise you at the hearing (160-4-7-.12(3)(l)), but cannot speak for you as your representative. Plan accordingly: preparation is where non-attorney help is allowed — and a well-documented record built early is what any later representative will need.

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Sources

IEP Explained provides analysis and preparation tools — you decide and you send. We are not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice or representation, and nothing on this page is legal advice for your specific situation. In Georgia, only an active State Bar of Georgia attorney may represent a party at a due process hearing (OSAH Rule 616-1-2-.34(1)); non-attorneys may accompany and advise.