Another big change in the Illinois 2000 regulations involves
the timelines for referrals for evaluations. The ISBE changed
Section 226.75 to state that the date of referral runs from the date parental
consent or signature is obtained rather from the date the parents request
the evaluation. This definition ties in with the timelines for completing
the evaluation in section 226.110, as a District has 60 days to complete
the evaluation. The danger in the change lies in the potential lag
time in the District sending out the consent form to the parents.
Parents can eliminate this lag time by consenting to the evaluation at
the time they request the referral. Two improvements to the regs
are that at the end of the 60 days the IEP meeting must also be completed
and that if there are fewer than 60 school days left in the school year,
the IEP must be in effect by the start of the next school year. A
copy of a form which can be used to request an evaluation can be found
on pages 25-26 of the ISBE required forms booklet: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/spec-ed/PDF/NoticeEnglishDataInput.pdf.
(The booklet is a 600K pdf document and may take time to download.)
The regulations are as follows:
Section 226.110 Referral
d) If the district decides to conduct an evaluation, parental consent must be obtained.
1) Pursuant to Section 14-8.02 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/14-8.02], the evaluation and IEP meeting shall be completed within 60 school days after the date of referral or the date of the parent’s application for admittance of the child to the public school.
2) The IEP meeting shall be conducted within 30 days after the child is determined eligible. The overall limit specified in subsection (d)(1) of this Section still applies.
3) When a child is referred for evaluation with fewer than 60 days of pupil attendance left in the school year, the eligibility determination shall be made and, if the child is eligible, an IEP shall be in effect prior to the first day of the next school year.Section 226.75 Definitions
"Date of Referral": The date on which written parental consent to complete an evaluation is obtained or provided.
"Day": A calendar day, unless otherwise indicated as “business day” or “school day”.
- Business Day: Monday through Friday, except for Federal and State holidays (unless holidays are specifically included in the designation of business days, as at 34 CFR 300.403(d)(1)(ii)).
- School Day: Any day, including a partial day, during the regular school year that students are in attendance at school for instructional purposes.
Full copies of the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register are available from Wrightslaw, the Government Printing Office, and other places.
The Illinois regulations are at http://www.isbe.state.il.us/spec-ed/PDF/226rulesindex.pdfBack to autismnews.net