The timelines, deadlines, and rights that apply to YOUR child's IEP in Connecticut — in plain language, with the actual law attached. Verified citations, no legalese, no paywall on knowledge.
Federal law (IDEA) sets the floor; Connecticut sets some of its own clocks. These are the ones parents use most:
45 school days from written referral (not including time to obtain consent). For out-of-district placements: 60 school days from referral.
10 school days. The school must respond to your written request for evaluation within 10 school days with either a decision to evaluate or a written refusal.
45 school days from written referral — evaluation AND IEP development must both be completed within this window.
Mail, fax, or email to BSE — Connecticut State Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education (BSE). File violation must have occurred within 1 year of filing date. Resolved in 60 calendar days.
Resolution session: Within 15 days of complaint filing. Hearing decision: 45 days after resolution period ends. Connecticut calls IEP meetings PPT (Planning and Placement Team) meetings — same thing, different name..
Tip: every one of these clocks starts with something in writing. Emails count. Phone calls don't.
Connecticut's core special-education statute: requires every local and regional board of education to provide special education and related services through a Planning and Placement Team (PPT) — Connecticut's name for the IEP team. § 10-76d also explicitly prohibits retaliation against PPT members (including parents) for things said during PPT meetings (subsection (c)(4), added by Public Act 16-92) — a uniquely Connecticut safeguard. Parents have the right to a pre-PPT meeting with a PPT member before the formal evaluation-results PPT.
What this means for you: Connecticut uses 'PPT' (Planning and Placement Team) — the function is the same as an IEP team but the name is uniquely Connecticut. If a CT school says they don't do 'PPT,' that's the giveaway. § 10-76d(c)(4) protects parents AND staff from being punished for things said at the PPT — including disagreement, advocacy, or candid concerns. This is the anti-retaliation clause and it's rare nationally. You have the explicit right to a PRE-PPT meeting with a PPT member before the evaluation-results PPT, to review assessments without the pressure of the full team setting (Conn. Agencies Regs. § 10-76d-9). CT's 2022 Public Act 22-47 strengthened procedural safeguards including expanded parent rights around stay-put and meeting recording. Connecticut entitlement: services through age 22 (until graduation with a regular diploma, or end of the school year in which the student turns 22).
Connecticut's special-education due process statute. Establishes the parent's right to request a due process hearing through the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). § 10-76h sets the procedural framework: written hearing request, mandatory resolution session, expedited timelines for discipline matters, and the impartial hearing officer's authority. CT's pendency (stay-put) provision under § 10-76h is one of the broadest in the country.
What this means for you: You can request a due process hearing in writing at any time within TWO YEARS of when you knew or should have known about the alleged violation — CT codifies the federal 2-year statute of limitations. CT's stay-put rule under § 10-76h: during the entire due process (including expedited hearings) the child stays in the placement that was in effect when you filed. If the district tries to move the child mid-hearing, that's a violation. § 10-76h gives you the right to bring an attorney, advocate, or other person of your choice to the hearing. CT also has the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities for free representation. Hearing requests should be sent to: Bureau of Special Education, CSDE — addresses on the CSDE website. Email submission is now accepted under PA 22-47.
Connecticut's special-education definitions section. Defines "child requiring special education," the disability categories, the role of the Planning and Placement Team (PPT), and Connecticut's age range (3 through 21, or until receipt of a regular high school diploma). Notably, CT includes "gifted and talented" as a state-recognized category for which districts MAY (not must) provide services — a state-only category not in federal IDEA.
What this means for you: Connecticut serves students with disabilities through age 22 (the school year in which the student turns 22 or graduates with a regular diploma) — broader than federal age 21. CT recognizes 'gifted and talented' as a separate category, but services are at district discretion under CGS § 10-76a — not a mandate. CT's disability categories track federal IDEA's 13 categories with no substantive additions, but the PPT process is more procedural than the federal IEP team process. Birth-to-3 services in CT are coordinated through the CT Birth to Three System (Office of Early Childhood) — the transition to school-age PPT must happen at age 3 with no service gap, per CT Birth to Three transition rules.
Staffed by parents of children with disabilities. Free workshops, IEP clinics, phone consultation, lending library.
📞 (800) 445-2722
Bureau of Special Education (BSE)
📞 (860) 713-6543
The official Connecticut complaint process — use it when the school isn't following the IEP or the law.
Connecticut protection & advocacy organization — legal advocacy for people with disabilities.
📞 (860) 297-4300
In Connecticut: 45 school days from written referral (not including time to obtain consent). For out-of-district placements: 60 school days from referral.. (Context: federal law sets a default of 60 calendar days from parental consent — 34 CFR § 300.301(c) — and allows each state to set its own timeframe. Connecticut's rule is the one that applies.)
10 school days. The school must respond to your written request for evaluation within 10 school days with either a decision to evaluate or a written refusal.
Mail, fax, or email to BSE — Connecticut State Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education (BSE). Time limit: Violation must have occurred within 1 year of filing date. Resolution: 60 calendar days.
Yes. Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center (CPAC) is Connecticut's federally funded Parent Training and Information center — free help for families — (800) 445-2722.
Ask Know Your Rights any Connecticut IEP question in plain language, free. And before the school year starts, run the free Fall IEP Audit — it grades last spring's IEP so you know exactly what to push on.
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