IEP / Eligibility Legal Timelines (IMPACT-Score Affecting)
Source email: "Sped Reminders" — Shannon Flaherty, 2025-02-20 Stakes: Missing any of these is officially late and "will affect your IMPACT score."
The four hard timelines
| When | What | How long you have |
|---|---|---|
| After parental consent for evaluation | Order assessments | within 3 days |
| After an Eligibility Determination meeting | Finalize the ED | within 3 days |
| After an IEP meeting | Finalize the IEP | within 5 days |
| Before any IEP meeting | Draft must be in Special Programs | 10 days prior to the meeting |
Verbatim from Shannon
"Assessments need to be ordered within 3 days of obtaining parental consent; Eligibility Determinations need to be finalized within 3 days of the meeting; and IEPs must be finalized within 5 days of the meeting. Anything else is considered late and will affect your IMPACT score."
"Remember that IEP drafts should be completed in Special Programs 10 days prior to the meeting. I know several of you have your goals in a word document ahead of time, but other team members, including me, need to be able to see your input prior to the meeting. I understand it is easy this time of year to let non-legal deadlines lapse, but they are as important to respect as ever."
Why the 10-day draft rule matters even though it's not "legal"
It's not on Shannon's IMPACT-affecting list, but she calls it out as equally important. Other team members (including Shannon) need to see your input before the meeting — drafting in Word and only entering at the last minute defeats the purpose of the prep window.
Pitfall: case managers, review every page before finalizing
Shannon's Feb 2025 reminder also flagged a recent pattern:
"There have been a couple of cases recently of RSP service hours not being on the Services page, which have then required amendments. I know IEPs can be long and contain many details but taking the time to thoroughly review them will save you time in the long run!"
If you finalize an IEP that's missing service hours or other team-member contributions, you'll have to do an amendment — which is more work than catching it at finalize.