On January 23, 2020, the Connecticut State Department of
Education (“SDE”) issued updated guidance on the
timeline for initial special education evaluations (available here). This new guidance replaces
SDE’s December 21, 2018 guidance on that same topic, which is
now rescinded. In its new guidance, SDE notifies stakeholders
that Connecticut will no longer use the federal 60 calendar
day timeline for initial evaluations, effective with the start of
the 2020-2021 school year. Rather, Connecticut
school districts must adhere solely to the 45 school
day timeline as provided in state special education
regulations. Previously, school districts were deemed in
compliance by SDE if they used either the state or federal
timeline.
