Arizona

The published process

Placement during a dispute

"Except as provided below under the heading PROCEDURES WHEN DISCIPLINING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, once a due process complaint is sent to the other party, during the resolution process time period, and while waiting for the decision of any impartial due process hearing or court proceeding, unless you and the State or school district agree otherwise, your child must remain in his or her current educational placement." — Procedural Safeguards Notice, §300.518, retrieved Aug 25, 2026

Independent evaluation at public expense

"You have the right to an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense if you disagree with an evaluation of your child obtained by your school district, subject to the following conditions: 1. If you request an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense, your school district must, without unnecessary delay, either: (a) File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate; or (b) Provide an independent educational evaluation at public expense, unless the school district demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of your child that you obtained did not meet the school district’s criteria." "You are entitled to only one independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense each time your school district conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree." — Procedural Safeguards Notice, §300.502

Who may be present, and what record is made

"Any party to a due process hearing (including a hearing relating to disciplinary procedures) has the right to: 1. Be accompanied and advised by a lawyer and/or persons with special knowledge or training regarding the problems of children with disabilities; 2. Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and require the attendance of witnesses; 3. Prohibit the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed to that party at least five business days before the hearing; 4. Obtain a written, or, at your option, electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing; and 5. Obtain written, or, at your option, electronic findings of fact and decisions." Parents specifically "must be given the right to: 1. Have your child present; 2. Open the hearing to the public; and 3. Have the record of the hearing, the findings of fact and decisions provided to you at no cost." — Procedural Safeguards Notice, Hearing Rights, §300.512. Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not stated in the sources reviewed (the notice, the dispute-resolution overview page, and the state complaint, due process, and mediation procedure documents were searched); district policies may address it.

The three rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state’s own published documents, or record that a question is not answered in them.

Timelines, as stated in the sources

All quoted; none calculated. From the IDEA Part B Procedural Safeguards Notice for the State of Arizona except where noted.

On state complaints: "While staff of the Arizona Department of Education generally must resolve a State complaint within a 60-calendar-day timeline, unless the timeline is properly extended, an impartial due process hearing officer must hear a due process complaint (if not resolved through a resolution meeting or through mediation) and issue a written decision within 45-calendar-days after the end of the resolution period" (Difference Between Due Process Hearing Complaint and State Complaint Procedures). The Arizona Department of Education may "Permit an extension of the 60 calendar-day time limit only if: (a) exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular State complaint; or (b) the parent and the school district or other public agency involved voluntarily agree to extend the time to resolve the matter through mediation or alternative means of dispute resolution, if available in the State."

On requesting a due process hearing: "The due process complaint must allege a violation that happened not more than two years before you or the school district knew or should have known about the alleged action that forms the basis of the due process complaint." (Filing a Due Process Complaint, §300.507)

On the resolution process: "Within 15 calendar days of receiving notice of your due process complaint, and before the due process hearing begins, the school district must convene a meeting with you and the relevant member or members of the individualized education program (IEP) Team who have specific knowledge of the facts identified in your due process complaint." "If the school district has not resolved the due process complaint to your satisfaction within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the due process complaint (during the time period for the resolution process), the due process hearing may occur." (Resolution Process, §300.510)

On the hearing decision: "The Arizona Department of Education must ensure that not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the 30-calendar-day period for resolution meetings or, as described under the sub-heading Adjustments to the 30-calendar-day resolution period, not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the adjusted time period: 1. A final decision is reached in the hearing; and 2. A copy of the decision is mailed to each of the parties." A hearing officer "may grant specific extensions of time beyond the 45-calendar-day time period described above at the request of either party." (Timelines and Convenience of Hearings and Reviews, §300.515)

On appeal: "The party (you or the school district) bringing the action shall have 35 calendar days from the date of the decision of the hearing officer to file a civil action." (Civil Actions, §300.516) — shorter than the appeal window recorded for Alabama (30 days) or Alaska (90 days).

On discipline: "school personnel may, for not more than 10 school days in a row, remove a child with a disability who violates a code of student conduct from his or her current placement to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting (which must be determined by the child's individualized education program (IEP) Team), another setting, or suspension." "Within 10 school days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct" (except a removal of 10 school days or less that is not a change of placement), the school district, parent, and IEP Team must conduct a manifestation determination. "Whether or not the behavior was a manifestation of the child’s disability, school personnel may remove a student to an interim alternative educational setting (determined by the child’s IEP Team) for up to 45 school days," if the child carries a weapon, knowingly possesses or sells illegal drugs or a controlled substance, or has inflicted serious bodily injury. For an expedited hearing, "The Arizona Department of Education must arrange for an expedited due process hearing, which must occur within 20 school days of the date the hearing is requested and must result in a determination within 10 school days after the hearing." Unless waived or replaced by mediation, "a resolution meeting must occur within seven calendar days of receiving notice of the due process complaint." "The hearing may proceed unless the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties within 15 calendar days of receipt of the due process complaint." (Authority of School Personnel, §300.530; Appeal, §300.532)

What any of this means for a particular situation is for the agency and its processes to determine.

Change log

Aug 25, 2026 · Page created (pilot). Captured first-party: the IDEA Part B Procedural Safeguards Notice for the State of Arizona (PDF text, full document retrieved), the State Complaint Procedures, Due Process Procedures, and Mediation Procedures documents (each a separate "Dispute Resolution Policies and Procedures" PDF, Rev July 2025), the Facilitated IEP page, the Dispute Resolution overview page, and the Special Education page’s footer contact block. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) due process hearings in Arizona are conducted not by ADE staff but by the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings, a separate state agency, which assigns an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) — a structure distinct from every other state captured so far; (2) the Procedural Safeguards Notice’s cover page and table of contents are dated "Rev. 08-28-25," but every one of its own body-text running page headers still reads "Rev. 07-10-15," a discrepancy in the document’s own pagination, reproduced as published and not reconciled; (3) the notice’s own civil-action text states a 35-calendar-day appeal window, matching the separate Due Process Procedures document’s citation to A.A.C. R7-2-405(H)(8); (4) the navigation sidebar on the ADE parent-resources page links to an older, differently-dated Procedural Safeguards PDF (filename suffix "Rev _7-10-15.pdf") while the same page’s body content links to the current 2025 PDF used as this page’s anchor source — both URLs exist on the live site, recorded as a finding, not reconciled; (5) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not addressed in the sources reviewed. Capture pending: the State Complaint, Due Process, and Mediation model forms; the Spanish-language notice; and the CADRE comparison chart linked from the site. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.