Iowa

The published process

Placement during a dispute

"Except for hearings involving disciplinary removals, your child must remain in his or her current educational placement during the period of the impartial due process hearing, unless all parties agree otherwise." A separate, distinct rule applies during mediation: "The child involved must remain in the child’s present educational placement while the mediation is pending and for 10 days after any such mediation occurs if no agreement is reached; unless, the parties agree otherwise or the student is the subject of a disciplinary removal." — Procedural Safeguards Manual, Child’s Placement During Proceedings; Child’s Placement During Mediation, retrieved Aug 25, 2026.

Independent evaluation at public expense

"You have a right to obtain an IEE of your child if you disagree with an evaluation of your child obtained by your district and AEA". "A parent is entitled to only one IEE at public expense each time a public agency conducts an evaluation with which the parent disagrees." "A parent is not entitled to an IEE until the AEA’s evaluation is completed." The manual does not state a specific number of days within which the district or AEA must respond to an IEE request. "Unless the public agency requests a due process hearing about whether it should pay for the IEE, it pays for the full cost of the IEE or ensures that the IEE is at no cost to you."

Who may be present, and what record is made

During the hearing, the parties have the right to: "Be accompanied and advised by a lawyer and by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to the problems of children with disabilities"; "Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and compel the attendance of witnesses"; and "Obtain a written or electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing". Parents additionally have the right to: "Have the child, who is the subject of the hearing, present"; "Open the hearing to the public"; and "Have the record of the hearing and findings of fact and decisions provided at no cost." Recording of IEP meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not stated in the sources reviewed.

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 Procedural Safeguards Manual except where noted.

On mediation. "Mediations must be scheduled in a timely manner and held at a time and place reasonably convenient to all parties." No further specific timeline is stated.

On the state complaint. To file, "not more than one year prior to the date that the complaint is received." "The Department has 60 calendar days after a state complaint is filed to" complete its review, extendable for "Exceptional circumstances" or by agreement to pursue mediation.

On requesting a due process hearing. "The alleged violation that forms the basis for the due process complaint must have occurred within two years after you or the district knew or should have known about the alleged violation", with limited stated exceptions.

On the resolution meeting and period. "Within 15 days of receiving notice of the complaint, the district and AEA must hold a meeting with you" called the resolution meeting. If an agreement is reached, "Any party may void this agreement within three business days of signing the agreement." Absent resolution, "If no agreement is reached during the resolution meeting and/or the district has not resolved the issue(s) within the 30 calendar days, a hearing shall occur within 45 calendar days."

On the hearing decision. "An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) may grant any extension beyond the 45 calendar days at the request of either party."

On appeal. "Any party who disagrees with the ALJ’s decision may appeal the decision through a civil action in court. This must be filed within 90 days from the date of the decision of the ALJ."

On discipline and expedited hearings. "The 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 you and the school district agree in writing to waive the meeting, or agree to use 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."

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: Iowa’s Dispute Resolution overview page, fetched directly; and the Procedural Safeguards Manual: Rights of Parents of Students with Disabilities, Ages 3-21 (August 2023), fetched as PDF text. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) Iowa runs a genuinely single-agency structure — the Department of Education itself handles mediation, due process hearings (through Department-arranged ALJs), and state complaints, with local school districts and AEAs as co-respondents in a dispute rather than as separate dispute-resolution bodies; (2) Iowa’s pendency framework has two distinct rules rather than one: the general due-process pendency rule, and a separate mediation-specific rule under which the child stays in the current placement during mediation and for 10 additional days after mediation concludes without agreement — a 10-day tail not seen in other states captured so far; (3) the overview page’s General Counsel contact has its email address rendered through a Cloudflare email-protection link on the live page, which this capture cannot decode; not reproduced as a verified fact; (4) the manual does not state a specific number of days within which the district or AEA must respond to a parent’s IEE request, unlike several other states captured, which state 7 or 10 business/school days; this absence is recorded rather than filled from another state’s figure; (5) the manual states the 45-calendar-day hearing timeline as running from the due process complaint generally, "If no agreement is reached during the resolution meeting and/or the district has not resolved the issue(s) within the 30 calendar days" — quoted as published rather than reframed to match other states’ 45-days-after-the-resolution-period phrasing. Capture pending: the Dispute Resolution Summary and Comparison Table; the mediation, due process, and state complaint model request forms; the Selected Rules on Due Process Complaints and Due Process Decisions; the Procedures for State Complaints; and the IDEA State Complaint Rules. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.