Massachusetts

The published process

Placement during a dispute

"Your student shall remain in his or her current education program and placement during any dispute regarding placement or services, unless you and the school district agree otherwise, or your student's placement is changed as a result of discipline." — PNPS, §6, citing 34 C.F.R. 300.151-300.153, 300.506, 300.518 and 603 CMR 28.08; retrieved Aug 23, 2026

Independent evaluation at public expense

"Under federal law, 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 the school district, subject to the following conditions: 1. If you request an IEE of your child at public expense, your school district must, without unnecessary delay, either: a. request a due process hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate or that the independent evaluation did not meet the school district's criteria; or b. provide an IEE at public expense." — PNPS, §4.1, citing 34 CFR §300.502 Massachusetts also publishes a state-specific option beyond the federal standard: "you may choose, on a voluntary basis, to share the costs of the IEE based on a sliding fee scale. Under this state standard, you will receive an IEE." "Students who are eligible for free or reduced cost meals and families whose income is equal to or less than 400% of the federal poverty guidelines are entitled to an IEE at public expense." "If you choose to use the state option, the district does not have the option to request a due process hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate." "Your right to a publicly funded IEE through income eligibility will extend for 16 months from the date of the school district's evaluation with which you disagree." — PNPS, §4.1

Who may be present, and what record is made

At a due process hearing, a parent may "be accompanied, advised and represented by a lawyer and/or advocate", may "have your student present at the hearing", may "have the hearing open to the public", may "present evidence such as documents and reports", may "request, or require through subpoena, witnesses to come to the hearing and answer questions", may "see any evidence that is to be used at the hearing at least five business days ahead of time and ask the hearing officer to keep out any evidence that you have not seen", and may "obtain a written or, at your option, electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing findings of fact and decision at no cost to you." — PNPS, §6.5. Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings: not stated in the sources reviewed (the PNPS and the DESE and BSEA pages in the source map were searched); district policies may address it.

The three rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the commonwealth'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 Parent's Notice of Procedural Safeguards (PNPS 2009, updated 30 May 2025) except where noted.

On state complaints: "PRS must issue a written decision that contains findings of fact and conclusions within 60 calendar days of receipt of the state complaint", extendable only if "Exceptional circumstances exist regarding a particular complaint; or" and "The parent and the public agency involved voluntarily agree to extend the time to try to engage in mediation or other alternative means of state sponsored dispute resolution." (PNPS, §6.2)

On mediation: "The mediator will schedule a meeting with you and the school district within 30 days of the request for mediation." (PNPS, §6.3)

On requesting a due process hearing: "You must file for a hearing within two years of when you knew, or should have known7 about the events that form the basis for your complaint." (the "7" is the notice's own footnote marker, preserved as printed) The notice states an extension applies "if you can show that you were prevented from filing for a hearing because the school district misrepresented that it had resolved the issue in your complaint or if the district withheld certain required information from you." (PNPS, §6.4)

On the resolution process: "The school district is required to set up a resolution meeting within 15 calendar days of receiving your due process complaint." "After you file a due process hearing request, the school district has 30 days to work with you to resolve the disagreement before the due process hearing may occur." (PNPS, §6.4)

On the hearing decision: "The hearing officer must issue a final decision within 45 days of the end of the resolution period described above unless the hearing officer has granted extensions of time at the request of either party." (PNPS, §6.5)

On appeal: "If either the parent or the school district disagrees with the decision of the hearing officer, they can seek review of that decision in state or federal court. Any such request for review must be filed within 90 days of the decision." (PNPS, §6.6)

On discipline: "In general, any student may be suspended or removed from school for disciplinary reasons for a short time, which is no more than 10 days." "The student's IEP Team must meet within 10 days of the school's decision to impose the discipline." At this meeting, called a "manifestation determination," the team determines whether the misbehavior was caused by or related to the disability. Where a student "possessed or used a weapon or drugs, or caused serious bodily injury to another person on school property or at a school event your student may be placed by the principal in an IAES for up to 45 school days without regard to whether the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the student's disability." (PNPS, §9)

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

Change log

Aug 23, 2026 · Page created (pilot). Captured first-party: Parent's Notice of Procedural Safeguards (PDF text, full 17-page document retrieved; quotations verified against the text layer), PRS Special Education Complaint Procedures landing page (HTML), BSEA org page (HTML), Mediation at the BSEA (HTML), Due Process Hearings (HTML), PRS intake page (HTML), Advocacy/Disabilities Rights page (HTML). Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) the PNPS itself contains an internal reference to an old URL for BSEA mediation information, "http://www.mass.gov/anf/hearings-and-appeals/bureau-of-special-education-appeals-bsea/mediation/", which differs from the current live page at mass.gov/mediation-at-the-bsea; both recorded, neither corrected; (2) the PNPS gives the PRS mailing address as "135 Santilli Highway – Everett, MA 02149" while the PRS intake page gives "135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149" — the same address with an em dash in one and a comma in the other, both reproduced; (3) the PNPS states PRS's own "Main Telephone: 781-338-3700" while the PRS intake page separately publishes DESE's general switchboard as "Voice: (781) 338-3000" — two differently formatted numbers for what may or may not be the same line, both reproduced without reconciliation; (4) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from due process hearings, is not addressed in the sources reviewed; (5) DESE's own Advocacy/Disabilities Rights page spells one organization "Federation for Children with Specials Needs" (not "Special"), reproduced as published. Capture pending: the PRS Special Education Complaint Procedures Guide (DOCX), the full BSEA Hearing Rules text, and the DESE Administrative Advisory Special Education Policy Memo SY2024-2025 on IEEs. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-23. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.