Minnesota

The published process

Placement during a dispute

The notice’s own section heading is "Placement during a Hearing or Civil Action". Its text states: "During a hearing or court action, unless you and the district agree otherwise, your child will remain in the educational placement where he/she is currently placed and must not be denied initial admission to school. This is commonly referred to as the" stay-put "rule." (Notice, Placement during a Hearing or Civil Action) Two exceptions apply: "Students may be removed from their educational setting for not more than 45 school days to an interim alternative educational placement for certain weapon, drug or serious bodily injury violations" and where "A hearing officer's decision agreeing with you that a change in placement is appropriate" sets a new stay-put placement "during subsequent appeals." — Notice, Placement during a Hearing or Civil Action.

Independent evaluation at public expense

"An independent educational evaluation (IEE) is an evaluation by a qualified person(s) who is not an employee of your district. You may ask for an IEE at school district expense if you disagree with the district's evaluation." "If you request an IEE, the district must, without delay, ensure that it is provided at public expense or request a hearing to determine the appropriateness of its evaluation." (Notice, Independent Educational Evaluations) Unlike some other states’ notices, this source states no specific number of days for that response — only "without delay" — and that absence of a stated day-count is recorded here rather than filled in from outside sources.

Who may be present, and what record is made

Both parent and district "have the right to:" "Be accompanied and advised by counsel 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;" "Prohibit the introduction of any evidence at the hearing that has not been disclosed at least five business days before the hearing, including evaluation data and recommendations based on that data; and" "Receive a free copy of the hearing transcript or electronic recording of findings of fact and decisions." As a parent, "you, specifically, have the right to:" "Have your child, who is the subject of the hearing, present;" "Open the hearing to the public; and" "Have the record or transcript of the hearing and the hearing officer's findings of fact, conclusions of law and decisions made provided to you at no cost." (Notice, Procedures for Initiation of a Due Process Hearing) Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from a due process hearing’s own record, is not stated in the sources reviewed; the notice was searched throughout for "record," "tape," and "audio," and every provision found concerns the hearing record itself, not a parent’s ability to record an IEP team meeting.

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 Part B Notice of Procedural Safeguards except where noted.

On filing a State complaint. The complaint "must be received by MDE no later than one year after the alleged violation occurred. MDE will issue a written decision within 60 days, unless exceptional circumstances require a longer time or you or the district agree to extend the time to participate in mediation." "The final complaint decision may be appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals by you (the parent) or the school district injured-in-fact by the decision within 60 days of receiving notice of the final decision." (Notice, Filing a Written Special Education State Complaint)

On filing a due process complaint. "Both you and the district have a right to file a due process complaint and request an impartial due process hearing in writing within two years of the date you or the agency knew or should have known about the alleged action that forms the basis of the due process complaint." (Notice, Impartial Due Process Hearing)

On the resolution meeting and period. "Within 15 days of receiving notice of your due process complaint, and prior to the due process hearing, the school district must arrange for a resolution meeting with you and the relevant members of the IEP team who have knowledge of the facts alleged in the due process complaint." "If the matter is not resolved within 30 days of receipt of the due process complaint, the hearing timelines begin." (Notice, Impartial Due Process Hearing)

On the hearing decision. "A hearing decision must be issued and provided to each party within 45 calendar days, or within an appropriately extended time period, upon the expiration of the 30-day resolution period after the due process complaint was received by the state agency." "A hearing officer lacks the authority to amend a decision except for clerical and mathematical errors." (Notice, The Hearing Decision)

On appeal. "An appeal to the state court of appeals must be made within 60 calendar days of your receipt of the decision. An appeal to federal district court must be made within 90 days of the date of the decision." (Notice, Civil Action)

On expedited hearings. "Expedited hearings must be held within 20 school days of the date the expedited due process complaint is filed. The hearing officer must issue a decision within 10 school days after the hearing. A resolution meeting must occur within 7 days of receiving the expedited due process complaint unless you and the school district agree in writing to either waive the resolution meeting or use the mediation process." (Notice, Timelines for Expedited Hearings)

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. Captured first-party: MDE’s "Conflicts in Special Education" overview page and "Parental Rights" page (both HTML, fetched directly, no dates published on either page). The anchor Part B Notice of Procedural Safeguards — Annotated (Rev. 10.22) is an MDE-authored statewide model form; every attempt to capture it directly from education.mn.gov’s own delivery paths was blocked by that domain’s bot-challenge system (a Radware captcha page returned instead of the document), so this page uses an identical, title-matched copy re-published by a Minnesota charter school network required to distribute the same state form, with that district’s own local contact field excluded from every quotation. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) Minnesota routes state complaints, mediation, and due process hearings through a single agency, MDE, rather than splitting the pipeline across separate offices as Michigan and Maryland do; (2) the notice states no specific number of days for a district’s response to an independent educational evaluation request, only "without delay" — narrower than the day-count given in some other states’ notices; (3) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from a due process hearing’s own record, is not addressed anywhere in the notice, searched specifically for this; (4) a true first-party capture of the notice directly from education.mn.gov remains outstanding. Capture pending: the first-party Part B notice PDF from education.mn.gov, its translated versions, and the Special Education Alternative Dispute Resolution program’s own mediation, complaint, and hearing detail pages. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.