Montana

The published process

Placement during a dispute

The notice’s own section heading is "The Child's Placement While the Due Process Complaint and Hearing Are Pending". Its text states: "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." "If the due process complaint involves an application for initial admission to public school, your child, with your consent, must be placed in the regular public school program until the completion of all such proceedings." — Notice, The Child’s Placement While the Due Process Complaint and Hearing Are Pending.

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:" "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." (Notice, Independent Educational Evaluations) As in Minnesota’s, Mississippi’s, and Missouri’s notices, no specific number of days is stated for the district’s response — only "without unnecessary delay"

Who may be present, and what record is made

Any party to a due process hearing has the right to: "Be accompanied and advised by an attorney and/or persons with special knowledge or training regarding the problems of children with disabilities;" "Be represented at the due process hearing by an attorney;" "Present evidence and confront, cross-examine, and require the attendance of witnesses;" "Obtain a written, or, at your option, electronic, word-for-word record of the hearing; and" "Obtain written, or, at your option, electronic findings of fact and decisions." As a parent, "You must be given the right to:" "Have your child present at the hearing;" "Open the hearing to the public; and" "Have the record of the hearing, the findings of fact and decisions provided to you at no cost." (Notice, Hearing Rights) Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from a due process hearing’s own record, is not stated in the sources reviewed; both sources were searched throughout for "record," "tape," and "audio," and every provision found concerns education records or the hearing record itself, not a parent’s ability to record a 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 Procedural Safeguards Notice except where noted.

On the difference in timelines, stated together. "While staff of the OPI generally must resolve a state complaint within a 60-calendar-day timeline, unless the timeline is properly extended, an impartial 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, as described in this document under the heading Resolution Process, unless the hearing officer grants a specific extension of the timeline at your request or the school district's request." (Notice, Differences Between the Procedures for Due Process Complaints and Hearings and for State Complaints)

On filing a state complaint. "Allege a violation that occurred not more than one year prior to the date the complaint is filed;" "A final report shall be issued within 60 days of filing of the complaint unless an extension of the 60-day period is required by exceptional circumstances which exist with respect to the particular complaint, or the timeline was modified during the EAP process." (Notice, State Complaint Process and Filing Information / Final Report)

On filing a due process complaint. "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." "You or the school district must request an impartial hearing on a due process complaint within two years of the date you or the school district knew or should have known about the issue addressed in the complaint." (Notice, Filing a Due Process Complaint / Timeline for requesting a hearing)

On the resolution meeting and period. "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." (Notice, Resolution Process)

On the hearing decision. "The OPI must ensure that not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the 30-calendar-day period for resolution meetings or" "not later than 45 calendar days after the expiration of the adjusted time period:" "A final decision is reached in the hearing; and" "A copy of the decision is mailed to each of the parties." (Notice, Timelines and Convenience of Hearings and Reviews)

On civil action. "The party (you or the school district) bringing the action shall have 90 calendar days from the date of the decision of the hearing officer to file a civil action." (Notice, Civil Actions, Including the Time Period in Which to File Those Actions)

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: Understanding Your Procedural Safeguards, OPI’s plain-language companion overview (PDF, dated "11/18/2025 Rev." fetched directly), and the IDEA Special Education Part B Procedural Safeguards Notice (PDF, "Revised August 2024" fetched directly, text extracted in full). Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) Montana layers an ongoing, informal Early Assistance Program (EAP) on top of the formal state-complaint and due-process pipeline, and a filed state complaint automatically triggers an offer of EAP resolution before formal investigation; (2) the notice states outright, "There is no right to appeal a state complaint" — a more explicit finality statement than seen phrased this directly in other states’ notices captured in this project; (3) Montana’s hearing-officer selection process has each party rank three proposed hearing officers rather than simply drawing from a roster; (4) the notice states no specific number of days for a district’s response to an independent educational evaluation request, only "without unnecessary delay"; (5) recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from a due process hearing’s own record, is not addressed anywhere in either source; (6) two parent-facing organizations are named with contact detail directly in the notice: Montana Empowerment Center (MEC) and Disability Rights Montana (DRM). Capture pending: the IDEA State Complaint Request Form, Due Process Complaint Form, Mediation Request Form, and IEP Facilitator Request Form, all referenced but not independently fetched this session. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.