Oregon

The published process

Placement during a dispute

"Except as provided below under the heading PROCEDURES WHEN DISCIPLINING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, once a due process hearing request 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 school district agree otherwise, your child must remain in their current educational placement." On initial admission: "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." And where a hearing officer agrees with the parent: "If a hearing officer in a due process hearing conducted by the State Educational Agency agrees with you that a change of placement is appropriate, that placement must be treated as your child’s current educational placement where your child will remain while waiting for the decision of any impartial due process hearing or court proceeding." — Notice, The Child's Placement While the Due Process Complaint and Hearing Are Pending; 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 the district's evaluation, subject to the conditions the notice lists, the first of which begins "If you request an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense," and requires the district without unnecessary delay either to file for a hearing to show its evaluation is appropriate or to provide the "independent educational evaluation at public expense, unless the school district" demonstrates otherwise. The notice defines the term: "Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner" not employed by the district. It also states: "You are entitled to only one independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense" each time the district conducts an evaluation with which you disagree, and that the district may not impose conditions or timelines "related to obtaining an independent educational evaluation at public expense." — Notice, retrieved Aug 25, 2026

Who may be present, and what record is made

"You have the right to represent yourself at a due process hearing." Any party 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." Parents additionally 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 and Parental rights at hearings; retrieved Aug 25, 2026. Recording of IEP Team meetings, as distinct from hearings: not stated in the sources reviewed (the K-21 notice and the Department's procedural safeguards page 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 Procedural Safeguards Notice.

On filing a state complaint: "The complaint must allege a violation that occurred not more than one year prior to the date that the complaint is received as described under the heading Adoption of State Complaint Procedures."

On investigating a state complaint: each state agency's procedures must "include a time limit of 60 calendar days after a complaint is filed to:" carry out the steps the notice then lists, ending with a written decision that addresses "each allegation in the complaint with (a) findings of fact and conclusions; and (b) the reasons for the SEA’s" final decision. Extension is permitted "only if: (a) exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular state complaint; or (b) you and the school district or other public agency involved voluntarily agree to extend the time to resolve the matter through mediation or local resolution."

On filing a due process complaint: it "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." The notice states exceptions where the district "specifically misrepresented that it had resolved the issues identified in the complaint; or" withheld required information.

On the resolution process: the notice describes "the time period for resolution (within 30 calendar days of receiving the" request, and states that the hearing may occur if the district has not resolved the complaint to the parent's "satisfaction within 30 calendar days of receiving the request (during the time period for the" resolution process.

On the hearing decision: "The SEA 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:" a final decision is reached and "A copy of the decision is mailed to each of the parties." (the stray space after the hyphen is the source PDF's own line break, preserved) And: "A hearing officer may grant specific extensions of time beyond the 45-calendar-day time period described above at the request of either party (you or the school district)." Also stated: "Each hearing must be conducted at a time and place that is reasonably convenient to you and your child."

On disclosure of evidence: "At least five business days before a due process hearing, you and the school district must disclose to each other all evaluations completed by that date and recommendations based on those evaluations that you or the school district intend to use at the hearing."

On civil action: "The party (you or the school district) bringing the action has 90 calendar days from the date of the decision of the hearing officer to file a civil action." The action "may be brought in a state court of competent jurisdiction (a state court that has authority to hear this type of case) or in a federal district court without regard to the amount in dispute."

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: the full text layer of the K-21 Procedural Safeguards Notice, appended mechanically, and the ODE Notice of Procedural Safeguards page, transcribed from the rendered page, both captured Aug 25, 2026. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) the notice states it was "being prepared for the 2020-2021 school year" and remains in effect until districts are notified otherwise, and the Department's page repeats that framing, so the anchor source has stood without revision for several school years; (2) the notice states it conforms to the U.S. Department of Education's Model Procedural Safeguards Notice of June 2009 "with specific information about Oregon rules as necessary"; (3) no parent training and information center or advocacy organization is named in either source, and the parent-center row records that absence rather than naming organizations that exist in the state; (4) neither source captured publishes a filing address for a state complaint or a due process request — the Department's dispute-resolution contact is an email address only, and the four ODE dispute-resolution pages are listed as capture pending; (5) the notice heads its decision section "Decision of Administrative Law Judge", indicating hearings are decided by an ALJ; (6) Oregon publishes the K-21 notice in twenty-three language versions and a separate EI/ECSE notice in twenty-one, all listed on the Department's page; (7) recording of IEP Team meetings is not addressed in the sources reviewed, and that absence is recorded rather than filled; (8) the PDF text layer breaks "30-calendar-day" across a line in the hearing-decision provision, and that artifact is preserved inside the quotation. Capture pending: the ODE Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Due Process Overview, and Special Education Complaint Resolution pages, the complaint-process Q&A, the Get Support document, OAR 581-015-2315, and the EI/ECSE and non-English notices. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-25. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.