Fifteen days to answer, one department statewide: Hawaii’s special education laws in Chapter 60

Hawaii’s laws, rule by rule

1. The department, statewide

   HAR 8-60-2, 8-60-10(a)

   Chapter 60’s “department” is the state department of education, including charter schools, and it must yearly identify, locate and evaluate every student with a disability.

   No district sits above your school; the complex area and the department are the next rungs.

2. Fourteen conditions, one test

   HAR 8-60-2, 8-60-38(a)

   Hawaii’s definition names fourteen conditions, autism spectrum disorder through other health disability, and excludes a student who “only needs a related service.”

   A group of qualified professionals and you decide it together; the report is free.

3. Fifteen days, then consent

   HAR 8-60-10(d)(2), 8-60-31(a)(1)

   A request, spoken or written, gets a notice inside fifteen days; consent to assess “shall not be construed as consent” for services.

   Two signatures, then: the first opens the evaluation, the second starts the IEP meeting clock.

4. Sixty days, then fifteen more

   HAR 8-60-33(c)(1), 8-60-47(c)(1)

   The initial evaluation “shall be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent,” and the IEP meeting follows within fifteen days of consent to services.

   The services signature, the second one, starts those fifteen days, so date it.

5. Chapter 19 removals

   HAR 8-60-75(e)(1)

   A “violation of Chapter 19” that changes placement puts the department, you and the relevant IEP team members over the file within ten school days.

   Chapter 19 is Hawaii’s student conduct code; ask for the manifestation finding in writing.

6. The written complaint route

   HAR 8-60-53(a), 8-60-54(c), 8-60-60(a)

   A signed written complaint is decided “within 60 days,” reaching back one year; mediation is offered on any matter, before or after a complaint.

   Complaints go to the Complaints Management Program in Honolulu; mediation is the Mediation Center of the Pacific’s.

What the rule says

The state wrote it this way:

“Within fifteen days from the date of receipt of a request for an evaluation, the parent shall: Receive a written notice … of the department’s proposal to assess the student … or … a written notice … of the department’s refusal to assess”

HAR 8-60-10(d)(2)

The fifteen run from receipt, and a phone call to the school counts as a request.

The deadlines Hawaii sets

School days and calendar days count differently, so read the unit in every row.

How a child gets an IEP in Hawaii

1. Ask the neighborhood school

   In person, by phone or by letter, ask the school your child attends or would attend.

2. Sign to assess, then to serve

   The first signature opens sixty days to eligibility; the second, for services, opens fifteen to the IEP meeting.

3. Take the report home

   Both the evaluation report and eligibility paperwork come at no cost; read them before signing for services.

The evaluation request letter writes step one for you, in the words a district answers.

Complaints Management Program, Monitoring and Compliance Branch — The department’s own compliance branch in Honolulu takes written complaints about any Hawaii public or charter school.

If the school says no

By day fifteen a Hawaii school’s no is a notice of refusal to assess; nothing by then is your first letter.

• Ask the school which date it logged as receipt, since a phone call started the count.
• Mediation needs both sides to agree; a written complaint needs only your signature and the facts.

A refusal arrives in writing under 34 CFR 300.503, naming what was refused and the data behind it.

This page organizes the state’s own words: it does not replace the current rule text, or advice from someone qualified in your state.

Where this comes from

• Hawaii Administrative Rules, Chapter 8-60The rule quoted.
• HIDOE Child Find, requesting an evaluationThree ways to ask.
• HIDOE dispute resolution pageWhere a complaint goes.
• The federal evaluation rule (34 CFR 300.301)The floor every state builds on.