Florida's 60-Calendar-Day School Evaluation Rule and the Days That Don't Count

If you have asked your Florida school district to evaluate your child for exceptional student education (ESE), you have probably heard "the school has 60 days." That is roughly right, but the details matter. The 60 days are calendar days, they start when the district receives your signed consent (not when you first ask), and some days on the calendar do not count. Many websites still say "60 school days," which was the old rule. This article sets out the current rule word for word and shows how to track it.

What does Florida's rule actually say?

The timeline is in Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(g) of the Florida Administrative Code (the rule was last amended effective September 23, 2025):

The school district shall ensure that initial evaluations of students and preschool age children age three (3) through kindergarten entry age suspected of having a disability are completed within sixty (60) calendar days after the school district's receipt of parent consent for evaluation.

It applies to kindergarten through grade 12 students and to preschool children from age three until kindergarten entry. Federal law (34 CFR 300.301(c)) sets 60 days from consent, or a timeframe the state establishes; Florida's rule is that state timeframe.

Is it 60 school days or 60 calendar days?

Calendar days. The "60 school days" standard survives only in Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(f), which applies to "a signed consent for evaluation received by a school district on or before June 30, 2015." Any evaluation consented to since then runs on the 60-calendar-day rule. If a staff member or a website tells you "60 school days," you can politely point to paragraph (3)(g).

Which days don't count toward the 60?

The rule lists four kinds of days that "shall not be counted toward the sixty (60) calendar day requirement":

1. "All school holidays and Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks as adopted by the district school board."
2. "The summer vacation period beginning the day after the last day of school for students and ending on the first day of school for students." The rule adds that the district "is not prohibited from conducting evaluations during the summer vacation period."
3. "The days when a student is absent for more than eight (8) school days in the sixty (60) calendar day period."
4. Days the district is closed for inclement weather or natural disasters, but only if the Governor authorized the closure through an emergency order, services for all students stopped, the district keeps communicating with parents of students whose evaluation was pending, and any extension is limited to the number of closure days.

Weekends that are not part of a break are ordinary calendar days, so they count. Because holidays and breaks are "as adopted by the district school board," the exact dates come from your district's official school calendar.

When does the clock start?

On "the school district's receipt of parent consent for evaluation." There is an earlier step: when you ask for an evaluation, the district has 30 days, unless you and the school agree otherwise in writing, to either obtain your consent or give you written notice explaining why it refuses (Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(c)). So the full path from request to a finished evaluation can be up to about 30 days plus 60 counted days.

Practical tips:

• Make your request in writing and keep a dated copy. Our school evaluation request letter has wording you can adapt.
• Sign and return the consent form promptly, and ask for a copy showing the date the district received it.
• Write down that date and count forward on a calendar, crossing out holidays and breaks from the district calendar.

Can the school extend the 60 days?

Only in limited situations listed in Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(h). The main one requires your written agreement:

The parent and school district, by mutual written agreement, extend the sixty (60)-calendar day requirement by no more than thirty (30)-calendar days. The written agreement must be secured before the forty-fifth (45th) calendar day, but after the formal testing has begun and it was determined that other evaluators are needed to complete the required full and individual evaluation.

So an extension is capped at 30 calendar days, must be in writing, must be signed before day 45, and is meant for cases where testing has started and additional evaluators are needed. You are not required to agree. Before you sign, it is reasonable to ask which evaluator is needed and when the evaluation will be complete.

The other two situations do not need your agreement: if the parent "repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for the evaluation," or if the student moves into the district after the timeline started and before the previous district decided eligibility (in that case the new district must make sufficient progress and agree a completion date with the parent).

What does counting look like? An example

This is an illustrative example with made-up calendar assumptions, not a statement of any district's dates.

A district receives a parent's signed consent on Monday, November 2, 2026. Suppose that district's adopted calendar has a Thanksgiving break of 5 days and a winter break covering 10 more days that fall inside the 60-day window, and the child has no long absences.

• Without any excluded days, day 60 would be January 1, 2027.
• Adding back the 15 excluded break days moves the deadline to about January 16, 2027.
• If the parent and district signed a valid extension agreement before day 45, up to 30 more calendar days could be added.

Districts can differ in how they treat weekends that fall inside a break, so ask your district's ESE office how it counts and what date it has recorded as the deadline.

What happens after the evaluation?

The evaluation leads to an eligibility decision by a group that includes you. You are entitled to a copy of the evaluation report and eligibility documentation at no cost (Rule 6A-6.0331(6)(a)). If your child is eligible, the IEP must be developed "within thirty (30) calendar days following the determination of a student's eligibility" (Rule 6A-6.03028(3)(f)2.). For autism, the evaluation has six required parts; see how Florida schools decide autism eligibility. The full process is in our Florida IEP guide for autism.

What if the school misses the deadline?

Districts must track this. Rule 6A-6.0331(3)(j) requires each district to report to the Florida Department of Education every student whose evaluation was not completed within the 60-day timeline, the reason, the number of days it was exceeded, the date consent was received and the date the evaluation was completed.

If the date passes, a measured approach usually works first:

1. Email the school psychologist or ESE contact, give the consent date and the deadline you calculated, and ask when the evaluation will be complete.
2. If there is no clear answer, write to the district ESE office.
3. If the delay continues, Florida's dispute options include mediation and a state complaint to FDOE. Compare them in IEP dispute options in Florida. For advice about your specific situation, a Florida special education attorney or advocate can help.

Can my child get help while we wait?

The school evaluation and private therapy run on separate tracks. If your child already has an autism diagnosis, ABA through health insurance or self-pay does not have to wait for the school's decision. Hope Center has no waitlist; services usually start 3 to 5 business days after the insurer approves the treatment plan, and the whole process from first call can take as little as three weeks when paperwork moves quickly. Our staff can also join school meetings where the school allows. Contact us or call 561-337-8865 for a free consultation and benefits check.