Education Across the States · State Guides
Special education in Oregon, step by step — Oregon’s rules, Oregon’s dates
Our second state publication: four complete guides to special education in Oregon — one for parents navigating an IEP, one for parents navigating a Section 504 plan, one for the educators who write and run the plans, and one for the administrators accountable for all of it. Every timeline, address, and date in them is Oregon’s own, checked against the state’s published documents.
The full guides are free. Subscribe and we’ll email them to you — all four guides, in English and Spanish, with the fill-in letters. Below is what’s inside each one.
What it is. The complete Oregon road from "I think my child needs help" to a signed, working IEP — and the dispute ladder behind it — in plain language, with every Oregon deadline stated as Oregon actually counts it.
Who it's for. Parents and guardians of children ages 5–21 in Oregon public schools (with the birth-to-kindergarten EI/ECSE route flagged where it diverges).
What's inside (free with signup). - The evaluation, step by step: evaluation planning as a team act (OAR 581-015-2115), informed written consent — and Oregon's asymmetric consent rules (a district may seek to override a refused evaluation; it may never override refused initial services) - The 60-school-day clock — Oregon counts school days from consent to the eligibility meeting, not the 60 calendar days national guides quote — plus its three documented exceptions - Eligibility as Oregon decides it: the written statement of eligibility every team member signs - The Oregon Standard IEP (one statewide form), the 30-calendar-day meeting rule, and transition planning — starting at 16, available at 14 by team agreement, with Vocational Rehabilitation / ODDS supported-employment information owed to parents at every annual review - Records in 10 business days (ORS 343.173) — not FERPA's 45 - Disputes, Oregon's way: free ODE mediation; the state complaint (ODE decision in 60 days, reconsideration, judicial review); due process before Office of Administrative Hearings ALJs; and Oregon-only extras — the ALJ settlement conference and advisory opinion - Oregon's abbreviated-school-day law: no shortened day without your informed written consent, never for staffing, reviews on a statutory schedule, revocation at any time (ORS 343.322–343.331) - Downloads: the Oregon evaluation request letter and the IEE request letter — with the correct standard, "without unnecessary delay," no invented deadline
What's state-specific. School-day counting; the 10-business-day records rule; the standard statewide IEP; the abbreviated-day consent statute; OAH-conducted hearings; complaint reconsideration and ORS 183.484 judicial review; FACT Oregon as the designated parent center.
What it is. Section 504 in Oregon — the federal civil-rights floor, plus the state layer Oregon adds that most states don't have.
Who it's for. Parents of students with disabilities who learn with accommodations rather than specialized instruction — ADHD, anxiety, diabetes, severe allergies, dyslexia, medical conditions — and IEP families checking the other road.
What's inside (free with signup). - Who qualifies: the three prongs, the broad post-2008 reading of "substantially limits," and why mitigating measures don't disqualify - The evaluation: variety of sources, a knowledgeable group — and the honest truth that Oregon sets no 504 evaluation day-count, so your dated written request is the enforceable artifact - Discipline, corrected: there is no manifestation determination under 504 — the rule is reevaluation before a significant change in placement (OCR: more than 10 cumulative exclusion days) — despite what widely used national guides claim - Oregon's 504 hearing: a written request to the State Superintendent runs under IDEA hearing procedures — with the two exceptions that change strategy (no stay-put; no free verbatim record) and district-paid costs (OAR 581-015-2395) - The full ladder: 504 coordinator → district grievance → Oregon 504 hearing → OCR (180 days) → court - Oregon's abbreviated-day law expressly covers 504 students — consent, reviews, revocation, and ODE's >10-day reporting collection
What's state-specific. The state hearing route; the abbreviated-day statute's express 504 coverage; Oregon's own rule definitions for Section 504 hearings (OAR 581-015-2390).
What it is. Oregon special education practice for the people who run it daily — organized as the work actually flows: Identify → Evaluate → Write → Implement → Monitor → Meet.
Who it's for. Case managers, special educators, school psychologists, related-service providers, and the ESD staff who deliver Oregon's regional services.
What's inside (free with signup). - Evaluation planning as a team act with the parent inside it; Oregon's consent asymmetry, stated as practice rules - The 60-school-day consent-to-eligibility clock and its only documented exceptions; transfer and comparable-services duties - Writing on the Oregon Standard IEP: measurable goals, minutes as commitments, transition at 16 (or 14), and the VR/ODDS parent-information duty at every annual review - The abbreviated-day statute as a practitioner's checklist — consent, 25–35-day first review, 30-day cycles, instant revocation handling, and the staffing prohibition - Discipline mechanics: pattern analysis, the 10-school-day MDR clock, the 45-school-day interim setting, expedited clocks - A one-card Oregon clocks table for the wall by the phone
What's state-specific. School-day counting; the standard form; records in 10 business days; General Supervision's one-year correction standard as a documentation discipline.
What it is. Oregon special education compliance leadership, led by the calendar: the dated obligations, the rolling clocks, and the systems — monitoring, disputes, staffing, corrective action — that decide a district's standing.
Who it's for. Special education directors, superintendents, business officials, and building administrators with special education portfolios.
What's inside (free with signup). - The 2026–27 Oregon compliance calendar, dated and sourced: Private School Data Collection (Sep 24–Nov 9, 2026); the December 1 Child Count snapshot; the December 14, 2026 SECC submission; the January review window; ODE's April 15 fiscal use of the count; the July 2, 2027 Exit and Indicator 11 deadlines; the federal submission by the last Wednesday in July; the Abbreviated Day Collection year - Why December is the whole game: the SECC's 2.0 IEP weight (capped at 11% of resident ADM) and ODE's rule that one late or inaccurate submission makes the district "not Timely or Accurate" — Needs Intervention for the year - Rolling clocks: the 3-month/1-year General Supervision correction standard; the 10-business-day complaint-response duty; due process 15/30/45 - The dispute map in one table — mediation (free), complaint (60 days), due process (OAH ALJs), the Oregon 504 hearing (no stay-put), expedited discipline — with the public-log reality: Oregon publishes complaints and hearing requests back to 2008 - The staffing truth: Oregon sets no caseload caps in Division 15 — accountability runs through outcomes and clocks, and staffing is statutorily forbidden as a reason for a shortened day - Corrective action and the superintendent-level edge of abbreviated-day violations (TSPC exposure under ORS 343.328); a verify-don't-assume checklist for board reports
What's state-specific. Every date on the calendar (each one ticked to its ODE source in the package's claims table); the General Supervision/SPR&I system; the SECC funding mechanics; the At-A-Glance Special Education Profiles.
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