Resource Library/Individualized Education Program (IEP) and 504 school support plans
Individualized Education Program (IEP) and 504 school support plans
How Tennessee families request a special education evaluation in writing: a sample letter to copy, the legal timelines your district must meet, IFSP vs.
On this page
Read this first
This is parent-to-parent guidance, not legal advice. The good news: the free help in Tennessee is genuinely good, and it’s listed at the bottom of this page. If your child is under three, this isn’t your page yet — start with TEIS and early intervention.
Bottom line
Schools rarely offer an evaluation first — you have to ask, in writing, and you can do that at any time. Once you ask, the district must either propose an assessment plan for you to consent to, or refuse in writing. Your signed consent is what starts a strict 60-calendar-day clock to finish testing and decide eligibility. An IEP changes the teaching itself; a 504 plan changes access and accommodations around it. Below: the letter to copy, the exact timelines, your rights at the table, and where to get free help.
What to do now
What to do now
- Send the written evaluation request. Copy the letter below, fill in your child’s details, and email it to the principal with the district office copied.
- Review the assessment plan and sign consent once it addresses your concerns — that signature date is what starts the 60-day clock.
- Track the key dates — sent, response, consent, and day 60 — in the timeline below.
What an IEP actually is
An IEP is a written, legally binding plan for a student who qualifies for special education under IDEA Part B, the federal special education law covering ages 3 through 21. It provides specialized instruction (teaching changed to fit how your child learns) plus the related services that make school work: speech, OT, PT, behavior support, counseling, assistive technology, transportation.
The key word is individualized. An IEP isn’t a menu the school picks from — it’s built for one child, by a team that includes you, and the school has to deliver what it says.
Which plan is which? IFSP vs. IEP vs. 504
IFSP vs. IEP vs. 504
Three plans, three different laws. Families get talked out of the right one all the time because the names blur together:
Individualized Family Service Plan
The early intervention plan under IDEA Part C, delivered in Tennessee by TEIS. Supports the whole family in everyday places, at no cost. See our TEIS guide.
Individualized Education Program
IDEA Part B. For students who need specialized instruction — the teaching itself changes, plus goals, progress monitoring, and related services.
Section 504 accommodations
Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — a civil rights law, not a special education law. Provides accommodations and access for a student who doesn’t need specialized instruction.
The rough test: if your child can learn the standard material with adjustments to how the day works — extra time, seating, breaks, a quiet testing room — a 504 may be enough. If your child needs the instruction itself designed differently, that’s an IEP. Ask for the evaluation and let the data answer it; you don’t have to pick the label in advance.
How to request an evaluation, step by step
How to request an evaluation, step by step
First: which district is yours? Murfreesboro has two.
Inside the city limits, Murfreesboro City Schools runs elementary (PreK–6) and Rutherford County Schools takes over for grades 7–12; outside the city limits, Rutherford County runs every grade. Same house, two special-education offices over one school career. Your letter goes to whichever district runs your child’s current school — and when a city kid moves from 6th to 7th grade, the IEP crosses to a new district. Records transfer and the receiving school must provide comparable services while it reviews the plan, but treat that hand-off like a fresh introduction: bring your own copy of everything.
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Request a full initial evaluation, in writing — you can do this at any time
You do not have to wait for the school to offer, for interventions to run their course, or for anyone’s permission. A parent may request an initial special education evaluation at any time. Describe what you’re seeing in concrete, specific terms — academic, communication, behavioral, developmental, motor, sensory, or functional concerns, whatever applies to your child — and ask for the evaluation directly (the letter below does it for you). Email your child’s principal and copy the district special education office; a signed letter works too. Email is easiest: it timestamps itself and you keep the sent copy.
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Know what the school may offer next — and what it can’t do
The local districts use school-based problem-solving processes — RTI² (opens in a new tab) (Tennessee’s response-to-intervention framework, also called MTSS) and the Student Assistance Team (SAT). Those meetings can be genuinely useful, and you can say yes to one. But they are not a prerequisite, and federal guidance is explicit: interventions cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation you have requested (U.S. Dept. of Education, OSEP Memo 11-07 (opens in a new tab)). An SAT meeting can happen in parallel with your request — it cannot replace it. Schools also have their own affirmative Child Find duty under IDEA to identify and evaluate children suspected of having a disability, whether or not a parent asks.
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The district must answer your request — one of two ways
After your written request, the district either proposes an assessment plan and asks for your consent, or refuses — and if it refuses, it must give you Prior Written Notice (PWN) explaining the decision and the information used to make it. “Let’s try interventions first and see” is not one of the two answers. If weeks pass with no assessment plan and no written refusal, reply to your own email and ask which of the two is coming.
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Review the proposed assessment plan
The assessment plan lists the specific areas and tests the school wants to use. Read it against your actual concerns and ask why each piece is included — and whether anything you raised is missing. Testing should be broad enough to identify your child’s real needs, not padded out by default — you don’t need to ask for a “comprehensive evaluation” to be taken seriously, and more testing isn’t automatically better. The plan should be built around your child, not a template. Bring what you already have: outside evaluations, therapy reports, work samples, teacher emails.
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Sign written consent — that’s what starts the clock
Once the plan addresses your concerns, sign it and write the date in your folder. In Tennessee, this date — not your first request letter, not any SAT or RTI² meeting — is what starts the timeline: the district has 60 calendar days from your written consent to evaluate to complete the evaluation and determine eligibility.
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Eligibility meeting, then the first IEP
If your child is found eligible, the initial IEP meeting must happen within 30 calendar days of that eligibility determination. You should get notice of any meeting at least 10 calendar days ahead — and if the school prepares a draft IEP, you’re entitled to it at least 48 hours before you sit down.
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If the district refuses, or the clock stalls
A refusal must come with Prior Written Notice — keep it. You can ask follow-up questions, provide more information and ask again, or bring in a second set of eyes. The free help below is there if you want it — and if there’s a genuine dispute or an urgent timeline, a Tennessee special-education advocate or attorney is the right call, not a luxury.
Copy this letter
This version requests the evaluation itself — the formal request that federal law protects. Replace every [bracketed] field with your child’s details, delete the concerns that don’t apply, send it by email to the principal with a copy to the district special education office, and keep the sent copy. Plain and dated beats eloquent.
[Today’s date]
[Principal’s name], Principal
[School name]
cc: [District special education supervisor]
Subject: Request for an initial special education evaluation — [Child’s full name], date of birth [DOB], grade [grade], [school]
Dear [Name],
I am requesting a full and individual initial evaluation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to determine whether my child, [child’s name], is eligible for special education and related services.
I am concerned about [briefly describe academic, communication, behavioral, developmental, motor, sensory, or functional concerns].
Please provide the consent paperwork and information about the proposed evaluation promptly. I am available to participate in a Student Assistance Team meeting, but I do not want interventions or that meeting to delay consideration of this formal evaluation request.
If the district refuses this request, please provide Prior Written Notice explaining the decision and the information used to make it.
Thank you,
[Parent name]
[Contact information]
This is general information from parents, not individualized legal advice. If your situation involves a dispute, a discipline issue, or an urgent timeline, talk with a Tennessee special-education advocate or attorney — several are in our directory, including free options.
Then do this: note the date you sent it, the date the district responds with either an assessment plan or Prior Written Notice, the date you sign consent, and the date 60 calendar days after that. A few dates in your phone calendar is the whole trick — most delays get fixed by one polite email that says “we’re on day 55.”
The timelines your district has to meet
Tennessee publishes these, which means you can hold them without arguing about them:
- 60 calendar days from your written consent to evaluate to complete the initial evaluation and determine eligibility — the clock starts at consent, not when your first request letter is sent.
- An SAT or RTI² meeting does not start the evaluation clock — and cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation you’ve requested (OSEP Memo 11-07 (opens in a new tab)). Your signed consent to the assessment plan starts the 60 days.
- 30 calendar days from an eligibility determination to the initial IEP meeting.
- 10 school days — the school must convene an IEP meeting within 10 school days of a written request from any team member. You are a team member.
- 10 calendar days minimum notice to you before an IEP meeting.
- 48 hours minimum for a draft IEP to reach you before the meeting, if the school creates one.
- Every 3 years — reevaluation happens at least this often (sooner if you or the team request it).
- The 15th calendar day — a proposed IEP you disagree with takes effect on day 15 unless you object or file for due process first. That gives you a 14-day window, so read what you’re handed before the meeting ends.
- 1 year to file an administrative complaint with the state; 2 years to file a due process complaint.
The state’s own one-pager, Timelines in Special Education (PDF) (opens in a new tab), is worth printing and slipping into your folder.
What are my rights at the table?
Your rights as a parent
- You get the Notice of Procedural Safeguards. The district must give it to you at referral and annually after that. It’s dense — the state’s Quick Guide to Parent Rights & Responsibilities (PDF) (opens in a new tab) is the readable version, and the full Notice of Procedural Safeguards (PDF) (opens in a new tab) is the one to cite.
- You may invite someone to support you at meetings. Bring a spouse, a friend, your child’s private therapist, an advocate, an attorney, or someone to take notes — at an SAT, eligibility, IEP, or 504 meeting. If that person is an advocate or attorney who will receive records, review protected student information, or communicate with the school on your behalf, the local district requires a completed Release of Information (ROI) — ask the school or district for its form before the meeting and allow time for it to be processed. Tell the meeting coordinator in advance who will attend and what their role will be. Simply inviting someone does not, by itself, authorize the district to release records or discuss protected information with them.
- You can disagree. Disagreement is built into the process, not a breach of manners. Say it out loud, ask that it be recorded in the meeting, and don’t sign anything you haven’t read. “I need to take this home and read it” is a complete sentence.
- You can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense. If you disagree with the school’s evaluation, federal law (34 CFR 300.502) lets you ask for an outside evaluation the district pays for. The district must either fund it or file due process to defend its own evaluation — it cannot simply ignore the request.
Where can I get free help?
Free help — before you’re in the room
STEP TN is Tennessee’s federally funded parent training center, and their free workshops walk you through what an IEP meeting actually looks like before you’re sitting in one — which is a very different experience from learning it live. Call 800-280-7837 (Español 800-975-2919) or check their training calendar. Nashville families have a rare second option: the Education Rights Project offers free advocacy and actual legal representation. And for rights questions statewide, Disability Rights Tennessee is the protection-and-advocacy agency at 800-342-1660.
STEP TN (opens in a new tab)
Free one-on-one help understanding your rights, reviewing an IEP, and preparing for meetings — plus free workshops that demystify the meeting itself. English and Spanish.
Education Rights Project (Nashville) (opens in a new tab)
Free advocacy and legal representation for Nashville students with disabilities in IEP and school discipline disputes — a genuinely rare free legal option.
Disability Rights Tennessee
Tennessee’s protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities. Call when a rights question has gotten bigger than a meeting — denials, discipline, restraint, or a district that won’t follow its own plan.
TN Dept. of Education — Special Education (opens in a new tab)
The state’s hub for families: eligibility, parent resources, dispute resolution, and the official documents. If our page ever disagrees with this one, trust this one.
Timelines in Special Education (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Every deadline on this page, straight from the state, on one printable sheet. Bring it to the meeting.
Quick Guide to Parent Rights (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
The plain-language summary of your procedural safeguards. Read this one first; read the full notice when you need the exact language.
Notice of Procedural Safeguards (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
The full legal notice the district owes you at referral and every year. Dense, but this is the document to quote when it matters.
IEP advocates near us (our directory)
Free federally funded advocates and local paid advocates who will read the IEP with you — and sit next to you at the table if you want them there.
What changes as my child gets older?
As your child gets older
An IEP is a living document: it’s reviewed regularly, reevaluation happens at least every three years, and you can request a meeting in writing any time something stops working. Starting at age 14, the plan takes on transition planning — life after high school, work, and independence — and that stretch has its own map in our teens & independent living guide. Under three and just getting started? That’s TEIS.
Want support before a school meeting?
Protect private school records
Do not post or send your child’s IEP or other private school records through a peer group. We can share a neutral list of independent advocacy resources — see the free help above and the directory’s IEP advocacy category — but we do not review IEPs, provide legal advice, select an advocate for a family, or guarantee an advocate’s qualifications, approach, availability, or fees. Advocates and attorneys may need a completed district ROI before receiving records.
Sources and review information
- Written by
- The Our Special Village team — parents, not lawyers. This page is general information, not individualized legal advice.
Sources
- OSEP Memo 11-07: A Response to Intervention (RTI) Process Cannot Be Used to Delay-Deny an Evaluation — U.S. Dept. of Education, 2011 (opens in a new tab) — interventions may not delay or deny a requested IDEA evaluation.
- RTI² Manual — Tennessee Department of Education (opens in a new tab) — how Tennessee’s tiered-intervention framework works alongside special education.
- Timelines in Special Education (PDF) — Tennessee Department of Education (opens in a new tab) — the 60-day, 30-day, and notice timelines on this page.
- Notice of Procedural Safeguards (PDF) — Tennessee Department of Education (opens in a new tab) — parent rights, Prior Written Notice, consent, and dispute options.
- 34 CFR Part 300 — IDEA Part B regulations (opens in a new tab) — Child Find (§300.111), evaluations (§300.301), Prior Written Notice (§300.503), and IEE at public expense (§300.502).
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