Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
Indiana procedural safeguards are the rights that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Indiana’s special education rules, 511 IAC 7-32 through 7-50, known as Article 7, give parents and students in special education, from written notice and consent to mediation and due process hearings. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) explains them in its Notice of Procedural Safeguards, which schools must give parents at least once a school year (511 IAC 7-37-1; 34 CFR 300.504); the current English edition is dated August 2025 and has a 2025 Spanish edition. This guide covers the notice, Article 7, the case conference committee, Indiana timelines, dispute resolution and seclusion and restraint. It is not legal advice.
Table of contents
Executive Summary
In Indiana, IEPs are written by a case conference committee (CCC), and many Article 7 deadlines are counted in instructional days.
Two changes matter: since July 1, 2025, judges of the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings (OALP) hear new due process cases, and in 2026 the State Board of Education proposed Article 7 amendments that are not yet in effect.
Key Takeaways
- The notice is IDOE’s Notice of Procedural Safeguards, August 2025, in English and Spanish.
- Posting it online is not delivery (511 IAC 7-37-1(e)).
- The CCC is Indiana’s IEP team; it decides eligibility, the IEP and placement.
- The evaluation clock: 10 instructional days to send notice after a request, 50 from consent to evaluate and convene the CCC.
- A proposed IEP change starts on the 11th instructional day unless the parent challenges it.
- OALP judges hear due process requests filed since July 1, 2025; court review must be sought within 30 calendar days.
The IDOE Notice of Procedural Safeguards (August 2025)
The official document is IDOE’s Notice of Procedural Safeguards, posted on the department’s Laws and Resources page as a sample that outlines the rights of a parent of a child who has or may have a disability.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official title | Indiana Department of Education Notice of Procedural Safeguards |
| Current edition | August 2025, 25 pages; the posted file was updated in 2026 with a new fax number |
| Download | English PDF |
| Languages | English and Spanish (2025); Arabic, Burmese, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian and Vietnamese from the earlier edition |
| State rule | 511 IAC 7-37-1, Notice of procedural safeguards |
The notice follows Article 7 section by section, defines a “day” as a calendar day unless it is called a school, instructional or business day, and ends with sources of help, including IN*SOURCE and Indiana Disability Rights.
Indiana Procedural Safeguards in Spanish and Other Languages
The Spanish edition, Aviso de Salvaguardias Procedimentales, is dated August 2025. Under 511 IAC 7-37-1(b) and (c), the notice must be easy to read, understandable to the general public and provided in the parent’s native language or mode of communication unless clearly not feasible; for an unwritten language, the school translates orally, checks understanding and documents both. For students also learning English, see our guide to dually identified students.
When Indiana Schools Must Give the Notice
| Trigger | Federal rule | Article 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Once a school year | 34 CFR 300.504(a) | 511 IAC 7-37-1(d) |
| Initial referral or parent request for evaluation | 300.504(a)(1) | 7-37-1(d)(1) and 7-40-4(e)(5) |
| First complaint and first due process request of the school year | 300.504(a)(2) | 7-37-1(d)(2) and (3) |
| Disciplinary change of placement, including interim settings for weapons, drugs or serious bodily injury | 300.504(a)(3) | 7-37-1(d)(4) |
| Parent request | 300.504(a)(4) | 7-37-1(d)(5) |
A school may post the notice on its website, but Article 7 states that posting does not satisfy the duty to provide it (7-37-1(e)). Parents may receive it by email if the school offers that option.
What Indiana Procedural Safeguards Cover
Article 7 requires the notice to fully explain topics that mirror 34 CFR 300.504(c), each tied to an Indiana rule (511 IAC 7-37-1(f)).
- Decisions about the student: written notice, the eight situations that need written consent, independent educational evaluations and reevaluation.
- Participation: CCC membership and the right to request a CCC meeting.
- Records: access, review, amendment and fees.
- Disagreements: complaints, mediation, due process and the student’s placement while a case is pending.
Article 7: Indiana’s Special Education Rules
Article 7 is the set of State Board of Education rules at 511 IAC 7-32 through 7-50 of the Indiana Administrative Code that implements IDEA in Indiana; the general statute is Indiana Code 20-35. IDOE publishes an agency version, Special Education Rules, Title 511 Article 7 (May 2024), and a plain-language companion, Navigating the Course (August 2025).
| Rules | Content |
|---|---|
| 32 and 33 | Definitions and general provisions |
| 34 to 36 | Nonpublic school students, program planning, administration |
| 37 to 39 | Procedural safeguards, confidentiality, educational surrogate parents |
| 40 and 41 | Evaluation and the 13 eligibility categories |
| 42 and 43 | CCC, IEP, placement, related services, transition |
| 44 and 45 | Discipline; complaints, mediation and due process |
| 46 to 50 | Child count, state excess-cost funding, expenditure requirements, choice schools, education scholarship account service plans |
The current text comes from LSA Document #23-504, adopted by the State Board on December 5, 2023 and posted to the Indiana Register on April 3, 2024, according to IDOE’s overview of the revisions. It added Rule 50 and clarified discipline and dispute resolution rules. Indiana’s category names, such as emotional disability, map onto the federal list in our guide to IDEA disability categories.
Proposed Article 7 Amendments (LSA Document #26-157)
The State Board published proposed amendments in the Indiana Register on June 3, 2026, with a second comment period announced on August 19, 2026. As proposed, they would update rules on the definition of public agency, education records, initial evaluations, educational representatives, protections for students not yet eligible and reevaluations for education scholarship students, and rename the “independent hearing officer” an “impartial hearing officer.” Until a final rule takes effect, the 2024 text applies.
The Case Conference Committee (CCC)
The case conference committee is Indiana’s name for the IEP team: the parents and school staff who review the evaluation, decide eligibility, develop and revise the IEP or transition IEP, and decide services and placement (511 IAC 7-32-12).
- Required members: the parent, a public agency representative who can commit resources, the teacher of record (or the speech-language pathologist for a student with a language or speech impairment only), a general education teacher if the student is or may be in general education, and someone who can interpret evaluation results (7-42-3).
- Meeting notice: a mutually agreed date, time and place, with the purpose and participants listed (7-42-2).
- When it meets: after an evaluation, at least annually, at a parent’s or school’s request and within 10 instructional days of a disciplinary change of placement.
- Transition IEP: required when the student will turn 14 or enter grade 9 during the IEP.
Federal meeting rules are in our IEP meeting guide.
Indiana Timelines and Additions to the Federal Rules
| Step | Indiana deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Parent’s verbal or written request for evaluation to licensed personnel | Written notice to the parent within 10 instructional days | 511 IAC 7-40-4(d) |
| Initial evaluation | Evaluation completed and CCC convened within 50 instructional days of written consent | 7-40-5(d) |
| Evaluation report or explanation meeting, if requested | Report at least 5 instructional days before the initial CCC; explanation meeting within the 5 instructional days before it | 7-40-5(h), (i) |
| Written notice before the initial CCC | At least 5 instructional days before the meeting | 7-42-4 |
| Written notice after a CCC | At the end of the meeting, or received within 10 business days | 7-42-7(e) |
| Initial IEP | Services within 10 instructional days of consent | 7-42-8(a)(1) |
| Later IEPs | On the 11th instructional day after the written notice, unless the parent agrees to an earlier date or challenges it | 7-42-8(a)(2) |
| IEE request | Agree in writing or file for a hearing within 10 business days | 7-40-7(c) |
When a parent requests an independent educational evaluation, the school may ask why but may not require an explanation or unreasonably delay its answer because of it (7-40-7(d)). Our guide to special education evaluation compares state timelines.
Examples of Procedural Safeguards in Practice
These are original examples written for this guide. Adapt them to local procedures, and check decisions with legal consequences with district counsel.
| Situation | What Article 7 requires | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| A father asks his daughter’s first-grade teacher, in person, to have her evaluated | A verbal request to licensed personnel counts; send written notice and the safeguards notice within 10 instructional days | 7-40-4(d), (e) |
| At an annual review, the school proposes fewer resource minutes and the mother wants time to think | Give or mail written notice; the change starts on the 11th instructional day unless she requests a meeting with an official, mediation or a hearing | 7-42-7, 7-42-8(a)(2) |
| A parent asks in writing for an IEE at public expense | Within 10 business days, agree in writing or request a hearing | 7-40-7(c) |
Dispute Resolution in Indiana
Indiana offers informal options and three formal processes in Rule 45: complaints, mediation and due process hearings. Formal requests can be filed through I-CHAMP, the Indiana Complaint, Hearing, and Mediation Process portal.
| Option | Who runs it | Key rules |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting with a school official | The school | A timely challenge keeps the current IEP in place |
| Mediation | IDOE, with mediators assigned in rotation | Voluntary; IDOE pays; the signed agreement is legally binding |
| Complaint | IDOE complaint investigator | Anyone, about a violation within one year; report within 40 calendar days; reconsideration requested within 10 days |
| Due process hearing | An OALP administrative law judge for requests filed on or after July 1, 2025 | Parent, student of legal age, school or IDOE; within two years; decision within 45 calendar days after the 30-day resolution period |
Neighboring states organize the same rights differently: see Michigan procedural safeguards and Ohio procedural safeguards.
Due Process in Indiana Since July 2025
Indiana Code 20-35-14, enacted by House Enrolled Act 1380 (2024), moved IDEA hearings from IDOE to the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings: OALP judges hear requests filed on or after July 1, 2025, while independent hearing officers keep cases filed earlier.
- Filing: a signed, written request sent at the same time to the secretary of education, through OALP as designee, and to the other party (7-45-3(b)).
- Resolution meeting within 15 calendar days of a parent’s request, then a 30-day resolution period (7-45-6).
- Decision within 45 calendar days after that period, unless extended (7-45-7).
- Judicial review: a petition to a civil court within 30 calendar days after receiving the decision; there is no second administrative level (7-45-9).
Expedited discipline hearings take place within 20 instructional days (7-45-10).
Restraint and Seclusion in Indiana
Indiana regulates seclusion and restraint in schools under Indiana Code 20-20-40, which created the Commission on Seclusion and Restraint in Schools in 2013, and the commission’s rules at 513 IAC 1. Every public, charter and accredited nonpublic school must adopt a plan; under the commission’s Model Seclusion and Restraint Plan (effective October 4, 2019), plans must at a minimum limit physical restraint and seclusion to a last resort when there is imminent risk of injury, document each incident, attempt to report it to the parent by the end of the school day or as soon as practical, give the parent a copy of the incident report and train staff. Schools report the number of incidents (513 IAC 1-2-7). Our guide to restraint and seclusion compares state laws.
Prior Written Notice and the Indiana Safeguards
Every written notice under 511 IAC 7-42-7 must state that parents are protected by the safeguards and, for any IEP after the first, explain the three ways to challenge it. An Indiana school may use the IEP as part of that notice if the parent receives every required element (7-42-7(c)); Pennsylvania uses one named form, the NOREP. Sample wording is in our prior written notice examples.
Common Mistakes District Leaders Make
- Treating a verbal request as informal. A spoken request to licensed staff starts the 10-instructional-day clock.
- Counting the 50 days in calendar days. Article 7 counts instructional days from written consent.
- Implementing a revised IEP early. Without written parent agreement, it starts on the 11th instructional day.
- Mailing the notice late. Mailed notice must reach parents within 10 business days of the CCC.
- Relying on the website. Posting the notice is not delivery.
- Applying the 2026 proposals early. The 2024 text of Article 7 governs until a final rule takes effect.
Recommended Actions
- Replace older copies with the August 2025 notice in English and Spanish.
- Train all licensed staff to log verbal evaluation requests the same day.
- Build the instructional-day clocks (10, 50, 5 and 11) into your student information system.
- Prepare an IEE reply template that can go out within 10 business days.
- Update forms and training for OALP filing and track LSA Document #26-157.
- Review your seclusion and restraint plan and parent notification records.
Questions District Leaders Should Ask
- Can each building show when every family last received the notice, and in which language?
- What share of initial evaluations met the 50-instructional-day limit?
- How many revised IEPs were implemented before the 11th instructional day without written agreement?
- How many disagreements were settled in a meeting with a school official or in mediation before a hearing?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Article 7 in Indiana special education law?
Article 7 is the common name for Indiana’s special education rules, 511 IAC 7-32 through 7-50 of the Indiana Administrative Code, adopted by the State Board of Education. They implement IDEA in Indiana, from evaluation and eligibility to the case conference committee, IEPs, discipline and dispute resolution. The current text was published in the Indiana Register in April 2024; amendments proposed in 2026 are not yet in effect.
Where can I find the Indiana procedural safeguards 2025 notice?
IDOE posts the Notice of Procedural Safeguards, dated August 2025, on its special education Laws and Resources page, with a Spanish edition also dated August 2025 and nine older translations. Schools give parents a copy once a school year and at the triggers listed in 511 IAC 7-37-1(d).
Who is eligible for special education under Article 7?
A student is eligible when the case conference committee finds, after an educational evaluation, that the student meets the criteria for one of the 13 categories in Rule 41, such as autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disability or language or speech impairment, and needs special education, not only a related service (511 IAC 7-32-92). Developmental delay applies from age 3 through age 8 (7-41-6).
How long does an Indiana school have to complete an evaluation?
The evaluation must be completed and the case conference committee convened within 50 instructional days after licensed personnel receive the parent’s written consent (511 IAC 7-40-5(d)). Before that, the school has 10 instructional days after a verbal or written request to send the parent written notice proposing or refusing the evaluation, together with the procedural safeguards notice.
What replaced the Indiana IEP (IIEP) system?
For the 2025-26 school year, IDOE replaced the statewide Indiana IEP (IIEP) platform with IDOE Special Programs, a PowerSchool-powered platform for IEPs and individualized learning plans (ILPs) that serves special education students and English learners. School staff reach it through the IDOE Special Programs tile in IDOE’s LINK portal after completing the required training certification.
Who hears special education due process hearings in Indiana?
Administrative law judges of the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings (OALP) hear IDEA due process requests filed on or after July 1, 2025, under Indiana Code 20-35-14; cases filed earlier stay with independent hearing officers. A party may petition a civil court within 30 calendar days of receiving the decision.
Related Resources
- Michigan Procedural Safeguards
- Ohio Procedural Safeguards
- NOREP in Pennsylvania
- Prior Written Notice Examples
- Independent Educational Evaluation
- IEP Meeting Guide
Conclusion
Indiana procedural safeguards rest on the August 2025 IDOE notice and on Article 7, whose evaluation and IEP clocks run in instructional days and whose hearings have moved to OALP. Districts that deliver the notice at every trigger, track the 10, 50 and 11-day rules and offer meetings and mediation early give families a process they can follow.
Sources: IDOE, Special Education Laws and Resources; IDOE, Notice of Procedural Safeguards (August 2025); Special Education Rules, 511 IAC 7-32 through 7-50 (IDOE agency version, May 2024); IDOE, Navigating the Course (August 2025); Indiana Register, LSA Document #26-157, Notice of Second Public Comment Period (August 19, 2026); Office of Administrative Law Proceedings, IDEA Due Process Hearings; IDOE, Special Education Mediation; IDOE, Special Education newsletter (August 2025); Commission on Seclusion and Restraint in Schools, Model Seclusion and Restraint Plan (2019). Other sources are linked where they are cited.
Join the 2027 Special Education Pilot
Article 7 counts the instructional days until an IEP starts; what a student gains afterward depends on how often each goal is practiced between case conferences, and adult 1-on-1 time is scarce in every school. If your district is exploring new ways to add that practice, Telo AI is being adapted for students with IEPs: patient, 1-on-1 practice aligned to each student’s IEP goals, a practice tool that does not diagnose or treat any condition. We are inviting districts to shape it with us in a 2027 pilot.
Apply to pilot Telo AI in your Special Education program
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