Arkansas Special Education Requirements
What special education requirements does Arkansas have beyond federal law?
Arkansas's special education program is governed primarily by the Arkansas Rules Governing Special Education and Related Services (Ark. Admin. Code 005.18.10-001) and the Children with Disabilities Act of 1973 (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-41-101 et seq.). Several Arkansas-specific procedural requirements distinguish the state from the federal IDEA baseline: (1) The evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of written parental consent — calendar days, not school days; (2) A referral conference must be held within 21 calendar days of receipt of referral; (3) An Evaluation/Programming Conference (EPC) must be held within 30 calendar days of completing the evaluation; (4) IEP services must begin within 30 calendar days of the IEP meeting; (5) Transition planning begins at age 16, not 14; (6) All IDEA rights transfer to the student at age 18; (7) Arkansas has a statutory framework for physical restraint (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-18-2401 to 6-18-2409) requiring parent notification by end of day and FBA after the first restraint incident; and (8) Arkansas is a one-party recording consent state (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-60-120). Arkansas DESE uses the Dispute Resolution Section (DRS) to manage both state complaints and due process hearings, with independent hearing officers. The state provides resources in English, Marshallese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
What Arkansas Requires
Evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of written parental consent — calendar days, not school days (Ark. Admin. Code 005.18.10-001, §6.03.1.1).
Referral conference within 21 calendar days of referral receipt; Evaluation/Programming Conference (EPC) within 30 calendar days of completing evaluation (§4.03; §8.04.2.1.B).
IEP services must begin within 30 calendar days of the IEP meeting (§8.03.2.1).
Transition planning begins at age 16 — Arkansas follows the federal baseline and does NOT require age-14 transition (§8.08.2.1).
All IDEA rights transfer from parents to students at age 18; IEP must include age-of-majority notice beginning one year before the student turns 18 (§9.07.1.1).
Physical restraint is governed by Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-18-2401 to 6-18-2409: prone restraint prohibited, FBA required after first incident, parent notification by end of school day (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-2407).
Arkansas is a one-party recording consent state; parents may record IEP meetings as long as they are a party to the conversation (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-60-120).
Short-term objectives or benchmarks are required ONLY for students taking the DLM alternate assessment, not for all students (§8.08.1.3).
Key Timelines
Referral conference: 21 calendar days from referral (§4.03).
Evaluation: 60 calendar days from written parental consent (§6.03.1.1).
EPC: 30 calendar days from completing evaluation (§8.04.2.1.B).
IEP services begin: 30 calendar days from IEP meeting (§8.03.2.1).
Transition planning: age 16 (§8.08.2.1).
Age of majority: age 18 (§9.07.1.1).
State complaint resolution: 60 calendar days from DESE receipt (34 CFR 300.152(a)(1)).
Due process hearing decision: 45 days after resolution period (34 CFR 300.515(a)).