The school district must give parents written notice whenever the district:

• plans to identify a child as disabled;
• proposes an evaluation;
• proposes a change in the identification;
• plans to develop, review or change an IEP, including a change in related services;
• proposes a placement or a change in placement; or
• requests a due process hearing.

The school district also must give parents written notice whenever the district agrees or refuses to do any of the following, when requested by parents:

• to identify a child as disabled;
• to evaluate a child;
• to change the identification of the child; including that the child is no longer IDEA eligible;
• to review or change an IEP; including a change in related services; or
• to change a placement.

The Department of Education must give the parents written acknowledgment and notice of procedural rights when parents request a due process hearing.

WHAT MUST THE WRITTEN NOTICE INCLUDE?³⁸

The notice must give:

• a description of the action the school district wants to take or refuses to take and why;
• a description of any options the school district considered and the reasons why those options were rejected;
• a description of each evaluation, test, record, or report the school district used as a basis for the action or refusal; and
• a description of any other relevant factors that the district considered.
• a statement of the protections parents have under the procedural safeguards of the IDEA and, if the notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, how parents can obtain a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards.
• other resources for parents to contact to help understand their procedural rights.

The notice must be written in language that most people can understand and must be written in the parents' native language. The school must try to help the parents understand the notice. Parents who receive a notice that they do not understand should ask the school district, in writing, for more information.